Pike Place Market’s New Chocolate Maker Opens Soon

Starting next month, chocoholics will have another excuse to visit Pike Place Market, as Joe Chocolate Co. opens in the former space housing Local Color, next to Beecher’s. The business, founded by two University of Washington grads, will contain a chocolate factory and espresso bar, with a set-up similar to that of Beecher’s, where customers have views into the production area.

The new shop will take over the space formerly occupied by the Local Color cafe, which Joe Chocolate Co. owners Sam Tanner and Peter Keckemet have been operating since last spring until they closed it down earlier this year, transitioning to the new venture.

Though Joe Chocolate Co. doesn’t produce on the scale of fellow Market-based chocolate company Indi, there’s still an enticing menu in the works. Visitors will be able to buy espresso from Lighthouse Roasters, pastries, chocolate drinks, and ice cream sandwiches, along with the company’s signature dark chocolate bark — which comes loaded with almonds, salted caramel, and coffee. The company packages its bark in 2.5-oz bags, which the cafe will sell along with bark by the pound.

• Joe Chocolate Co. [Facebook]
• Joe Chocolate Co. [Official]
• All Coverage of Joe Chocolate Co. [ESEA]