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A BIG YEAR FOR RADEK'S CHOCOLATE...

The Chocolate Shops of Days Gone By… And of Today!

If you’ve ever visited us at our incredible festival café before, you might be wondering… where do we spend the rest of the year hiding? Or if you’ve never managed to visit our festival café, perhaps you’ve always hoped to be served a gloriously silky cup of our hot chocolates? Well, you’re in luck… we’ve opened not one, but two new chocolate shops! We may be a little late to the party when it comes to shouting about this new development (the hustle and bustle of getting them up and running has been a fun distraction!) but we’re so grateful to now have two wonderful new locations where you can find us on the regular.

THE ONE-STOP-CHOCOLATE-SHOP

We’ve loved being able to welcome you to our very own shops for the first time! Not only are we selling the products you’ve come to know and love after all these years, but we’re also hard at work creating new and shop-exclusive recipes too… think cookies, filled bars in an array of flavours, and exciting new varieties of truffles and pralines. You can visit us for all your coffee, hot chocolate, and everything-in-between needs (I suppose that’s probably a mocha?) in both our new shop on Church Road in Bristol as well as on the High Street in Totnes, where Radek himself has moved to start his family – and his own shop!

THE CHOCOLATE SHOPS THAT WALKED SO WE COULD RUN

Lately, we’ve been loving a history deep-dive, an origin story and other nuggets (or should I say truffles?) of knowledge. On the theme of chocolate shops, I’m sure you’re wondering – when was the first chocolate shop established in the UK? Well you’ll have to cast your mind back to 1657, where the first chocolate shop was opened in Queen’s Head Alley, London, thought to be owned by a Frenchman. It was a real hit with the Brits! On the back of the shop’s popularity, they seemingly began to pop up all over London, and even extending all the way up here to Bristol and Bath. They were better known as ‘chocolate houses’ in those days and they served chocolate drinks – similar to today’s hot chocolates but a little more bitter, often thickened with egg yolks, and spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and chillies (speaking of spiced, have you tried our Pa Lo chilli spice hot chocolate?) and they sometimes had wine or sherry added to it. Chocolate houses served as great hangout spots, much like cafes or pubs. Though very few have survived from the early chocolate house days, the oldest chocolate shop still in operation in the UK is Charbonnel et Walker. Opening on Bond Street, London, in 1875, it has moved to several establishments over the years, but can still be found in The Royal Arcade, Old Bond Street.

FUN FACT: The chocolate houses only served drinks, as the first edible chocolate bar wasn’t invented until 1847 by J. S. Fry & Sons – and that happened right here in Bristol! (Admittedly, J.S. Fry & Sons deserves a whole post of its own… perhaps we’ll get round to that someday).

A GUIDE TO BRISTOL CHOCOLATE

As well as its historic ties to chocolate inventions, Bristol continues to be a great city of chocolate shops and cafes. To celebrate, we’ve curated a grand Bristol chocolate tour – think of it like a chocolatey pub crawl…

Zara’s Chocolates
Our first stop on the list is Zara’s Chocolates, based on North Street in Bedminster. The shop has been a North Street staple since 2013, and prior to that, Zara sold at Bristol markets. They have a range of classic chocolates to gift hampers, but are possibly best known for their truffles. Their truffles are amazing, and what’s even cooler is that you can book private sessions for tasting or even making the truffles!

Ruby Hue
Next up, we have our friends over at Ruby Hue. You can find their shop and cafe on Tucker Street in Bristol’s centre. Sound the chocolate alarms, as these guys are fellow bean-to-bar makers! On their website, they say they are “proud to be a part of the craft chocolate revolution, raging against unethical, untraceable commodity cacao.” …an ethos that is truly music to our ears! Check these guys out for funky flavours (their Passionfruit bar is my absolute favourite!) and a great cause.

Mrs. Potts
With venues in Cardiff, Bath and on Park Street in Bristol, Mrs. Potts Chocolate House has a lot to offer. As well as chocolate, they make their cakes in-house, offer milkshakes, coffee, and ice cream, yum! They’ve truly brought the chocolate house into the 21st Century.

Ted & Mae Chocolatier
We now venture northward to Gloucester Road, where we find Ted & Mae Chocolatier. Once known as Chocolatier Pionka, the chocolate shop changed hands and was rebranded earlier this year. Starting 2026 with a strong new-year-new-me attitude, Ted & Mae Chocolatier have kept many of the much-loved recipes and flavours from before. It’s a great place to find a chocolatey gift!

Radek’s Chocolate
And finally, it would be rude not to add ourselves to this chocolate house crawl. On the bustling Church Road a stone’s throw from St.George’s Park, you’ll find the Radek’s Chocolate Team in our new(ish) little home, so ready and eager to meet you in person! As well as all the chocolate, hot chocolate, coffee and cookies we mentioned before, we’ll also be serving seasonal favourites like some very special iced drinks, ice creams in a variety of flavours, and plenty of gifts for every occasion… come and say hello to our new home!