Hi there! This year I have become obsessed with hot chocolate – both with making it, and with buying it. Luckily, New York City is filled with amazing hot chocolate spots, so I have been spending these colder months checking out a bunch of different locations. This list will include all of my favorites, and a ranking of the best hot chocolate in New York City!
To note: currently, due to Covid-19, many bakeries, restaurants and drink shops are temporarily closed. When they reopen, I will be sure to try their hot chocolate and update this list!
Squish Marshmallows
What I drank: Hot Chocolate with Birthday Cake Marshmallow
Price: $6
Overall rating: 10/10 – This is my favorite hot chocolate without a doubt. It’s so rich and creamy and perfectly chocolatey. The marshmallow was also so, so good. You definitely cannot go wrong with Squish Marshmallows. To note: their pandemic hours are quite limited, so be sure to check if they’re open before stopping by!
No Chewing Allowed
What I drank: Classic Hot Chocolate
Price: $5.50
Overall rating: 9.5/10 – This hot chocolate is amazing. It’s rich and decadent, and seriously the perfect winter afternoon treat. I love that each hot chocolate also has a No Chewing Allowed chocolate truffle inside, it really adds something extra!
Fan-Fan Doughnuts
What I drank: Hot Chocolate with doughnut croutons + a marshmallow
Price: $4.25
Overall Rating: 9.5/10 – In addition to having delicious doughnuts, Fan-Fan Doughnuts in Bed-Stuy has incredible hot chocolate! It’s so rich and delicious, and comes with a wonderful homemade marshmallow. To make it even more special, the hot chocolate comes with doughnut croutons. It’s definitely unique and incredibly delicious!
Jacques Torres
What I drank: Wicked (Spiced) Hot Chocolate and Traditional Hot Chocolate
Price: $4
Overall Rating: 9.5/10 I originally wanted to visited Jacques Torres simply because I love him as a judge on Nailed It! I was super, super impressed with the hot chocolate from the adorable chocolate shop. Both the Spiced Hot Chocolate and the Traditional Hot Chocolate were amazing. They were rich and thick and absolutely delightful.
L.A. Burdick
What I drank: Milk Chocolate Hot Chocolate
Price: $5.00
Overall Rating: 9/10 – Yum, yum, yum! This hot chocolate is so rich, thick and creamy. It’s like drinking a melted chocolate bar. They have four different hot chocolate options: white, milk, dark and spicy dark! The milk chocolate was fantastic, but next time I will definitely be trying the spicy dark.
Maman
What I drank: Lavender Hot Chocolate
Price: $5
Overall Rating: 9/10 – This hot chocolate is light and foamy, and reminded me a lot of a mocha or latte. This is definitely the perfect drink for anyone who enjoys light, floral flavors! I also really love how beautiful Maman cafe is. I will definitely be back once indoor dining reopens in NYC! Side note: their cookies are also amazing!
Not Worth the Hype:
- Daily Provisions
- I was so excited for this as it is so highly rated by so many food bloggers. However, sadly, it was lukewarm, not very chocolatey, and super tiny for $6.50.
- Bread Bakery
- Another highly recommended spot that was disappointing. They make their hot chocolate by melting chocolate chunks (cool right?), but unfortunately, my chocolate wasn’t fully melted, so it was mostly lukewarm milk with a hard chocolate chunk stuck to the bottom of the cup. Maybe it was just poorly executed, but definitely not worth $4.65.
- Magnolia Bakery
- This hot chocolate is certainly very good – but compared to others on the list it’s pretty basic. I also didn’t love that mine was 1/2 whipped cream. This is a good hot chocolate for kids, but Magnolia’s baked goods are definitely better than their drinks.
Thanks so much for reading my recommendations for the best hot chocolate in New York City! Let me know your favorite hot chocolate spots in the comments so I can check them out!
For more NYC food + drink recommendations, click here!
omgosh those melting marshmallowsssssssss 🤤🤤🤤🤤
Jacques Torres – Wicked (Spiced) Hot Chocolate. I so want to try this.
That birthday cake marshmallow looks amazing!
Add espresso to any one of those and I’m in heaven! Those marshmallows look incredible – especially the Birthday Cake Marshmallow. I’m a huge fan of marshmallows and these all look amazing!
I am a hot chocolate snob so this post on the best ones in NYC is amazing! Love the birthday cake one. I can’t wait to try these gourmet cocoas.
Oh wow, those do look yum. Do particularly like the look of the Squishy Marshmallow one. Need to keep this list handy next time I make it to NYC.
One thing you don’t really mention in your post, are these all proper milk based hot chocolates? Or water / milk powder ones?
Hi! Wonderful question! They are all milk based 🙂 I’m 99.9% sure that none are milk + powder, but I haven’t seen all of their ingredient lists so I cannot say for sure.
Yummmm!! Just what I need in this snowy weather!
I’ve never heard of a lavender hot chocolate before but now I really want to try one! Love this post, thanks for sharing!
I love this post so much!! I am a hot chocolate connoisseur and those fluffy marshmallows look divine! Pinning this for my next NYC trip.
I had a Nutella hot chocolate in NYC and I can’t remember where now. Loved this post.
All of these places look and sound amazing. I really want to go to Squish Marshmallows and get the birthday cake marshmallows! I will definitely be hitting up one of these spots when I make my way into NYC next. 🙂