WATERBURY -- More than half a century ago, a sweet family business was born.
”We started it in our house about 56 years ago my wife and I,” said John Fascia, founder of Fascia’s Chocolates. “It outgrew the house and we got a store.”
After all those years, the Fascia’s still make chocolate a family affair.
”It’s still a very family owned business,” said Louise Fascia Romeo, co-owner of Fascia’s Chocolates.
Fascias Chocolates in Waterbury has become a destination not only for those of you with a sweet tooth, but for learning about this tasty treat as well.
”We let people experience their chocolate here,” said co-owner Carmen Romeo. “When we opened this building six years ago we decided to become a tourist attraction.”
And it’s become more than just a chocolate shop.
There are birthday parties, bus tours, the Railroad Museum of New England makes a train stop here, they also do guided tours filled with history, samples, and even hands on opportunities to make your own chocolate bar.
”We’ve had over 39,000 people listen to me talk about chocolate,” said Carmen. “They’ve made chocolate bars, and we are very happy to start educating the public about what premium chocolate is all about.”
The makers are sticking true to their Nutmeg State roots.
”We love Connecticut, we chose to stay in Waterbury throughout all of our moves that we had, it’s our home, it’s where we are from,” said Louise. “I grew up in Connecticut. Carmen grew up on Connecticut. So, we feel it’s home, and we want to stay here and just support Connecticut.”
So what makes these chocolates so irresistible?
“We put a lot of love into our chocolates, they’re all handmade, we use the freshest and finest ingredients,” said Louise. “It’s quality chocolates.”
From traditional milk chocolate, to dark, to white, to your fancy treats with caramel, nougats, and pecans, Fascia’s Chocolates has it all.
“We are a Swiss style chocolate, very fine, and the word fine means something in chocolate, it’s how it melts in your mouth, and the fact that it’s very very smooth, no graininess, no matter how far you melt it down,” said Carmen.
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, Fascia’s is a perfect winter CT bucket list stop.
”Here we are family, we are friendly, we are fun, we are all of those things,” said Carmen. “They are going to get a good product at a very fair price.”