GREENVILLE — It’s been five years since LaRue Fine Chocolate officially opened its brick-and-mortar space to the public, and after movement back and forth on a prominent list in recent years, the artisan shop in the heart of West Greenville has this week been named No. 1 in the country.
LaRue Fine Chocolate, with locations at Poe West and The Commons in Greenville, has been voted the top chocolate shop in the country by USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards. LaRue, along with 19 other chocolate shops around the country, was nominated by a panel of experts. Readers voted to decide the ultimate winner.
LaRue came in third in 2023 and was fifth in 2024.
“It feels really great,” LaRue owner Elizabeth Logan McDaniel said with a bright smile. “Kind of surreal, really awesome.”
It’s also humbling, said McDaniel, who came to chocolates as a second career.
McDaniel grew her business out of a shared love of chocolate between her and her niece. McDaniel would try to find things the two of them could do together, but, she said, “I’m not crafty.”
So, after trying a number of “failed arts projects,” McDaniel found success in a recipe for hand-rolled chocolate truffles from an old Bon Appétit magazine.
From there, chocolate truffles became a tradition for aunt and niece. The two began giving them as gifts to friends and coworkers.
At the time, McDaniel was working in the wine industry for a high-end luxury brand and making chocolates on the side.