Best Hot Chocolate In NY
There is nothing better to warm up a New Yorker on cold day than a cup of hot chocolate. To celebrate the chocolatey goodness, sip on some of the best hot cocoas in the city on National Hot Chocolate Day on Jan. 31.
Snowdays
Multiple Locations
www.snowdaysnyc.com
The forecast is always snowy at Snowdays. The popular shaved cream spot thaws out New Yorkers with its signature hot chocolates, including the Classic Hot Chocolate and Matcha Hot Chocolate. For a colorful variation, try the Mega White Hot Chocolate, which is topped with a heaping amount of Lucky Charms. Snowdays even has a vegan option and a peanut butter hot chocolate made with homemade peanut butter sauce.
AG Kitchen
269 Columbus Ave.
New York, NY 10023
212-873-9400
www.agkitchen.com
A meal at AG Kitchen on the Upper West Side is not complete without its new drink, the El Catalan. Known for its Latin comfort food dishes, the restaurant makes a robust and creamy hot chocolate topped with caramelized crema catalana foam. The chocolatey drink is finished with a churro stick, which is perfect stirring the hot cocoa before taking a bite of the sweet treat.
Sugar Factory American Brasserie
Multiple Locations
sugarfactory.com
A sweet tooth paradise awaits New Yorkers on National Hot Chocolate Day. Sugar Factory American Brasserie, the celebrity hotspot, creates elaborate and over-the-top dishes and drinks, including a variety of hot chocolates. Besides the Classic Rich Hot Chocolate made with a blend of milk and dark chocolate, visitors can sip on the Red Velvet Hot Chocolate made with dark chocolate topped with whipped cream, shaved red velvet cake and a spoonful of cream cheese icing. Banana lovers will want to order the Banana Hot Chocolate, which is a delicious blend of the classic hot chocolate infused with bananas and topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and banana chips. As its own rendition of the campfire treat, Sugar Factory serves a S'Mores Hot Chocolate full of toasted marshmallows and crumbled graham crackers.
Van Leeuwen
Multiple Locations
www.vanleeuwenicecream.com
Creating ice cream with a vegan twist, Van Leeuwen serves flavorful desserts and milkshakes at its numerous locations throughout the city, including the West Village, Lower East Side and Greenpoint. Celebrate National Hot Chocolate Day with Van Leeuwen's new Super Hot Chocolate. The decadent drink is made with a ganache base of dark chocolate and cocoa, double filtered water and organic coconut sugar. The dairy-free hot chocolate is then topped with homemade vegan coconut whip or classic whipped cream.
Butcher & Banker
481 Eighth Ave.
New York, NY 10001
212-268-8455
www.butcherandbankernyc.com
Under the hectic streets of Midtown, Butcher & Banker serves mouthwatering steaks, bespoke cocktails and a boozy hot chocolate. The speakeasy-like restaurant, located in a restored bank vault from the 1930s beneath The New Yorker Hotel, offers the SQC Hot Chocolate. Made with milk and cocoa powder, the hot chocolate boasts of flavors with the addition of Valrhona chocolate and Chef Scott Campbell's homemade infusion of fresh vanilla bean and bourbon. The SQC Hot Chocolate is a rich and thick texture with a little kick, which is the ideal spiked drink for National Hot Chocolate Day.
John Friia is a freelance journalist and native New Yorker writing about food, drinks and lifestyle. You can follow his adventures on Instagram.
