Where to get your chocolate fix

Chocolate is good for you? You bet we're believers. But even if that claim never quite pans out, we're sure a little chocolate indulgence will improve your outlook.

So if you need a little bit of the sweet life, head for these suburban spots where the chocolate fix is in.

Chocolate lounges

Why meet friends for a coffee (ho-hum) or drinks (hello, headache) when you can wrap yourself in the scent and taste of chocolate instead?

A trip to a chocolate lounge gives you the chance to indulge in the heady, decadent taste of fine chocolates in a sweet cafe atmosphere. Depending where you are, you can pair your chocolates with wine, feast on chocolate fondue or add a chaser of elegant pastries.

And then there are the chocolates - glorious little bonbons almost too pretty to eat. Pick a few for your table or a box to take home.

• Anna Shea Chocolates and Lounge, 100 W. Higgins Road in the Arboretum of South Barrington shopping center; (877) 702-6627, annasheachocolates.com. Forty varieties of bonbons including new-for-spring thai basil coconut, bananas foster caramel, wild honey lemon caramel, cosmopolitan and cherry, plus perennial favorites "my precious" (creamy caramel with cinnamon) and a dark chocolate confection sprinkled with Grecian sea salt. Other treats include chocolate-dipped potato chips, almond toffee bark and hot chocolate made from chocolate chunks and steamed milk. Chocolates are $2; a glass of wine paired with two chocolates is $11-$13; chocolate fondue for two is $16. In summer, production moves to South Barrington, so you can watch the chocolate artistry while you indulge.

• Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, 28 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville. (630) 369-4189, ethelschocolate.com. Fans of Ethel's confections have until Saturday, April 11, to stop in for truffles and coffee or a fondue for two. The store will close for good at 9 p.m. that day. The full line of chocolates also will be available until the end, but after Saturday you'll have to buy them online.

• Le Chocolat du Bouchard, 129 S. Washington St., Naperville. (630) 355-5720, lechocolatbar.com. Le Chocolat is the holy grail of dark chocolate. Owner Cathy Bouchard will convince you of the curative powers of special dark chocolates, which she credits with curing her fibromyalgia years ago. One pound bags of the top-selling dark chocolate are $21.95, but other indulgences include individual truffles, creams, toffees and more for $1.25 and up; specialty drinks like the frothy dark chocolate Venezualan Voodoo for $3.50-$5.50, and bakery treats (including the non-chocolate but best-selling carrot cake) for $2 - $7. Watch for a Chocolate Extravaganza buffet being planned for Saturday, May 9.

Chocolate fondue

A fresh marshmallow covered in Oreo cookie crumbles and dipped in warm milk chocolate ... it's a little slice of heaven.

That chocolate-lovers nirvana can be found at The Melting Pot (suburban locations include Schaumburg, Buffalo Grove and Naperville).

First, they serve a plateful of fresh fruit, cakes and marshmallows for dipping. And you'll get a dozen different dipping chocolates to choose from, including a create-your-own option.

Their chocolate fondue menu - which is an entire page long - will make you say "mmmmm" out loud. It features everything from pure dark chocolate to Cookies N' Cream Marshmallow Dream. A few of the fondues arrive aflame, such as the Bananas Foster, which is white chocolate swirled with bananas, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.

The Melting Pot's extensive wine list allows you to pair your chocolate with appropriate Champagne or wines.

Dinner at The Melting Pot can be pricey, but if you come only for the chocolate fondue, the bill will be far more reasonable. A small chocolate fondue, which serves two, is $16 and a regular size, which serves four, is $32.

The restaurants' dark, cozy atmosphere adds to the experience, and the chocolate is far tastier than anything that spews out of a chocolate fountain.

-- Jamie Sotonoff

Chocolate's sundae best

The suburbs are blessed with a wealth of rich chocolaty ice cream concoctions.

For hedonistic chocolate overload, Al's Cafe & Creamery, 43 DuPage Court, Elgin, offers a chocolate malt without a drop of milk added. It's six scoops of vanilla ice cream blended with chocolate syrup and malt. If that doesn't satiate your chocolate craving, the seven Colonial Cafe restaurants throughout the suburbs will give you a bumper sticker if you eat an entire six-scoop Kitchen Sink sundae.

While Jim Oberweis' political ambition has been unfulfilled, the Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store shakes (made with ice cream that has a minimum of 18 percent butterfat) are winners every time.

But for chocolate purists, the suburbs' favorite chocolate ice cream spot could be Capannari Ice Cream, 10 S. Pine St., Mount Prospect. Capannari's double-chocolate peanut butter crunch is a favorite with the kids and adults who frequent the historic building. And its chocolate ganache is sure to draw attention. But the chocolate sundae is sumptuous because the chocolate ice cream doesn't taste like ice cream that has been flavored chocolate. It tastes as if it were born chocolate.

-- Burt Constable

High-calorie careers

Working in a chocolate factory might sound like a dream job, but ... oh, who am I kidding, there are no buts.

The suburbs have plenty of places that give Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory a run for its money. And you don't need to be an Oompa Loompa or hold a golden ticket to take a taste.

If any of these shops need an apprentice, I'm an eager student.

• Morkes, Algonquin and Palatine.

Rhonda Morkes of Morkes Chocolate Shop in Palatine grew up in the family business (she's third generation) and has seen the business grow by leaps and bounds.

Bunnies in every shape and size - from 3 inches to 3 feet tall - gooey good Puppets (Turtle-esque treats), Rice Krispies treats dipped in dark chocolate and covered in sprinkles and ultradecadent Silk Duets (the mint's the most popular) tempt even the staunchest treat miser.

Behind the sparkling cases in the backroom, women dip and mold the molten cocoa, sending the warm, nutty aroma into the neighborhood. When you're in the neighborhood, stop by.

• Chocolatines, 1101 Tower Road, Schaumburg. (224) 653-2700.

The air above Schaumburg got sweeter when Chocolatines opened its doors earlier this year.

The modern chocolate boutique showcases globally inspired, artistic confections by pastry chef Reiko Wada. Seasonal highlights include chocolate eggs filled with bubble gum ganache nestled in chocolate grass. The Chai tea, lavender honey and ginger caramel chocolates please this palate year-round.

• Graham's Fine Chocolates, 302 S. Third St., Geneva. (630) 232-6655.

Those who crave good old-fashioned treats will gravitate toward Graham's Fine Chocolates. The folks at Graham's have been creating handmade chocolates, candies and ice creams in downtown Geneva for more than 20 years. Minty chocolate "meltaways" are without a doubt the signature treat, as are the cashew Skalies (named for a Swedish cartoon turtle).

• Cocoa Cabana, 651 S. Eighth St., West Dundee. (847) 851-8775.

Cocoa Cabana lures people into its West Dundee spot with promises of chocolate-covered potato chips - the ruffled kind so the chocolate clings to the grooves - and toasted coconut cloaked in velvety cocoa.

• Long Grove Confectionery, 220 Robert Parker Coffin Road, Long Grove. (847) 634-0080.

Long Grove boasts its fabeled eponymous confectionery, which has been there since 1975 (making it a few years younger than Morkes). In my youth, I thought they invented chocolate-covered strawberries. Even though I now know better, its strawberries still are my gold standard.

-- Deborah Pankey

Sweet screenings

Plenty of movies serve up chocolate, from the chocolate syrup Alfred Hitchcock used as Janet Leigh's blood in "Psycho" to the box of chocolates offered up as a life philosophy in "Forrest Gump."

So put in the DVD, break out the bonbons and turn out the lights - no one will see how many sweets you eat.

• "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971) - Gene Wilder plays the title character in Mel Stuart's whimsical take on Roald Dahl's beloved children's story about Charlie (Peter Ostrum), a boy who wins an inside peek at the most fabulous candy factory on earth. The movie hasn't aged well, but it's still sweet. This was Ostrum's only movie. He later became a veterinarian.

• "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) - Tim Burton directs an effects-stuffed remake of "Willie" with the lovable Freddy Highmore as Charlie. Danny Elfman creates a terrific score and the special effects are to die for. Still, the fantasy feels a little on the emotionally aloof side.

• "The Chocolate War" (1988) - Before he played Lex Luthor's dad on the hit TV series "Smallville," John Glover starred as an obsessive Catholic high school principal bent on selling a record amount of fundraising chocolates to impress his bosses. He employs sadistic bullies to motivate the students to sell, except that a 15-year-old nonconformist (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) refuses to fulfill his quota. The impressive directorial debut of actor Keith "Christine" Gordon.

• "Better Than Chocolate" (1999) - We all know the only thing more intoxicating than chocolate is romance, and that gets a twist in Anne Wheeler's comically punchy story about a young woman (the radiant Karyn Dwyer) afraid to tell her mother she's out of the closet. Mom complicates things when she moves in with her daughter following a messy divorce.

• "Chocolat" (2000) - Which is more decadently sumptuous: the world's best chocolate or Johnny Depp? Depends on who you ask. A mysterious woman (Juliette Binoche) blows into a tiny French town and magically knows just the right chocolates to satisfy and inspire her reluctant, uptight customers under the rigid thumb of a staunchly conservative mayor. Depp plays the icing on this delightful piece of cinematic fudge.

-- Dann Gire