Growing up in Green Bay, WI, you know two things are always true: the Packers are the best football team ever, even when their record indicates otherwise, and Seroogy’s Chocolates is where you go to buy candy. Though the family-owned confectioner technically is located in De Pere, Green Bay’s suburb (yes, we are big enough to have a suburb!), Seroogy’s is as much embedded in the fabric of the town as if it were within city limits. You want to impress a visiting guest — you buy them a box of Seroogy’s. You want to fill up your child’s Easter basket — you choose cream-filled chocolate Seroogy’s eggs. You want a one-pound chocolate bar emblazoned with the Packers logo — you get the picture.
The Seroogy tradition started in 1899, when three brothers, Joe, Jim, and Sol, started making chocolates in downtown De Pere. Now on the third generation of owners, Seroogy has brothers Jim and Joe (grandsons of co-founder Joe) overseeing both the De Pere and Ashwaubenon stores, as well as the factory adjoining the De Pere location. It’s a brighter, bigger shop than the small one I remember on Riverside Drive when I was younger, but more room also means more samples.
Seroogy’s may be best known for two signature chocolates: meltaways and snaps. The meltaways, which come in bite-sized pieces or 1.75-oz bars, feature a smooth, rich interior coated with milk, dark, or white chocolate. Flavors range from basic chocolate to almond, mint, peanut butter, and — our favorite — mocha, and the candies are so satisfying that you actually could stop at just one. Or maybe two. Though easier to store and transport, the meltaway bars might be a bit much to consume in one sitting, so find a buddy who shares your flavor preference.
The snaps are Seroogy’s version of turtles, featuring pecans or cashews below a bed of delightfully dense caramel and a chocolate coating. Though the pecans with dark chocolate are killer, try the cashews with milk chocolate — the gentle saltiness of the nuts makes the chocolate’s punch that much stronger. Their close cousins, the snappers, contain the same ingredients, but the nuts are completely enrobed in chocolate rather than sticking out the bottom like a true turtle.
The chocolate counter also contains a wide assortment of flavored fudge, truffles, chocolate raisin and dried fruit clusters, creams, toffees, and some of the largest holiday treats west of Hershey Park. (For anyone who ever felt his or her life wouldn’t be complete without a foot-tall chocolate Easter bunny, Seroogy’s has you covered.) Luckily, samples are plentiful, both of the chocolates and the coffee Seroogy’s roasts on site. For the quality of the chocolate you get, the prices seem quite reasonable: $16.75 for 1 pound of mixed chocolates (and that’s a lot of chocolate) and $1.50 each for the meltaway bars.
Seroogy’s isn’t flashy or trendy, but neither is the town where the Seroogy family has been making a sweet living for more than 100 years, and there’s comfort in knowing that you can always get a decadent treat for yourself or for sharing. Because guess what the favors were at the wedding we attended in Green Bay this past weekend? A tiny silver box of four Seroogy’s chocolates.
Seroogy’s Chocolates
Chocolates and candy in De Pere, WI
144 N Wisconsin St
De Pere, WI 54115
920.336.1383
OWNERS: Jim and Joe Seroogy
HOURS: Mon-Fri 9am-9pm
Sat-Sun 9am-6pm
I grew up in green bay (now living in mpls) and my husband and i get so very excited when we get seroogy’s chocolates as gifts during the holidays. they are the BEST chocolate candies … and i’m not even that into them.
YES. Seroogy’s is the best. I love the peanut butter meltaways because they leave little crispies behind after the chocolate has melted. I remember Seroogy’s being the go-to choice for school fundraisers – sell a box of chocolate for band, or whatever it was. Everyone would carry a cardboard box around from class to class. We probably sold most of them to ourselves.
Seroogy’s is good, but as a (now former) Westsider, I still prefer Beerntsen’s Candies on Broadway — family-run since 1925. The original location used to be downstairs from my dentist; I think he made a good decision on where to locate his office. http://chocolatecandies.net/