Ghirardelli Chocolate Outlet and Ice Cream Shop

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OPEN NOW - Closes at 8:00pm

Some much chocolate to buy and they have a ice cream shop in the store as well smell of fresh chocolate

I'm leaving for college tomorrow, and my parents and grandmother took me to Ghirardelli chocolate factory as a treat before I left. We ordered a sundae and went outside so I could eat it, and because my grandmother smokes we found a seat that was closest to the parking lot, farthest from the entrance (at least 30 feet), and away from any other customers. We understand that smoke may irritate some people so we were considerate and made sure we were 20 feet away from them (as California law states) As we were in conversation we didn't understand the man yelling at us. My dad (who uses hearing aides but wasn't wearing them at that time) and grandmother said, "what?" The man who had yelled started to stall over to us and say, "Do you wanna 'what' me one more time? You don't 'what' me!" My grandmother, who was in almost in tears from this man yelling at her across the seating area, put her cigarette out so he would stop screaming at her and so he wouldn't finish his trip to our table to attack my dad.

We were all a little shaken up at this point, as we were under the impression that we had done nothing wrong. We were just about to get up and leave, even though we hadn't finished eating the sundae we purchased, when an employee came out and told us we needed to leave because my grandmother had been smoking. I had tried to explain the situation to him but he did not acknowledge the fact that we had just been attacked by other customers, he simply waited for us to get up and leave then he went back inside.

All I wanted was an hour to say goodbye to my family, and I understand that the customer's words and actions were not Ghirardelli's fault, but the employee would not listen and did not attempt to right the wrong that had happened to us.

So we left the Ghirardelli factory even though we hadn't finished eating our purchase as the man and his friends who had yelled at my grandmother were able to stay and talk at the tables.

Wow - this shop is fabulous. Wonderful ice cream shoppe (great sundaes) and great sales on the chocolate. I will definitely be back.