While South Bend may not scream “thriving metropolis” to the random onlooker, The South Bend Chocolate Factory manages to act as a semi-urban oasis for those non-native Midwesterners yearning for a bustling setting. Home to not only 500 variations of homemade chocolates but also an outdoor seating area with live music, the Chocolate Factory might just be the perfect place to go on a date in South Bend. Here are six reasons why.

 

  1. Who doesn’t love chocolate?

Photo by Christin Urso

The SB Chocolate Factory houses a chocolate for every taste, as well as a surplus of hot drinks to pair with your favorite chocolate treat. It’s also hard to turn down when chocolate is a natural mood-setter. Maybe try one of their homemade “Mint Meltaways” and then afterwards melt away into one of your beds.

 

  1. Live Music Gives You Something to Talk About

GIF courtesy of tumblr.com

Maybe you’re feeling like you and your significant other are running out of things to talk about. That’s totally okay, but here’s your solution: comment on the performance quality of the current performer. Nothing like making others look bad to make yourself feel better – Hip hip hooray.

 

  1. It’s the Only Place to Cure Your Highly Probable Chocolate Craving

Photo by Rozina Fonyo

As much as you stuff endless bags of ABP chocolate covered almonds down your throat to cure your chocolate craving, nothing on campus will do the trick. Sure, you could buy some probably expired chocolate ice cream from the huddle or take a whack at Campus Ministry’s stale chocolate M&M bowl, but nothing will do the trick.

 

  1. Seeing Kids Could be a Great Convo Starter

Photo courtesy of cocoa101blog.com

Maybe you’re one of those “lets plan everything now” people who has a list of both your future kids and future pets names in a notes page on your phone. If you’re one of these “planner” types, you’re probably going to want to talk about kids with your significant other. On a college campus, you rarely see kids roaming around, so taking a trip to the SB Chocolate Factory to see kids with melted chocolate streaming down their faces could be the perfect way to drop the kiddo question!

 

  1. Give Your Girl a Chance to Post an Insta

Photo by Jenny Georgieva

More likely than not, your ND gf is just waiting to pounce on the next opportunity to insta a non-DH Foodstagram. From perfectly scooped ice cream to melt-in-front-of-the-camera chocolate, the SB Chocolate Factory is sure to cure her every Instagram need. Maybe try to pop in the back of her camera angle to establish some Insta dominance as her boyfriend. After all, is it really official if you’re not overwhelmingly present on her Insta?

 

  1. Because, where the hell else would you go?

GIF courtesy of sharegif.com

So you’ve already done the walk around the Saint Mary’s Lake, and maybe you’ve even gone to a nice dinner at Parisi’s, but now what? Unless you’re planning a romantic trip to the South Bend Juvenile Detention Center, or maybe even a midnight rendezvous to the sketchy gas station down the street from campus, it looks like there may be literally one solution. Take a nice little trip down to the Chocolate Factory to get outside of your stuffy dorm room.