Get Your Sugar Fix at These 13 Cincinnati Candy Shops

Aglamesis Chocolate Co.

3046 Madison Road, Oakley; 9899 Montgomery Road, Montgomery
Thomas and Nicholas Aglamesis, two brothers who immigrated to Cincinnati from Sparta, Greece in the late 19th century, opened their first ice cream and candy parlor in Norwood in 1908. While the Great Depression forced them to sell that store less than two decades later, their second location, established in 1913, still remains virtually unchanged from the day it opened in Oakley, with chic Tiffany lamps and a marble soda fountain. Thomas’s son, James, took over the family business in the 1950s and kept the recipes and methods of the older generation consistent, churning out rich French ice cream, fresh fruit sorbets (try the pink champagne flavor) and assorted copper-kettle-crafted chocolate candies. The store’s quality has earned it national acclaim from publications including The New York Times and Bon Appetit.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Peter Minges & Son

138 W. Court St., Downtown / ph:513-241-7376
The oldest candy shop in Cincinnati, Peter Minges & Sons tries to keep their candy and store as traditional as possible. Walking into this downtown candy shop is like walking into the early 20th century. According to Heather Rohr, the current manager, the shelves, counters and the building itself are all the same as when Peter Minges moved in from a mule-drawn wagon. They even display pictures and antiques on the back wall from the beginning of the company. Opened since 1905, the shop continues to sell traditional and modern candies side by side. The company was sold to Supreme Nut & Candy in 2000, but according to Heather, they promised not to change the name or location of the store to keep its authenticity intact. Rohr feels that, “If Willy Wonka lived in Cincinnati, that would be his home.”
Photo: Paige Deglow

Doscher’s Candies

6926 Main St., Newtown
Doscher’s Candy Co. is the oldest continuously operating candy company in the United States and has been hand-making candy canes the same way since production began in 1871. The company also makes French Chews and Candy Buttons out of its nostalgic Newtown farmhouse and factory. Founded by Claus Doscher, a young German immigrant, the company began as Doscher Bros. Wholesale Confectioners and first opened on East Fifth Street downtown near where the Taft Theatre stands today. Operations later moved to a factory on Central Parkway before relocating again in 1946 to 24 W. Court St., where the company remained for 71 years before moving to its current, quaint home in 2017.
Photo: Paige Deglow

Graeter’s

18 Cincinnati locations
It’s safe to assume that almost everyone who’s spent time in Cincinnati has been to Graeter’s for some of Oprah’s favorite ice cream, but don’t overlook their handmade chocolate candies. The family business, now in its fourth generation, began making and selling chocolate not long after Louis Graeter began selling ice cream at Pendleton Street markets in 1868. Louis’ first store would not open until 1900 when he and his third wife, Regina, moved to 967 E. McMillan St. where their sweet creations would be produced and sold. After Louis’ 1919 death, Regina expanded operations and their second location opened in Hyde Park in 1922. Since then, Graeter’s has expanded to 53 locations — mostly in Ohio and Kentucky — and can be found in 6,000 stores across America.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Loveland Sweets

124 W. Loveland Ave., Loveland
Founded in 2006, this nostalgia-inducing confectioner offers a blend of housemade items and an array of other specialty sweets. They make tons of chocolate offerings in house, from marshmallow clouds (aka chocolate-covered marshmallows) to caramels and a variety of turtles, plus small-batch ice cream and stock a selection of novelty bulk candies and vintage options like Chick O Sticks and rootbeer barrels. Owner Gloria Wilson has a background in environmental science, so instead of plastic bags, you’ll find eco-friendly options like paper bags made of sugar cane and ice cream cups made from corn. They also serve coffee and tea.
Photo: Israel Viox

Schneider's Sweet Shop

420 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Founded in 1939, Robert and Lill Schneider took charge soon after their family established this location as a neighborhood candy and ice cream shop. When Robert retired in 1986, his son Jack took over with his wife, Kathy. Located in historic Bellevue, Schneider’s is situated on the corner of Fairfield and Foote, among a number of other independent family-owned businesses which also define the area’s small-town charm. Eager patrons peer through glass displays at rows of handcrafted treats and know the staff here by first name.
Photo: Israel Viox

Henry’s Candy Co.

243 High St., Hamilton
Henry’s Candy Co. is a colorful and playfully Pop art family-owned and operated confectioner that sells candy by the pound in downtown Hamilton. Sweets of all sorts — from assorted chocolates and fruit gummies to wax lips and lollipops — are laid out in a rainbow’s worth of color-blocked cases for customers to browse and fill a bag (or bags) of whatever bites they like. Family and community are at the heart of Henry’s. The store is named after the owners’ late son and the goal of the shop is to “strive to contribute color and smiles to the continual rebirth of Hamilton.” In additional to nostalgic sweets and contemporary candies, Henry’s also offers savory snack mixes and sugar-free options — and wild candy-infused window displays for anyone walking by.
Photo: Paige Deglow

Fawn Candy

4271 Harrison Ave., Western Hills; 2692 Madison Road, Rookwood
After returning home from World War II, Paul Guenther opened The Fawn Candy Company with his wife, Jean, to sell homemade ice cream and they eventually began to make and sell their own candies. Still owned by Guenther’s four daughters, the local shop specializes in small-batch traditional candies like cream candy, fudge and peanut brittle. Customer favorites include buckeyes, turtles and caramel apples. After 73 years of business, The Fawn Candy Co. continues to make small batches of their candies daily at their two locations in Western Hills and Norwood.
Photo via Facebook.com/TheFawnCandy

Quaintrelle Confections

1210 Main St., Over-the-Rhine
Meggie Kraus started her artisan marshmallow bar in November 2017, selling dense, creamy and pillowy squares handcrafted with water, sugar, gelatin, salt and assorted flavorings. Her OTR s’more bar sandwiches hand-torched flavored marshmallows (vanilla, espresso, peppermint, etc.) between graham crackers layered with toppings (Oreos, toffee, coconut and more) and drizzled with dark chocolate, caramel or peanut butter. But if you don’t want to wait in store for a s’more, you can take a bag of marshmallows home. Grab a bag of classic vanilla, matcha or chocolate chip.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Chocolats Latour

4037 Hamilton Ave., Northside
Shalini Latour started making chocolate at the age of 14, later becoming a pastry chef and baker (with a stint at the BonBonerie) and launching her fair-trade Chocolats Latour brand in 2009. Now operating out of a shared storefront in Northside — the Chocolate Bee, with local honey entrepreneur Bee Haven — Latour is known for her creative flavor combinations, made using local ingredients including cream and milk from Snowville Creamery and herbs sourced from her own garden. For example, the Bollywood bar blends dark chocolate with turmeric, curry, mango, coconut and golden raisins while the Perfume of Provence takes white chocolate and infuses it with lavender, lemon and sea salt.
Photo via Facebook.com/ChocolatsLatour

Sweet Tooth Candies

125 W. 11th St., Newport
One of Newport’s most beloved spots is Sweet Tooth Candies, and its striped red and white awning out front has been a welcome sight for young and old alike for decades. This regional gem is open year-round to keep locals and out-of-town visitors stocked up with handmade candies and ready-to-enjoy seasonal treats.
Photo via Facebook.com/SweetToothCandies

Maverick Chocolate

129 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine; 2651 Edmondson Road, Rookwood
This bean-to-bar chocolatier just opened a second storefront in Rookwood; its flagship Findlay Market operation opened in 2014. Helmed by Paul Picton and his wife, the self-taught couple and the rest of the Maverick team purchases ethically sourced, direct-trade cacao beans from farmers in countries like Belize, Ecuador and Peru and then do everything from sorting, roasting, grinding, tempering, flavoring, molding and packaging in their shop. Their award-winning bars come in flavors ranging from classic 70 percent Belize Dark Chocolate (a winner of a 2019 Good Food Award for chocolate) to Prohibition Milk Chocolate made with Kentucky bourbon. They also make cocoa powder, drinking chocolate, gianduja chocolate-hazelnut spread and cocoa nibs.
Photo: Provided

Patty’s Old Fashioned Popcorn

3437 Michigan Ave., Hyde Park
Patty’s Old Fashioned Popcorn is a gourmet popcorn and classic candy shop just off of Hyde Park Square. In 2010, two ex-Mormons from Utah decided to bring their old-school popcorn cooking to the Midwest and launched Patty’s using century-old recipes and techniques. Now, the shop is run by DJ and Nick Snider, who learned the copper-kettle technique from original owners Randy and Pat. All the popcorn flavors are made onsite in copper kettles, mixed with bare hands and oars from the very early 1900s. Patty’s is also known for their handmade candies like turtles, pretzel rods and other mixed candies, crafted using fresh caramel also made in house.
Photo: Paige Deglow