Venchi

What Venchi is

Venchi is an Italian chocolate company founded in 1878 and now based in Castelletto Stura, near Cuneo in Piedmont. It runs more than two hundred company-owned shops in over seventy countries, and in New York it has seven of them, all in Manhattan. The format is what Venchi calls a Chocogelateria: a chocolate shop and a gelateria on one counter, with the chocolate range on a wall of bars, pralines and spreads and fresh gelato made daily in the case.

The New York shops are 861 Broadway near Union Square, 1178 Broadway in NoMad, 825 Seventh Avenue, 1796 Broadway at Columbus Circle, 198 Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, 1117 Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side, and 233 Bleecker Street in the West Village. The Bleecker Street shop is listed by the company as a chocolate store rather than a gelato one. Venchi chocolate is also stocked as a concession or reseller at both Eataly stores, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art shop, at Zabar’s, Citarella and Butterfield Market.

What makes Venchi worth knowing in New York is the combination of a proper Italian chocolate range and unusually late hours. Most shops run to midnight and several to 01:00 at the weekend, which puts them among the few places in the city where you can buy a serious dessert after a late dinner.

Who is behind it

Venchi was started by Silviano Venchi in 1878. He was twenty, spent everything he had on two bronze cauldrons and began experimenting in a small workshop on via degli Artisti in the Vanchiglia district of Turin. The 1878 date is tied to the launch of his Giandujotto, the Piedmontese hazelnut chocolate ingot that is still in the range. The Nougatine, caramelised hazelnuts in a dark chocolate shell, followed in 1922, and the shop eventually held an appointment as purveyor to the royal household.

The company grew to some three hundred outlets by 1970, faltered, and was relaunched in 1998 by three entrepreneurs who built a new factory at Cuneo. Chocoviar, the crunchy chocolate pearls, arrived in 2004. Daniele Ferrero is chief executive and president, and turnover passed 200 million euro in 2023. The rollout that brought the brand to New York in 2018 also took it to London and Hong Kong in 2012, Tokyo Ginza in 2019, Paris in 2022 and the Dubai Mall in 2024.

Awards and certifications

• Vassoio d’Oro at Eurochocolate in Perugia, 2004, for Chocoviar 75 percent extra dark chocolate grains.
• Multiple Premio Tavoletta d’Oro awards in Italy for chocolate quality. Venchi does not publish the years, so I am not attaching one.
• Rainforest Alliance certification for its cocoa supply chain, with a stated goal of certifying all cocoa by 2027.
• Star-D Kosher certification for designated products, 2025.
• ISO 14001, ISO 45001, BRCGS and IFS certifications for environment, safety and food standards.

How the counter works

You order at the counter. There is no table service, no booking and effectively no seating.

• Gelato: made fresh daily on site, about ninety flavours across the company with ten or so in the case on a given day. Served in a cup or a cone, and the cone can be dipped in Venchi chocolate.
• The flavours to look for: Nougatine 1922 from caramelised Piedmont hazelnuts, Chocoviar 75 percent, Piedmont hazelnut, Dark Stracciatella, Crema Venchi, green pistachio from Bronte, fior di latte.
• Vegan: mango, strawberry and the 77 percent extra dark chocolate are listed as plant based.
• Gelato shakes: pick a gelato, a chocolate or hazelnut spread, then cream and sprinkles, blended at the counter.
• Chocolate: over 350 recipes company-wide, around sixty variations in the shops, roughly twenty new recipes a year. The giandujotto, the cremino, the Nougatine and the Chocoviar pearls are the historic four. Venchi states palm oil free, no artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives, with gluten free and plant based lines marked.

What I saw when I filmed

I filmed at Venchi in June 2026. My note from the visit is short: one of Italy’s best-known chocolate and gelato names has landed in New York, and it is worth the stop if you like chocolate and hazelnut in particular.

What it costs

Venchi does not publish its in-store gelato prices, so the honest answer is that I cannot give you a verified per-scoop figure. It sits in the cheapest of the four price bands, which is consistent with a single cup or cone. The figures below are from Venchi’s own United States online shop in September 2026 and cover the chocolate, in US dollars.

Item	Price
Chocoviar box, 5 pieces	8.00 USD
Dark ChocoBiscuit snack bar	4.35 USD
Gianduiotto dark filled, 10 pieces	14.50 USD
Chocoviar Stracciatella, 5 pieces	15.50 USD
Mini blend gift box	17.00 USD
Cremino New York mini book	29.00 USD
Dark selection core collection	30.00 USD
Assorted chocolates Natura book box maxi	43.00 USD
Assorted chocolates New York maxi book	55.00 USD

In-store prices can differ from the online shop, and the shops sell chocolate loose by weight too. The Cremino New York and the New York maxi book are made for this market, which makes them the obvious thing to carry home.

Do you need a reservation

No. Venchi takes no bookings. You walk up, order at the counter, pay and leave, with no table service and only a stool or ledge here and there.

The real question is which shop and when. Columbus Circle and 7th Avenue sit in the tourist flow and queue in the early evening. 861 Broadway, NoMad and Bleecker Street are quieter and open latest. Columbus Avenue and Lexington Avenue close earliest.

Getting there

• 861 Broadway, NY 10003, near Union Square and 17th Street. Phone 646 448 8663. Open 11:00 to 24:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 01:00, Sunday 10:00 to 24:00. The L, N, Q, R, W, 4, 5 and 6 at Union Square are two blocks south.
• 1178 Broadway, NY 10001, NoMad at 28th Street. Phone 646 783 3337. Same hours as 861 Broadway. R and W at 28th Street.
• 825 Seventh Avenue, NY 10019, at 53rd Street. Open 11:00 to 01:00, and 10:00 to 01:30 Friday to Sunday. The B, D and E at Seventh Avenue.
• 1796 Broadway, NY 10019, at Columbus Circle. Phone 646 374 3987. Open 10:30 to 24:00, Friday and Saturday 09:30 to 01:00. The A, B, C, D and 1 at 59th Street Columbus Circle, at the southwest corner of Central Park.
• 198 Columbus Avenue, NY 10023, at 69th Street. Phone 646 588 1043. Open 11:00 to 23:00, Friday and Saturday to midnight. The 1 at 66th Street Lincoln Center.
• 1117 Lexington Avenue, NY 10075, at 78th Street. Phone 646 783 3301. Open 11:00 to 23:00, 23:30 Friday and Saturday, 22:30 Sunday. The 6 at 77th Street.
• 233 Bleecker Street, NY 10014, in the West Village. Phone 646 588 1039. Open 11:00 to 24:00, Friday and Saturday to 01:00. The A, B, C, D, E, F and M at West 4th Street.

Before you go

• Go late. Midnight and 01:00 closings make Venchi one of the easier late desserts in Manhattan.
• Ask for the cone to be dipped. The chocolate-lined cone is the point of a Chocogelateria.
• Nougatine and hazelnut first if you only try one thing. The Piedmont hazelnut is the house speciality, not the chocolate.
• Check which tubs are vegan on the day. The plant-based flavours rotate.
• Buy the New York boxes as gifts. The Cremino New York and the New York maxi book are made for this market.
• Pick your shop by plan. Columbus Circle for the park, Columbus Avenue for Lincoln Center, Bleecker Street for a walk through the West Village, 861 Broadway for Union Square.
• Chocolate travels, gelato does not. If you are carrying it back to a hotel, buy the bars and boxes.
• Check the hours before you go. The hours on this page come from the venue’s public listings, which drift, so confirm on Google Maps or the venue’s own channels before a special trip.

Watch the visit

The reel above is the short version of this stop, counter and cone included. For the rest of what I filmed in the city, open my map or browse the other New York recommendations.