Ethel’s Chocolate

Ethel M is a Nevada-based chocolate company founded in 1981 by Forrest Mars, Sr., the man whose family began the Mars candy company. The “M” in “Ethel M” actually stands for “Mars,” while “Ethel” is a reference to Mr. Mars’s mother, whose recipes he used to make the chocolates he remembered from his childhood. Mars set up shop outside of Las Vegas and Ethel M’s classic chocolates have been a huge hit with residents and visitors ever since.

I should actually say that Ethel M wasa Nevada based chocolate company. The relatively plain, traditional chocolates and the old-fashioned look of “Ethel M” are gone. The factory remains, but like many other things in Las Vegas, it has recently gotten a dramatic facelift and changed from classic to cutting edge.  The chocolate company is now known as Ethel’s Chocolate and is stocking trendier flavors, like PB&J, Mango-Coconut and Mojito truffles. Enrobed in brightly painted chocolate shells, the new chocolates hardly resemble the old, even in the flavors that made the transition from Ethel M to Ethel’s. Fortunately, the company is still committed to quality, so chocolate-lovers should be able to find new favorites in the new lineup without too much difficulty. And, possibly due to popular request from longtime fans of the chocolate company, Ethel’s is still selling an assortment of original Ethel M chocolates in the Classic Collection.