West Village Icon Li-Lac Chocolates Celebrates 103 Years of Quality without Compromise
by ELLIMAN INSIDER TEAM
February 2026
It’s Valentine’s Day, and Manhattan’s oldest—and perhaps most beloved—chocolate house is still here for it.
Since 1923, when a Greek immigrant and Paris-trained chocolatier named George Demetrious opened his storefront factory at 120 Christopher Street, in the heart of Greenwich Village, Li-Lac Chocolates has become a cherished neighborhood institution whose devotees reliably line up during the gift-giving holidays to load up on elegantly packaged boxes of French mints, almond bark, marzipan, and other small-batch sweet treats.
And whereas countless other longtime local businesses have been forced by rising rents to leave the neighborhood or close up shop altogether, Li-Lac has managed to survive and thrive, both in the Village and beyond, by balancing strategic growth with a commitment to the quality of its chocolates and engagement with its loyal community.
“We're one of the few West Village businesses that's managed to stay independent,” said Li-Lac’s current owner, Christopher Taylor, with evident pride.
A longtime West Village resident (and Li-Lac customer!) with a background in finance, Taylor bought the business in 2011 in partnership with Anthony Cirone and Anwar Khoder. The company had already changed ownership twice since Demetrious died in 1972 and even opened a second location in Grand Central Market, in 1999. When the rent at 120 Christopher Street climbed too high, Li-Lac relocated in 2005 to a new storefront a few blocks north and moved production to a manufacturing facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
While Cirone, a marketing executive, took on leadership of the company and Khoder, a veteran employee, became Li-Lac’s Master Chocolatier, Taylor preferred to remain in the background as an investor. But when Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, through operations and supply chains into chaos in the run-up to the holiday rush, Taylor jumped into the fray and never looked back.
“The last 10 weeks of the year were a massive logistical nightmare, but we got through it,” he recalled. “And that's when it dawned on me that this was not just a small investment, that it had real potential.”
Under Taylor’s leadership, Li-Lac went on to open a new factory, in 2014, at Sunset Park’s just-opened Industry City complex and a new storefront in the Village, at 162 Bleecker Street, following year. Annual sales jumped 50%, from $1.4 million to $2.1 million. A decade later, with a total of six locations, including a second storefront in the Village, at 75 Greenwich Avenue, Li-Lac’s 2025 sales reached $10 million.
“I realized five or six years ago that we either grow or we go out of business,” said Taylor, who has since bought out his partners and is now the sole owner. “For a New York City business like ours, with the relentless cost pressure, rent, wages, staying the same size just isn’t an option. I think we've built an infrastructure that can take us to $25 million.”
Beyond the greater stability that comes with scaling, Li-Lac has burnished its brand and sustained its loyal customer base by continuing to be a generous and benevolent presence in the neighborhood and broader community. Noting that the previous owner had been a stalwart supporter of various gay advocacy groups and joked that she’d essentially bought the loyalty of the West Village community by giving away a lot of free chocolate at events, Taylor said that the company continues to show up at and supply local school gatherings and other neighborhood events. (Indeed, it’s not uncommon for locals to address him as “Mr. Li-Lac” when they see him around the neighborhood.)
But the true measure of Li-Lac’s longevity is the taste of its chocolates, which not only rely on the original formulations established by Demetrious in 1923, but also the same supplier, the 150-year-old Peter’s Chocolate.
“What makes our product distinct is we use more cocoa butter and less sugar than most chocolatiers,” Taylor said, explaining that a lot of chocolatiers—even high-end ones—use hydrogenated oils because they’re cheaper and reduce the risk of blooming, which causes a chalky film to appear on the surface of the chocolate.
“We’ve made a conscious decision to stay true to the product and not dilute it,” he added. “That’s been an expensive decision, especially the last two years with chocolate prices quadrupling. But the customers love the taste.”
While they no longer hand-dip every item as in years past and instead use what’s called an enrober (which the factory workers have dubbed “the I Love Lucy machine,” after the classic chocolate-factory episode of the 1950s sitcom).
“It wouldn't be totally true to say that everything is completely handmade,” Taylor acknowledged, “But if you come visit the factory, which is visible to the public, you'll see it's still 80% true.”
Asked to name his favorite items among Li-Lac’s best sellers—perhaps the French mints (a "Guaranteed Hostess Gift-Hit," according to Martha Stewart Living) or salted caramels—Taylor said, “I don’t like chocolate.” He’s partial to the Butter Crunch.
“When I’m at the factory and they pour the toffee out of the kettle, I just eat it right there,” he admitted. “I'm doing quality control!”
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