New Hampshire Candy Shop Named Third Best in U.S.

I had a theory as a kid that maybe – just maybe – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was set in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It's just the way the downtown area is set up, and how the alleys run between businesses, with smokestacks looming across the water.

As it turns out, one of the top candy shops in all of the U.S. is indeed located right here in the Granite State. But you need to travel just a bit further north.

USA Today recently made a list of the 10 best candy shops in the country, which included Chutters of Littleton, New Hampshire. In fact, it ranked all the way up at number 3.

Said USA Today:

“Home to the Guinness World Records holder of the world’s longest candy counter, it’s not a stretch to call Chutters a candy lover's paradise. A fixture on Littleton, New Hampshire’s Main Street since the late 1800s, not only does the store offer over 500 jars of assorted candies along the famed 112-foot-long counter, but it also carries a wide variety of homemade chocolates, caramels and fudge.”

Chutters trailed only Windy City Sweets in Chicago and Bright’s Candies in Walla Walla, Washington. According to the newspaper, the shops were nominated by readers and a “panel of experts” (just say Oompa-Loompas, will you?), and highlighted because they offer assortments you won’t find in chain stores or supermarkets.

Chutters’ candy counter, it’s worth noting, is also the longest in the entire world. The shop also has a location in Lincoln, New Hampshire.