The Best Pike Place Store: Chukar Cherries

Pike Place Market Hours:

Open 7 days a week, closed on Christmas and Thanksgiving

Every day is different but the market is active from 10 AM to 5 PM.

When I first visited Pike Place years ago, I only had a few hours to wander the stalls before leaving for some dinner plans with my sister. I mainly stuck to walking the main floor and its stalls or better known as the main arcade. This is where I found Chukar Cherries. And this is when I discovered true love.

Check back to this past winter when I faintly recognized the bird logo on their bags of assorted chocolate-covered berries and nuts. I questioned if this stall had in fact been the same stall I visited years ago. Upon arriving to the stall, a very kind saleswomen offered a free sample. I sampled all 8 varieties. No shame. I knew after the first sample, the cabernet chocolate covered cherry, that this was the stall I bought my bag of goodies from in the past. But it’s better to be sure in this ever changing world. Don’t want to risk anything.

Where is Chukar Cherries?

Enter at the main market entrance where Billie the Piggy Bank lives, in front of the famous Pike Place Fish Market. When facing the guys who throw the fish at the fish market, turn right and walk straight down through the main arcade. The stall will be a couple minutes walk, located on your left hand side.

The woman behind the counter was so kind. Her enthusiasm for the company had me standing there for 10 minutes as she happily shared the story of the founder, Pam Montgomery. Then we dove into the values behind their cherries. No added sugar. No preservatives. I know I get excited over food but I mean it, you can TASTE the difference. So much so that when I bought the bag years ago I remember savoring one chocolate-covered cherry a day to make the bag last longer.

Turns out they ship across the country, so my sacrifice was moot. 

What is the Pike Place Store: Chukar Cherries?

It’s magic.

No seriously.

It’s edible love.

Okay but really. Chukar Cherries is a farm-to-table food company based in Washington. Best known for their dried cherries and chocolate-covered nuts and berries. They also have award-winning wine and baked goods. They do a lot.

It’s pure quality that you can taste. The founder of Chukar Cherries, Pam Montgomery, discovered unpicked cherries that were drying out naturally on the vine and believed that the natural sugars in the cherries would be enough to preserve them. She was right. And from then on, the company committed to never using added sugars or preservatives in their tree ripened cherries and keeping their gourmet chocolate coating as pure as possible.

Chukar partnered with local farmers in Oregon and Washington providing them a new market for their unpicked cherries.

Where are Chukar Cherries made?

Prosser, Washington

Why is Chukar Cherries the Best Pike Place Store?

Though you can have their delicious assortments shipped to your home, this Pike Place Store is an experience similar to the Pike Place Fish Market.

In the mid-90s, a team from Pike Place was visiting farms in Washington with an aim of trying to bring more local farmers to their market. After they found Chukar Cherries they gave them a prime-time center-stage location in the market’s main arcade. Winner winner chicken dinner.

You can tell these guys love their cherries. The people at the stall are excited to share their story and get you to try their different samples. It’s only a matter of time before they convert another cherry lover to their cherry cult. Speaking as the self proclaimed cult leader.

Chukar Cherries is a cornerstone of the community brought together by the Pike Place Market. A worthy stop for locals and tourists alike.