'Burgh Bits and Bites Food Tours

I've lived in Pittsburgh for over 20 years, and shop in "the strip" pretty regularly ... and yet, on this tour I learned so much about the area and visited several establishments I may not have gone into otherwise...I've gone back and shopped at many of the places we visited. There is a lot of 'history' on the tour and our leader was entertaining and informative. He seemed to have a good relationship with the shop owners which added to the experience. The one thing I wish I had known prior to the tour is that while they say "bring your appetites" - this is only a tasting tour, so while the food we sampled was varied, and very good.. it was not plentiful and we went out to lunch afterwards. Overall, I truly enjoyed this experience and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about this unique part of the "Burgh..

Wonderful tour, great tour guide but it was almost $80 for two people. I would love the tour even more if the tickets were more like $20-25 a ticket.

Excellent and informative tour - great samples! We enjoyed the history of the district and the business owners who took the time to share their story and love of their business in the Strip District. A "must do" while in town. Foodies can expect some wonderful restaurant recommendations, too, from both the tour guide and business owners!

Being local, we got less out of the tour than the others that attended but my husband and I had a great afternoon together and still managed to pick up some factoids (and eat to our fill)!

We had a great guide (Corey), learned a lot about Pittsburgh and the Strip, and left with full tummies.

I love the Burgh Bits and Bites tours because I get to learn about more great places to shop in my area and get to spend time with mom and friends. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon:)

The tour on Friday 7/15/2011 at 1:30PM was disappointing. I have been on a lot of food tours and felt this tour lacked structure. The tour guide was very informational, but you could hardly ever hear him. He would stop in the middle of the sidewalk and try to lecture. It was very distracting and I felt we were always in the way of other pedestrians. I thought he should of organized it in a way to lecture away from the crowds and noise. The food places toured were nothing special. I loved the bakery, Italian pastry, polish market and deli, but could of lived without the popcorn factory, Mediterranean store and biscotti. At the Mediterranean store, the employee didn't even want to talk about the food or the store. He only offered a small bowl of hummus for tasting. It was very uncomfortable and a waste of time. Though the food was good, I wouldn't recommend this tour to friends and family.

I've been to the Strip before to shop, but my husband hadn't. We went on a Friday (a little quieter day) and had an amazing time! The food was great, as always, but learning the history and meeting some of the business owners made it even more fun. Sylvia was our guide- she was knowledgeable, had a great relationship with the business owners and really knew Pittsburgh (the Strip and other sights to see). Will definitely do more of these tours.

This was a nice tour of Bloomfield PA, Little Italy for Pittsburgh. Not only were there great stops at Italian grocerias, pizza shop and gelato store, but the tour guide gave information on the ethnicity of neighborhood and how the people in that neighborhood live and interact with their neighbors and retailers. It was very interesting and tasty for a transplant to Pittsburgh like me.

If you are a foodie who also enjoys history, this tour is for you. The strip district is a lively place that maintains the ethnic diversity which made Pittsburgh such a special place. Friendly and knowledgeable staff introduce you to tastes of the burgh for all your senses. We ate a light breakfast before the 10 AM tour and found the samplings along the tour to be more than filling....we even took some back to the hotel for enjoyment later. We give the tour and tour guide high marks and rate this as a good value for the price.

As I have previously been on one more food tour (Strip District) the year before, I had an idea of what to expect for this trip. I was not familiar with the neighborhood of Bloomfield, so I enjoyed learning pieces of it's history and type of locals that live in the area. I enjoyed the variety of samples offered, as most of it was Italian-based, and the owners/shop managers seemed geniunely into their craft as they were enthusiatic in their speech. All of the samples were delicious as they were all food/drink items I enjoy. I will continue looking into other food tours for the other neighborhoods in the near future.

The Strip District guide was very informative, easy-going and truly did seem to enjoy what she was doing. Much was learned about not only the different ethnicity and food involved, but even things about Pittsburgh (Banana Factory Explosion, for one). It helped that the weather was amazingly beautiful for a walk around and all the representatives for each stop were more than willing to share stories about their businesses. All the patrons in the group were interactive with one another (one couple from Ohio, another pair from Florida, one pair from Pittsburgh just looking for something to do). All the samples tried were also amazingly appetizing that my mother and I went back to almost every stop to purchase a bunch of things! The tour was a little over two hours, so it wasn't too long nor too short. It was just fun to see the people, the cultures, and the shops all within view of the great city of Pittsburgh. Highly recommended as I will be looking into taking the other tours sometime in the near future!

It was fun and educational. Didn't like that it started at a church. Many nice retail stores and there owners where very pleasant and talkative.

would like more history of the area

This tour was amazing. I never expected the amount of food we tasted. It was delicious at every venue. In particular, I enjoyed talking to the shop owners and hearing their stories of how they started their business. Corinne, our tour guide, was outstanding. Very friendly and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this tour.