| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
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A VERY Pleasant Surprise !!!
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| Thu, May 7 11:00 AM |
materrn |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| All and all I have to recommend this tour to anyone of any age who wants to truly experience the local Chicago culture that you are usually not aware exists when taking in the sites of the city.
It gives you a peek and a taste of what makes Chicago the melting pot that it is.
At the end of the tour some three hours and three miles in length you will wonder where the time and distance have gone, and wish that it were in fact much longer.
Our guide Jenniffer was personable, knowledgeable of local lore, passionate, funny, and had a distiguishable laugh that sounded like only one person I had ever met. She was not only a guide, but at times also felt like a friend !!! Jenniffer definitely helped to make the tour the VERY pleasant surprise that it was.
She is a true professional !!!
Now to the food, I wouldn't say you're stuffed by the end, but you're not hungry either,
It's a happy medium.
We made seven stops to local establishments/eateries, three were excellent (Tea Gschwendner, Old Town Oil, The Fudge Pot), one was good (Bacino's Pizza), two were mediocre (The Spice House, Catering Chocolate) and one was lame(Ashkenaz Deli).
The difference between them being what was offered to taste/experience and how it was presented.
A few tweaks are in order by the powers that be !!!
It seemed as if the food was geared torward an individual who was a vegetarian, meaning no meat products were offered for tasting. I feel this decision should be reviewed as it is sacrilegious to visit a Jewish deli and not savor some pastrami/corn beef !!! At the very least make it an option. :o)
To sum it up I'd say this is a "must to do" when visiting the Windy City.
The $42.00 price is fair, you get your money's worth no doubt !!!
I highly recommend it to any person who enjoy's learning and noshing at the same time.
My rating = * * * * *
Enjoy !!!
Russ T. , Smithtown, New York |
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Fun Interesting Beautiful Tasty Enjoyment
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| Tue, May 5 11:00 AM |
d6d9chotmail |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Other |
| It was a very enjoyable walk through the Near North neighborhoods of Chicago. We observed beautiful and eclectic architecture with tidbits of interesting info on some of them. Stopping on occasion to taste the delights of unique purveyors of foods and spice. Our guide (Nicki) was fantastic. I'd love to get some friends to come along and do it all over again! |
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Well worth it!!!
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| Mon, May 4 11:00 AM |
kentlee50 |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| Loved this tour! What a great idea to combine a walking historical, cultural, architectural tour with food stops! The tour guide, Jenn, was fantastic--very enthusiastic! And the three hours seemed to fly by. Melissa from Tea Gschw.... was great as well. I would certainly recommend this to anyone visiting Chicago. |
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Wife made me go, I realy liked it-alot.
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| Sun, May 3 11:30 AM |
Stub68776 |
Male |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| At first, I had the impression we would be going from location to location having tiny samples of things we could not afford, or pronounce. Like some traveling infomercial, or even worse a timeshare experience. When we signed up, it was recommended that we eat prior to attending. What else should I have thought? After all this was a food tour right, why should I eat first? This was our first time to Chicago, the wife wanted to attend, told me it would be a good experience. I settled, besides we wouldn’t know where to go, or what we were looking at on our own anyway.
Turns out the places we went were more like Mom & Pop operations that were wonderful. The Spice Store was the most memorable for the two of us. You could smell the spices from across the street. We spent about ten minutes taking in the fragrances and sampling the test jars. Then the shop owner took time to give us a brief history, both humorous and informative, of how spices came to be. You can tell this man loves his work. The prices were about the same as our local grocery stores, but way better, ask for a catalog. We went back here for more – twice!
The tour starts at the Deli with an orientation and maps handed out of the planned walk. Use the restroom here. If you have never been to a large city, do not pass bathrooms. These are handled like treasured secrets which are few & far between. When choosing shoes for the day go for comfort over cute. Cute will get real ugly about half way into the tour. Walking speed is determined by the group, and is adjusted accordingly. Our group of 15 was well diverse and moved right along. We ranged from the youngest at about 12 to a retired couple. If you have special needs let the guide(s) know. They were very accommodating. My wife has a hearing deficiency; they made a point to keep her close by, and to look in her direction while speaking.
There was a story of the area at each crossing light. A number of the highlighted buildings we passed I would have never given a second look. Jessie and Shane had a way of explaining the architecture design and history that made it interesting. By the end of the three-hour tour, we felt as though we had been fed a reasonable lunch with some quality entertainment. The time seamed to fly by.
I wish we had the time to go on a second tour. The Bucktown was recommended by Jessie; Shane told us we could book it over the phone (212-209-3370), the only open slot we could book on the short notice we couldn’t get into due to our schedule. |
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Great way to see and "taste" Chicago neighborhoods
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| Sun, May 3 11:30 AM |
LLucas |
Male |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| Shane and Jessica took us through Chicago's Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park for a taste of Deli's, Tea, Spices, Chocolate, Cheese, Snacks and Pizza. They gave us an enthusiastic culinary, cultural and architectural tour of the neighborhoods and charmed us with humor and intelligence. We had a great, attentive and very friendly group. Shane and Jessie turned perfect strangers into a walking family by the end of the tour. |
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Wonderful, Educational, Yummy!
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| Sun, May 3 11:30 AM |
kcwolf2 |
Female |
20-29 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| I took my 11 year old future chef. Not only did we taste foods that we probably wouldn't have otherwise tried, but what a tour of the city. It will give people that are not super fond of Chicago a whole new outlook. We are looking forward to taking the other tour as well. More new foods and another tour of different areas. After this, my son wants to go to school in Chicago. We learned a lot, got great excercise and had so so much fun. |
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great way to experience Chicago!
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| Sat, May 2 12:00 PM |
mpopper |
Female |
20-29 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| Not only was this a great way to learn about some of the more interesting parts of Chicago, but also the spots we stopped at were really quite amazing. The food was great, and the things we learned about, like tea and spices really made me want to learn more about those things and incorporate them into my life more! I had never been to a spice shop like, or tasted such a variety of really good olive oils! Our guide was great and really knew what she was talking about. She also kept us all in good spirits and made it fun! Great experience! |
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Great Fun
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| Sat, May 2 12:00 PM |
kcharris1 |
Female |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| Absolutely loved the tour. Am looking forward to a return visit so we can do the other tour that is offered. |
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Great overview of a Chicago neighborhood
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| Sat, May 2 11:00 AM |
rdespins |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| We really enjoyed the tour. Got some great local & architectural history, and enjoyed some diverse neighborhood eateries and shops. Our tour guide was great! |
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Better than I expected.
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| Sat, May 2 11:00 AM |
cecpjcmn |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| I feel like I know more about the Chicago neighborhoods we visited. We are what they call "slow travelers" and enjoy getting to know an area by walking and eating our way through it. This tour really met that criteria. I came home all excited about tea, spices and olive oil. We are already planning on changing some food habits and recipes. |
