Near North Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour

Not big on "tours" and coming from VA for a short weekend, I wasn't sure what we would encounter. Absolutely LOVED the whole thing. Great shops/restaurants/great guide/ lovely group and lots of sunshine. Made the trip very memorable!!!!

My daughter-in-law to be, and I, enjoyed this tour very much. The tour guide (Jesse?) was excellent and we enjoyed seeing the different parts of the City (Gold Coast, Old Town, and Lincoln Park), as well as the different stops and tastes along the way. It probably helped that we had an absolutely beautiful 65 degree day!

My husband and I enjoyed everything about the tour from the selection of places, the samples, and our guide. Hilary was terrific. We will definitely recommend this to others and are anxious to go on another tour.

My sister and I were visiting Chicago for a long weekend. Some of her friends had done the Near North and told her how much fun they had on the tour. I was a little scepticle. WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE. Our tour guide, Jess, was awesome. She was engaged in the tour, enthusiastic, insightful, informative and a lot of fun. What can you possiblly do at a spice store and an olive oil store? Just wait and see!!!! I am not a foodie, but I loved every minute of this tour. The architecture segement was really informative and offered us an opportunity to see neighborhoods we would not have found on our own. We revisited more than half of the stores that were on the tour the following day. When we return to Chicago, we will DEFINATELY do another tour. Thank you Jess and Chicago Food Planet, you made our weekend very special.

Two couples, one from the Chicago area and one from out of town, went on this tour. We had a great time. It offered something for everyone thanks to its "foodie", educational, walk as you go, architectural, historical nature. Definitely recommend.

What a fun time! My daughter gave us 2 tickets for Christmas last year and we used them with friends from Australia who were visiting us in Chicago. Our tour guide was fabulous and made the day so interesting. Have recommended the tour to many friends and now want to do the Wicker Park one!

We flew in from Montreal for the day for our Christmas party.The weather was wonderful. Ariana was amazing as a tour guide! Very knowladgeable and great personality. The food was wonderful. The only thing I would have liked was to have been able to shop at the stores, rather than have to go back later. But all in all I would recommend this tour.

I was recently in Chicago for a few days with not much on my itinerary and I was craving something a little different during my visit to one of my favorite cities. As I conducted a last minute search for things to do, I was excited to discover the Chicago Food Planet tour near the north end of the city. I LOVE food and history, and I have always been fascinated by Chicago's culture and architecture.... This tour included it ALL! My tour guide's name was Jess and my mid-week tour consisted of an intimate group of about a half dozen strangers from all over the country and as well as a tourist from Canada. At the outset, Jess addressed my pre-noted food allergy and assured me that all of the food on the tour would be safe for me to enjoy. Throughout the tour, Jess was very friendly and personable. She did an excellent job of keeping the tour on pace and enthusiastically shared her wealth of knowledge about Chicago and the variety of foods and drink we tasted along the way. Jess' energetic personality was contagious and embodied everything that a great tour guide should be. She is a true ambassador of the windy city and the exceptional hospitality it's famous for. Our tour was tailor made for the cool weather that day complete with cups of hot tea waiting for us at one of the six unique stops through the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park. The "Near North" tour included slightly more walking than eating, but the grand finale slice of Chicago stuffed pizza with a twist left me more than satisfied! I can't wait to return for the Bucktown/Wicker Park and Chinatown tours!!!

I guarantee you will have a great time on this tour! Our tour guide was full of interesting information regarding local culture, architecture, and history. This is a great introduction to Chicago and very much worth your time. If you don't want mainstream, love food, and want to experience a lot of Chicago in a short amount of time, do consider adding this to your schedule. You'll be glad you did. I am very satisfied with my Chicago Food Planet experience.

Every year we have a sisters trip to a place of special interest. We have family history in Chicago so decided to do our trip in Chicago. The food tour was great - a nice walk on a beautiful day with an outstanding tour guide who explained the historical significance of the area, fun facts, and the food was excellent. The walk was well planned with tastings of filling foods, followed by beverages, rest stops and local stories, all in a well balanced and timed tour. Lots of fun and an eye opener to history that I appreciated since I am active in genealogical societies that relate to the area. I even learned a bit about my own history from stories heard years ago that were now put into context. I'd highly recommend this tour and plan to do it again with my husband, who especially loves Chicago and Italian ethnic cooking, so he can enjoy it too.