Gold Coast & Old Town Food Tour

The tour itself was good -- great local places to stop and sample things, good walk, good architechture, good history and background -- but having done one of these before in NY, I think there are a couple things that could be tweaked to make it even better. First, they tell you not to eat before you come, but then they don't give you much food at all til the last stop - almost three hours into the tour. For my husband and I, that was a full 7 hours after the toast we'd had for breakfast, and we were famished. If they'd done that stop first (it was a full piece of stuffed pizza), we could have had a good base from which to continue (and better enjoy) the other stops. That would also be nice from another perspective: that final stop was by far the longest walk of the afternoon, and it was up by itself in a different neighborhood. I would have rather found my way up there on my own, then walked back down into the more populated downtown area. In all, a good tour, but it could be even better with a little tweaking.

I was very happy with the tour, we went to some interesting shops where we could try out different things. I learned a lot about the architecture too and the history of the neighbourhoods we walked through. I liked that there was a large amount of walking, it allowed us to appreciate the houses and it was good exercise. The tour guide (Ariana) was very knowledgable and excellent, and I liked how she added her personal spin to things. Very good tour, highly recommend.

The walking tour was informative and fun! Definitely wear walking shoes - I wore flip flops and my feet and calves are still paying for it! The food portion was awesome. My group of friends went back to 4 of the 7 stores we visited and ordered half-baked pizzas to take home from Bacino's. We can't wait to take a tour of another part of the city!

Jenn was our guide, and was well versed in the foods/businesses, and also the city history, which was a big plus for a first-time visitor to Chicago. Her personality and engagement with the group was at least 50% of the reason why we would enthusiastically recommend the tour. The only surprise, as a tourist, was that there was no meat/sausage stop on the tour. I would have figured that to be a staple of the Chicago food tour. That said, all the stops on the tour were fantastic. Thanks and we'll make sure to recommend this to others visting Chicago!

During th entire tour it rained from start to finish. Despite it raining, my spirits and enjoyment for the tour never lessened. I never looked at my watch once to see how much longer until the tour ended. This tour really keep my attention from start to finish. The tour guide was awesome and well organized. This was tour was fabulous. I can not recommend this tour enough.!!!!!!

Our group leader Jessie was very informative and enthusiastic. The pace was quite acceptable. The food was very good. They were able to accomodate one group member that has Celiac. We enjoyed ourselves, even though it rained.

I really enjoyed the tour even though we were stuck with a rainy day. Our tour guide kept the mood light and upbeat despite the dismal weather. I have to caution individuals thinking about taking the tour solo. At times I felt as though I was just tagging along because everyone else was participating with friends and family. My attempts to stay engaged and interact with the guide were limited by a couple that monopolized much of our tour guides time while walking. All in all a nice experience with lots to learn and experience.

the tour was a great way to see the city and try some good eats at local shops.

The idea of mixing classical tourist tour with food tasting is a good idea. But the historic/architecture explanations were quite poor, and the tasting (in particular the pizza at the end) not really fantastic.

I had been to Chicago many times over the years for business and really didn't like the town, becuase I went to typical business/trade show activities/locations. This really helped me see the side of Chicago everyone loves. The larger food portions were at the end of the tour, and I think it would have been better at the start.