Near North Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour

Nicole was our guide and we learned so much more about CHicago even though 4 out of our 5 were native CHicagoans. Highly recommend! I would not do Sunday next time because the places were closed ater our tour so we could not go back to buy items.

The wife and I both enjoyed the tour. The guide was well informed and knew her stuff. Some of the establishments we visited seemed somewhat put out by us. I recommend that you give out better, updated/current and more specific directions for returning to the tour staring point.

A very enjoyable tour!

We went to an oil and vinegar shop in Old Town which was kind of weird. We were to drink the oil and vinegar just as it was. Trying the vinegar was ok but drinking olive oil was a bit much. It was also odd that at the Spice House, we only tried cinnamon...it would have been nice to try recipes with the spices used in them. Overall, the tour was great and informative. My favorite was ethel's chocolates! :)

I was a little disappointed by this tour. They had said not to eat before going. But I was starving throughout most of the tour. Our "tastings" included eating cinnamon out of our hand (?) and drinking oil (yes, I said oil) out of a small paper cup??? This was hardly filling ... a little bread maybe please. The tour guide shared some interesting information about Chicago, but I was expecting more food. You definitely will want to eat before this tour. If you are looking for an interesting cultural tour of Chicago, you will get it, but if you are looking to try some of Chicago's best food, don't count on getting it on this tour. Not really sure if it was worth the money, but at least we got to do something different.

As a couple new to the Chicago area, we went on the tour to get a better sense of some of the more out of the way neighborhoods and restaurants. Our tour guide Tad was extremely knowledgeable and interesting with historical and fun details. We loved the choice of establishments that we visited and even returned to them to make purchases after the tour was over. We've already recommended the tour to friends who enthusiastically want to take the tour themselves. In fact, we're going downtown on Sat. with a couple who want to visit the oil and spice shops we visited. Several people were disappointed they hadn't heard of the tour before, so get the word out! It's a hit!

We had a great time....went with our two young (7 & 9 yrs old) sons and visiting relatives. We enjoyed all the stops (especially the Spice House & Oil Town), the boys loved all the chocolate, especially the Fudge Pot. Our tour guide (Shawn) did a good job of pointing out the sites and educating us on cinnamon and tea. Would have to say if we were all out of towners that we would be disappointed that not more "Chicago" style items on tour---really should include Chicago-style hot dog and deep dish (stuffed) pizza.

The tour was everything I had hoped it would be, our guide was very friendly and knowledgable. Each stop was great with more than enough samples of food. It was very interesting hearing of the different places and also the architecture and different sites along the way. I would highly recommend this tour.

Nicki, out tour guide was very outgoing and well informed. We were a little surprised at first that the focus was not on eating, we showed up hungry! But it all balanced out in the long run and we really enjoyed all the stops we made and the things we learned about the city. I would suggest extending the tour time and allowing people 10 minutes in the spice, tea and oil shops to make purchases. We were lucky in that we found a taxi right away and called the shops to make sure they were still open. The oil shop was closed, but stayed open for us when we told them we were with the tour. Thanks for a lovely afternoon!

The Food Tasting and Cultural Tour was awesome! Our tour guide was fantastic! We truly enjoyed ourselves! I am trying to get a larger group of friends to take the tasting tour again! If you have the opportunity to go on this tour, take advantage of it! Great food, unique information, cultural history, and great exercise!!