Gold Coast & Old Town Food Tour

This was billed as "Seven Tastings". There were four excellent tastings, and three rather lame tastings. If they would have billed this as "Four Tastings with Specialty Shops" that would've been more in-line, and I probably would've rated it higher. But, when you go in with expectations of what is advertised. Our guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable of food (she is a chef). The neighborhood/historical part of the walking tour falls short, but that's okay, because after all, it's about the food. The main reason I marked this lower is because of the three tastings: an ice tea at a tea shop, sprinkling and licking spice off of your own wrist, and doing oil and vinegar "shots" should not, in my opinion, count as a taste. I have been on culinary food tours in manhattan, boston, barcelona and miami, and this by far was the most disappointing of all of those. Overall, not a bad experience, but a bit pricey at $45 for what was about half of what I was expecting.

Learned a lot about Chicago architecture, history, food, etc. in such a short period of time. My wife and I also went on the Shoreline architecture boat tour which was very good too and Hot (first week in Aug 2011). IMHO, this tour and our tour guide Tess was Better! I would definitely go on their other tours when I return.

Tour is great, good eats and neighborhoods, with a walk to boot. We recommend it highly.

In July 2011, I signed up for a progressive food tour. Our tour guide was Jess. She was EXCELLENT!! She was very knowledgeable (of both food and Chicago neighborhoods) and genuinely enthusiastic. We walked to seven different places and in between she stopped to provide us with interesting history of the Chicago area. The food we sampled was tasty and was definitely enough to fill us up. While in Chicago, I scheduled four different outings, and this was my favorite! We even met some nice people from Chicago on the food tour who gave us suggestions on other restaurants to visitin the area !

Hillary was our tour guide and was fantastic. She was funny, interesting, entertaining and did a great job! Great food and learned a lot! Best food tour yet!

Loved every detail about tour...ate a hearty bite at beginning and end, with unexpected small tastings in the middle so that we were not over-filled, and learned great neighborhood tips. Loved our guide.

the tour was most enjoyable i came as one but end up as friends its tour for every body if you come a lone your not lone the girl was so nice she made sure that we were all friends so she is some thing special every part of tour was great from tea to chocalate even we got wisard os for me tour good not have been better my tour was on 27 july 5 stars all way well done

Loved the history tidbits and architectural details. Really enjoyed Old Town and appreciated exploring areas we wouldn't have necessarily discovered on our own. And despite being self professing "amateur foodies" we all learned something we didn't know. The food was plentiful and well spaced out. Kent, our guide was friendly and inclusive (especially important with our 11 year old daughter). The group size was absolutely fine with lots of space and time to ask any questions. Our only criticism was that the cost for an 11 year old is high - aside from the fudge (!) she ate a miniscule amount (as I would imagine most 8- 12 years old would. This unusual age grouping is what I believe the tickets are sold as youth tickets for $30. ) On a positive note , however, she enjoyed the whole experience far more than I would have expected. The cost for bringing along a 'tween" may deter us from doing a tour again although we really did enjoy the whole experience!

Fun tour unique instite of the city

This was a fantastic tour! We were looking forward to the food of course, but it turned out that the actual walking tour of the neighborhood was just as interesting and enjoyable. A beautiful neighborhood full of culture and history. The 7 places we visited were delicious and wonderful! Our tour guide, Kent, was awesome! He was so much fun and knew so much about the area and all the places we visited. He definitely made the tour! The next time we come to Chicago, we will definitely do this tour again and tell everyone about it also!