Near North Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour

What do you get your best friends for Christmas/birthday presents? A Chicago food tour !! What a fun way to get the real feel of Chicago and its neighborhoods. It was a perfect Chicago weather day. Our excellant guide Jess made our trek really fun and informational. The small group size, 16, led to getting to know new people from all over the world. Walking from establishment to establishment gave us time to visit, observe architecture, neighborhood gardens, and to build up our appetite for the next place. We felt very special as we entered each shop. Jess gave us lots of new information we didn't know before about each shop's products. Loved the deli ( huge half rueben sandwich), the tea shop was full of so many varities, of course the pastery and chocolate shops were hits, and having the opportunity to sit in the Spice shop secret garden to learn about pepper and cinnamon was great! By the time we got to our last stop...needless to say we were full of great food, new found knowledge and had enjoyed a truly unforgetable tour of Chicago from a different perspective. I can't wait to go on another tour next summer!

I enjoyed tasting all the different food and sepecially the history and background of the area. I will be planning to go on the Bucktown tour this year

Great experience - our guide was lovely, the food we tried was lovely (I got to try my first ruben!), and it was wonderful to see so much of old town and gold coast - the architecture is fascinating!

The tour should not be considered a food tour. The guide was great but for $45 you get very little food and the pizza at the end is horrible.

We had a great tour guide who really knew her "stuff"- the tour was on time and ended on time and very well planned through a very interesting part of Chicago. The food tastings were delightful. We were there with our son and daughter in law and we all enjoyed every moment. This is the third time my husband and I have taken this tour and we enjoy it each time. It was the first time for our son and his wife and they are sold!

Having taken food tours in other cities, I have to say that this is one of the best. There is certaining enough food to satisfy a lunch appetite. The discussions of the food tastings, as well as the history of the areas, were highly interesting. It was more than just about eating food. The only thing I would change is the long walk to the final stop. I imagine that there could have been a shop that serves traditional Chicago pizza closer to the other stops.

We all enjoyed this tour very much. The food tastings were amazing, good size portions, & variety. We liked that not all the stops were restaurants: a tea shop, spice shop, & oil shop, were included. Our tour guide Chris was very knowledgeable not just of the stops, but of the neighborhoods and history of the areas along our walk. The walk was at a comfortable pace with several stops, but it was long, 2 miles. I would encourage others to take this tour. We will plan on taking the other tours on our return to Chicago.

Despite less than ideal weather conditions, we had a great time looking, listening and ,of course, tasting. Hillary, our guide, was so informative. She answered all our questions and provided so much information about all that we saw, did and tried. She also has the perfect personality for the job. She kept us all smiling and happy during the rain. The tour was well paced, took us through interesting neighborhoods and the food was delicious.

My husband and I booked this tour as a part of a quick mid-week trip to Chicago. Our guide, Hillary, provided a great narrative of both food and neighborhood tidbits. We had spent time in the near North area 20-25 years ago having been married in a nearby church. Returning as part of this tour was a great way to be reintroduced to these neighborhoods and these great foodie places. Truly enjoyed the day! Thank you Hillary!

We weren't too sure of the reservations made because of the type of tour that it was. However, this tour is definitely worth the time and learned interest in Chicago and its culinary background. As well, the neighborhoods and buildings were of significant interest. I would advise anyone dallying about taking this tour to just do it. You will be quite happy with that decision! Our tour guide was a young man named Kent. He made the 3-hour time and walk go smoothly, with lots of information and humor. I have a suspicion that all of the guides for this tour are very amicable and interesting. Great tour! Thanks for offering it!