Chicago Food Planet Food Tours

We absolutely loved our tour & would highly recommend it to others. However, our guide was talking on a cell phone on several occasions during our tour, which was unacceptable to me. Because I could hear his end of the conversations, I knew that they were not personal calls--he was apparently responsible for fielding tour-related phone calls DURING our tour, which required him to interrupt anyone who was walking/speaking with him @the time the calls came in. I consider that a poor business model, and very rude. Please reconsider the policy that apparently expects tour guides to carry on business related cell phone conversations during tours.

We had a group of four for a girls weekend. We could not have been more pleased! We patronized several of the establishments the next day! What a great introduction to Chicago! Thanks again Food Planet!

Same as above.

I was joined by my daughter and two daughters-in- law for a girls' weekend in Chicago. I read about the food tour on TripAdvisor and decided to give it a try. So glad we did as we all felt it was our favorite activity of the weekend. Of course, the weather ( sunny and near 70' ) and our guide (Ariana) had a great deal to do with making the tour so wonderful. The food was great, but we also enjoyed learning little known tidbits about the neighborhoods and their inhabitants. All in all, well worth the money and time....great exercise, too, to get rid of all the calories we were eating!

Having visited Chicago several times, it was refreshing to experience a different perspective. Great guide, great food and informative narrative.

We would highly recommend this tour. We not only tasted great food but also received a lot of information about the city and the neighborhoods that we toured. Excellent variety of food choices. The guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Upon return to Chicago we would take this tour again.

My husband and I enjoyed all stops on the River North Food Tour. We went back to some of the shops to make purchases to take home. The architectural and historical information was entertaining and interesting. We hope to do the other tour on a future trip to Chicago.

This is seriously a must do thing for foodies. All of the places were thoughtfully picked out. The food was generally delicious. Even the stops that I initially was not enthusiastic about; I ended up having a fabulous time at. And the non food stops along the way were also interesting and really a great way to learn a bit more about the city of Chicago. Only warning is that there is a good deal of walking and basically no place to rest until the very last stop. Our guide, Adrianna (sp?) was very knowledgeable, honest, friendly and just generally a fun person to spend a morning with. I have been on quite a few tours (albeit not food ones), and she definitely ranked as one of my favorite tour guides ever. I had pulled out money to tip her at the end of the tour and got wrapped up talking with her that I totally forgot to hand the tip to her. So if you find this review helpful and happen to get her as your tour guide, please tip her a bit extra for me! Thanks! :) The tour took you to 7 different places, and I know that the "menu" changes from time to time, but here is a quick run down of what we had. 1. Ashkenaz Deli - homemade Vienna Beef pastrami sandwich with homemade Russian dressing. Super fresh. The Russian dressing is worth a taste; it will surprise you; loved their version with beets and eggs - Delish! 2. Tea Gschwendner - mango pomegranate green tea. It was delightful with an intense burst of flavor in your mouth that I have never experienced with tea before. The best thing about this stop was the tons of knowledge that we gained regarding tea. 3. The Spice House - Not nearly enough time spent here to try the myriad of spices. However 2 standouts were the dried corn that was super sweet and creamy, although it was just 100% corn and the Saigon Cassia Cinnamon, not your normal cinnamon, intense and spicy flavor. The owner, Tom, gave us a brief impromptu lecture. He is hilarious and knowledgeable. He used a cinnamon stick as his pointer! haha 4. Old Town Oil - Also not really enough time spent here to try the many, many varieties of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The apple balsamic vinegar with the toasted walnut olive oil is an especially tasty combo. 5. The Fudge Pot - My personal favorite stop. They gave us crumbled nut topped chocolate toffee to try. Yes, it was even better than that sounded. I housed down 3 giant pieces and really wanted more. It was the best toffee, by far, I have ever eaten. Did not stick to your teeth, and was melt in your mouth sweet buttery heavenly goodness. *drool* 6. Delightful Pastries - This is a Polish bakery that served us a potato and cheese pirogi and raspberry and apricot kolaczki (cookies). The pirogi was very fresh. The kolaczki shortbread dough was very flaky and buttery. 7. Bacino's Pizza - We tried a slice of their spinach deep dish pizza. We were told it was pretty healthy, and the great part is that it did not really taste like it. Lots of ooey gooey delicious cheese.

This was one of the best food tours we did on our travels in the US, my fiancé still talks about the pastrami sandwich we had! Even though it was cold and raining on the tour we were thoroughly entertained. Well done!

We really enjoyed our tour of Bucktown and Wicker Park. Kent was very informative and entertaining. We would highly recommend taking this tour.

Our tour guide did a wonderful job. Not only did we get to taste some really good food, we also learned about some of the buildings architecture on our route to each place of business. I would highly recommend this tour!

I Just went on the Near North Food Tour with my mom and had so much fun. We almost did not do the tour due to my mom's sore hip. She can walk long distances, but not as fast as most people so she was worried about holding the group up. With several emails to Shane (who I thank so much because his information was wonderful) we chose to do the tour. I'm so happy that we did. The pace was nice and we stop along the way and look at the wonderful sites of the City. Our Tour guide was also wonderful and made sure my mom was doing ok and she was not going to fast for her. We loved every place on the tour that we stopped at!! We learned a lot about food we loved and new food that we now have a love for. We could not shop on the tour, but that was ok becase being informed before hand we set aside time after the trip to do so. When we went back to the shops the people that worked at each place was wonderful!! We took our time trying and tasting more things before we bought them. If we did this on the tour I feel it would of been rushed. Thank you again for the wonderful time!! Only live 1 1/2 hour away so have told many people about the tour. Hope to do the other one sometime.

Living in Chicago all our lives, we were thrilled for taking this entertaining, informative, and unique tour. Our guide, Adrianna, was funny, extremely knowledgable, and really helped make this tour an exciting trip. We could not have taken this on our own and gotten anywhere near the experience. Have shared this with many other people, so their phones should be busy this summer!

A group of 7 ladies ranging in age from mid 50's to late 70's took the Near North Tour and loved every minute of it. Food was great, guide was great. The spice, tea and oil shops were my favorites.After our tour we returned to those shops and bought things to bring home. I can't wait for my next trip to Chicago just to go on the Food Tours again. I've been on both the Near North and Bucktown tours. Loved them both and would be delighted to do both again!

Great tour! Arianna was a wonderful tour guide! Can't wait to go back and try the other tour!