Chicago Food Planet Food Tours

My friends and I had a great time! We all thoroughly enjoyed the tour. We visited places we would have missed on an ordinary trip to Chicago. Our guide (Ariana) was also great. She was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about the businesses, food, and culture of the "near north" area. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Chicago.

This tour combined a foodie's interests with a very interesting description of the neighborhoods we saw. The tastings were great and well timed. We went back to most of the shops and bought things to take home. Note to air travelers - the TA searched both my carry on and checked bags. Vinegar and spices aren't the most usual packed items. Our tour guide was wonderful. She was enthusiastic about the tour and Chicago. She made a point of speaking to each tour member to find out their interests. I especially liked the recap at the end where we all talked about our favorite parts of the tour. I definitely recommend this tour and will look in other cities I visit to see if your tours are offered there. Excellent!!!!

My husband and I had the absolute best time. We have been to Chicago a few other times and end up doing the same old thing.. Navy Pier, Shopping, Shows so this was something totally new. My husband initially was skeptical but he raved about it after. It was a lot more than we expected. Arianna, our tour guide was the best. I highly recommend her. In addition to learning about the different places we toured, we learned some history of Chicago and we had the opportunity to see and explore a bit of Old Town and Lincoln Park area which we had never been to before. The places you go are great as is the tastings. We started with a deli that was so good, we went back there for breakfast the next day for a bagel and lox platter for two. It was good. We went to a couple of shops such as a oil shop and a tea shop that husband was rolling his eyes at. Well, when the tour was over he was the one who wanted to go back to them. Something different and something fun. Next time we go back to Chicago, I am taking the Bucktown tour and I understand they will be starting a Chinatown one soon. I can't wait. The only thing I will warn you about - it can be a long wait to a bathroom so don't drink that tea too quickly. Go - you won't regret it.

This was a great way to taste various foods from the Chicago area that you might not otherwise try. Great way to get a better insight to the culture of the area.

What a wonderfully informative and enjoyable tour! The food was the main attraction, but we learned about history, architecture, and other points of interest. Our guide was friendly, engaged us in conversation and was super-organized. The walk was long, but we had refreshments at reasonable intervals and I'm so glad I took this tour. Can't wait to go back for another one!

Nikki (not sure if that's spelled right) remembered our names right from the start. She made the made the entirety of the tour enjoyable because of how much she knew about the area as well as all of the food. Nikki also helped the group get along really well with each other. Can't wait to do the Bucktown tour this week!

If you're looking to find interesting places off the beaten path and enjoy food, this is for you. Our guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Not just about the food, but about the history of the town, and architecture. While the tour was 90% around food, the other 10% was food for your brain and gave our tummies time to digest. It was a good mix of eclectic foods, Chicago foods, and new foods. I highly recommend this tour, you will not regret it.

Our guide was knowledgable and enthusiastic. Pace of tour was good for all age groups and stops often enough to keep interesting. All places we stopped were friendly and eager to answer any questions or offer suggestions. I learned some awesome cooking tips and experimented with foods I had never tried. All of it was great! I was surprised that mixing various types of oils and vinegars could taste so good by themselves as well as add so much to recipes, and with so very many varieties. I was also pleased that the tour was not just about food but offered a rich history of the city and tips usually known only by the locals. I wish every city I visited had a tour this good!

What a great way to learn more about Chicago's neighborhoods and cuisine! Our 3-hour tour of the Near North neighborhoods, guided by friendly and knowledgeable Arianna, flew by. The food was fresh, produced as locally as possible, and delicious. We learned a lot about the foods, spices, oils, vinegars, and drinks that we sampled, and made note of the establishments from which we wished to make purchases. We met some terrific people from around the country and, as a bonus, Arianna kept us entertained between stops with stories of the history, architecture, and culture of the neighborhoods. There is plenty to eat, so come with an appetite!

This tour mixes a handful of Chicago's greatest little eateries and culinary highlights with a leisurely walk through one of it's best neighborhoods. It explores some history, a little architecture, and a few insights into the settlement of Lincoln Park. but, don't do it for learning about Chicago architecture...there are other great tours for that. Do this tour to get a "behind the scenes" look at some great local food businesses and their relationship to Chicago. I thought it was wonderfully planned and executed. I took the site's advice and ate breakfast. I am glad I did as the food along the tour was just sufficient for lunch. It will not make up for missing breakfast- even if you eat it while walking to the tour like I did. The food is spaced nicely throughout the 3 hours, with about half the stops not being food at all. Those stops were better than just food... we learned the truth about about how some of our basic food items are made and how it's gets to us... like olive oils, balsalmic vinegars, spices, teas, chocolates. We went back the next day to several of those and came home with some great stuff. All in all, it was well worth the time and money spent. I have already recommended it to several people. Can't wait to go on the other one when I am back in Chicago in July.

Our group recently went on the Food Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour...it was the highlight of our trip to Chicago. Our tour guide was very informative. We learned alot about Chicago and enjoyed great food. I would highly recommend for anyone visiting Chicago. I'm looking forward to going on the Bucktown/Wicker Park tour on my next visit.

Hello! We loved the food tour! What a great time. Nicki was outstanding! We were especially impressed at how she remembered everyone's name! She got the group involved by asking us questions and she was very knowledgeable. We will be recomending the food tours to our friends and will be sure to look for other food planet tours in other cities on future vacations. We have a group photo that we took at the end of the tour that we would love to send you for your website. Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you for a great time! Candy, Margarita, Evelyn, Joann & baby Isabella from South Florida

Kent, our guide, was knowledgeable of the Chicago neighborhoods describing the attractions & history along the route. Kent was enthusiastic & personable! The tastings were more than enough, even for our hearty appetites. The restaurants visited served on-time and held informative briefings of their establishment. Even though we are locals, twe thoroughly enjoyed the event. The narrative along the walking tour pointed out things missed while driving and with the stopping along the way the walk was easy. I am going to give this tour to my sons girlfriend who is moving here from Virgina so she can become familiar with a few of the Chicago neighborhoods, their restaurant offerings and history.

My sister and I were born in Oak Park but moved to California many years ago. On a return trip to celebrate a cousin's birthday there we decided to take the food walking tour and were so pleased that we did! Nikki was our guide and was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic hostess. It is clear that her experiences working and studying in several countries gave her the background and confidence to know how to present facts and details in an interesting manner. It is also clear that she loves working and living in Chicago! At each location she gave us the history of the area and of the establishment as well as the background of the founder or owner. Giving these presentations with these people present certainly meant that she had the stories correct! There was much sighing and moaning as we tasted the highlights at each location and we endorse these as choices to continue to visit. At the end, enjoying our Chicago-style deep dish pizza, Nikki called on each of us BY NAME and asked us what our favorite place was. Each place was mentioned by more than one person. It was a lovely, sunny, warm day to be outside and walking and tasting food!

We enjoyed the Near North food tour. Nikki our tour guide was awesome! All the food, tea, and spices were amazing. We all had a time. After the tour we walked back and shopped at the oil shop, the spice shop, and the tea shop. We will do this again when we can. It is a great way to enjoy the city! Thanks for a fun afternoon!