Chicago Food Planet Food Tours

During our 4-day visit to Chicago, the tour of the Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods turned out to be a real highlight. Food, history, and architecture were emphasized. The pace was pleasant and the guide was knowledgeable and personable. All 6 members of our group loved it.

Kate was our guide and she was great - so easy-going, informative and energetic! The food stops were perfect. The areas we traveled were interesting and attractive. After the last stop, my friend and I headed back over to Wells Street to buy stuff from 2 stores with our discount coupons. We just had to buy some of that amazing olive oil and balsamic vinegar - they shipped it to us on the west coast for a minimal charge! The spice shop was our next stop - these items were small enough and light enough to carry back in our suitcases. We ran out of time and had to catch a taxi back to our meeting, but our plan is to buy some things online once back home! We took the tour on our first day in the city to get a good overview of Old Town, Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast, just in case we had time to return for shopping or eating. This was a GREAT way to see these areas of Chicago.

As in the heading this tour was a perfect introduction to the 'flavor' of Chicago and its neighborhoods. Kate was our tour guide and she easily 'fit' to the composition of our group and provided interesting and entertaining commentary in a relaxed and enjoyable way. Each stop was wonderful and the winding through the Near North was a great way to open us up to exploring Chicago, as this was our first trip. I can't emphasize enough how personal Kate made the tour and how accessible each shop was to us. We ended our tour at Bacino's and while enjoying our 'flight' of sample beers John McMahon was a gracious host, going out of his way to talk about each beer, its origins and brewery. We felt like honored guests and got such an education, much like you would on a winery tour. The Near North Foodie Tour cemented the Midwest Welcome we felt from the first day of our trip and only made us want to see and 'taste' more. Bravo Good luck Kate on your graduate school in Portland - you will surely be a success wherever you go and hopefully you will continue to guide people - you are a natural!! I highly recommend this tour, and each stop surely holds something for everyone. I look forward to trying the tour in the other neighborhood s on my next Chicago visit.

This tour is off the beaten "tourist" track. If you love seeing where locals eat, shop and live this is the tour for you. Walking through three beautiful Chicago north neighborhoods, you will visit unique restaurants and food shops tasting as you go! I was in Chicago for a convention. I did this tour the day before the convention started. I told everyone at the convention about this tour!

We really enjoyed this food tour. We thought you got quite a bit of food to taste for the money, and we really liked the history lessons on the buildings and the area along the way. Our tour guide was great- very enthusiastic and knowledgable. We actually walked the tour backwards when we were done because everyone wanted to go back to the shops and purchase things they liked. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to see a unique part of Chicago.

Anyone who loves food will love this experience. Fantastic guide, amazing sites in Chicago and I learned something new at every stop.

I came to Chicago for the first time ever and I was by myself. This tour was one of the highlights of my trip. The tour guide was amazing and very knowledgeable of not only food, but the entire city. I would highly recommend this to people traveling by themselves or for large groups. I would do this again in a heart beat and will recommend it to all of my friends that travel to Chicago.

I booked this tour because we had done one in NYC and found it to be a nice way to learn about history, architecture, people and food. The Chicago tour was outstanding. Our guide, Jennifer, was very personable and knowledgeable. What I liked most about the tour was that it took me to parts of the city I wouldn't have found on my own and shops I might have walked past without realizing what I was missing. The highlight of the tour was Old Town Oil because mixing olive oil and balsamic vinegars was so much fun and a completely new experience. I have returned in person and online to make purchases. We enjoyed learning about deep dish vs. stuffed pizza and made a point to try both before leaving Chicago. We also returned to Oz Park which was a gem and a nice break for my 11 year old niece who took the tour with us. On my next trip to Chicago I will definitely book the Bucktown tour to further explore the neighborhoods and food of the city.

Our family, ranging from age 15 to age 80, had a wonderful time on this culturally and tastefully delicious tour. Our guide, Jennifer, was extraordinary!

This tour was a wonderful way to get to know a portion of a big city. (We have done walking tours of Paris and London that we would recommend too.) We loved the tour's choice of food highlights and neighborhoods. Come hungry and ready to shop (after the tour)!

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. More than just a food tour, we really enjoyed the historical, cultural and archaeological aspects of the tour. Jennifer was enthusiastic, knowledgable, and a lot of fun. We will definitely sign up for the second tour next time we visit Chicago.

This is our second food tour in Chicago. The food was good and the tour was very interesting. I found our tour guide to be very friendly, maybe to much at times. He tried to hard to be liked. I would recomend doing this as a couple, group or a single. I think kids would be bored and the walking may be to much for a small child

Even though we were all locals of Chicago we learned quite a lot about the history of the Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood. There are many places we look forward to going back to and exploring on our own. Thanks Carey for a great tour.

Taking this tour as our first line of business as tourist in Chicago was the absolute smartest arrangement I could have made for us! We saw and learned so much as well as received great tips from our guide as to other great parts of the city to explore. I can't say enough good about it! What a wonderful adventure! From the minute our very firiendly, knowledgeable tour guide started talking, we knew we were going to love it! She was interesting in that she was born in another country and has lived in numerous US cities but has a true, deep passion for Chicago that shows in her work and she educated us completely! The facts she shared about the history of the city, the architecture of the buildings, the star studded entertainment fun and the neighborhoods and foods was ideal! We were captivated by the tour for the entire 4 hours and didn't want it to end. The walking was at a comforable pace, (we had 16 in our group and the ages ranged from 16, my daughter, to a group of women in their late 60s) and the tastings were spaced leisurely allowing us to enjoy the surroundings between one shop and the next. I have raved about it to everyone that I have talked to about our trip and highly and enthusiastically recommend it to anyone going to Chicago! My 16 year old loved it equally and I have heard here telling her friends how cool it was too! We plan to visit the city again and will quickly sign up for the other tours available since we already enjoyed the tour that took us to the jewish deli, the tea shop, The Fudge Pot, the spice shop, the oil shop, the chocolate/catering shop and that ended with a slice from the outstanding Batistas (I believe that's the right name?!) deep dish pizza shop! I hope you like it as much as we did!

The guide was friendly and gave an architectural tour as well as showing us some unique eating establishments off the main tourist area of Chicago. If I hadn't taken other tours of Chicago, I might have taken this company's Near North tour as well. By the way, there is WAY too much food, don't have breakfast before you go.