New Orleans Culinary History Tours

I loved the tour guide Randy--he was lots of fun and very knowledgable--however, we were anticipating more actual tasting--by 4:00 in the afternoon all we had eaten was a part of a praline and a tiny dixie cup of gumbo. I came with my appetite so was dissappointed that the tour didn't offer much in the way of actual food. Finally we got a tiny muffaleta (disappointing), a piece of rum cake that I never would ordinarily have eaten, (but I was ravenous), and a small bit of roast beef (delicious). So I would recommend the tour, but have lunch first!

wonderful tour, interesting and educatiional, food was great and the guide was fantastic.

A group of four of us took this tour on Sept. 13, 2008. It lasted about three hours and visited about half a dozen sites. The tour guide was informative, but an inordinate amount of the narrative consisted of general New Orleans history rather than focusing on food. In fact, food was only marginally related to this tour, IMO. We received sample cuisine at exactly three locations, and one of those was a praline shop! Not great value for money considering what they charge for this tour, and I thought it was drastically overpriced -- $20 would be more realistic than $45. We won't take it again or recommend it to friends.

Ellen was amazing!

We had a great tour with more tastings than we anticipated. There was so much great info and the places we got to see were really neat. Our tour guide Renae was a wealth of info and could answer whatever you wanted to know.

Our tour guide Renee did an excellent job of taking us through a whirlwind of food and history that really brought the French Quarter to life for us! Renee was Knowledgeable and made the tour fun and interesting. We will be recommending this tour to all of our friends and plan to do it again the next time we're in New Orleans.

I am a local traveling in my own city. This was a wonderful tour and worth every penny. Our tour guide was Randy and he is worth requesting. He was a historian and a colorful asset to the tour. Hope everyone tries this tour and enjoys our food and fabulous city. New Orleans Resident and Fan

I would recomend this to anyone who enjoys history, cooking or both. Our guide, Randy, was knowledgeble, interesting, and a personable guide. It was a great way to see "behind the scenes" at several great historic resturants, plus get a few tastes along the way.

Been on these types of tours before and this one was very disappointing. Two of the places we were supposed to visit were not open! There were not very many food samples and the ones we did get were not that great. Two other places we visited seemed to just be shilling for their products--one was a bar that sold a rum cake apparently not even made in New Orleans. For a native New Orleansian, the guide did not seem particurlarly knowledgeable about the food. Among other things, she kept using the terms anisette and absinthe interchangeably. They are not the same thing! She also did not understand the difference between a food demonstration and a hands-on cooking class. The other tours I've been on also provided a list of the places we visited and the guide's other recommendations for restaurants, food shops, and attractions-it's a nice little extra that was lacking on this tour. I've been to New Orleans a number of times so this may have affected how I viewed the tour. It seemed to me we were taken to some of the major tourist traps in town. Unfortunately for our guide, we had eaten the night before at the restaurant she highly recommended (The Gumbo Shop) and found it pretty mediocre. The final blow was ending up at the Cafe du Monde (admittedly another tourist trap albeit a good one) and not getting any beignets to sample! They are so cheap, the guide wouldn't have been hurting to buy us each one. My recommendation: Go to New Orleans for the Jazz and Heritage Fest and just eat at the fest. The food is fantastic: crawfish beignets, Cuban sandwiches, Mr. Omar's pies, fried plantains, and much, much more. Outside the fest, Loretta's pralines are the best and the freshest, get a muffaletta at the Central Grocery, and for a really great meal, try the Pelican Club or Mr. John's Steakhouse (out on the St. Charles streetcar line-the ride is a treat in itself). And don't forget the beignets at Cafe du Monde!

It seemed that the day we headed out (in the pouring rain) that someone forgot to tell two of the estabishements that we were coming. So, we were turned back from the first closed restaurant after walking there in the heavy rain. We then headed for the praline making shop, where we were handed wrapped samples through their front door into our umbrella protected hands, as they, too, were closed. Call ahead! We did have a nice time, but it did not measure up to our expectations.

Great history lesson about the area and it's food. Randy, our guide, was both knowlegable and interesting. We had a great time.

Randy our tour guide was fabulous! we learned so much and am sooo happy that we started our trip this way because it left us with a thousand places that we wanted to eat at after the tour was over. We went back to the Old Coffee Pot and had a seafood Gumbo for instance. Randy, if you remember us, we were the young couple from Miami (Alain and Krysty), please email me. I wanted to ask you a gumbo recipe question. Thank you for everything!!!

You complete this tour feeling like you have the "inside scoop" on some great restaurants, and knowing why New Orleans' cuisine is unique. Randy, our tour guide was entertaining, endearingly funny and informative. This was my second time to go on this tour -- the restaurants were changed up a bit -- so it was just as interesting as the first tour. This tour gives you a great overview and whets your appetite for going back to these restaurants to dine on your own. The three hours go by too quickly and there are plenty of chances to sit down and rest. I highly recommend this tour!

This was the best tour I booked for this mini vacation. The tour guide Randy was wonderful and very knowledgeable. Answered all questions and was very pleasant. I loved the fact that they took us inside a number of the restaurants into the exclusive back rooms.. and kitchens to see the inner workings of these famous establishments. At most stops we were treated with a sample of the various foods, drinks and sweets. I especially loved hearing the history of the restaurants and other interesting facts about the history of new orleans. it was a great experience and I would recommend this tour. I plan on taking it again next year when I return to NOLA!

My husband and I really liked going "behind the scenes" at some of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans. This tour offers you views and history of private rooms that you would never get otherwise. The historical aspect of the tour was extremely interesting as well, as you get a private tour of the traditional kitchen rooms of the ridiculously wealthy of the 1800s. The tour guide is very entertaining and knowledgeable. The food tastings were great too. We highly recommend for anyone interested in the cuisine of New Orleans.