| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
|
Tasting Tour - Saturday - Neutral Review
|
| Sat, May 30 9:30 AM |
dougied79 |
Male |
20-29 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| I think the concept of the culinary tours is excellent, but this activity did not meet our expectations. Right or wrong, we had anticipated that the tour would focus on tasting at various Charleston restaurants, but the Saturday tour focused mainly on the farmers' market and sundry food shops.
At the farmers' market, local vendors sell their various wares - organic foods, fresh vegetables, Southern cuisine, etc, etc. Much of the tour consisted of sampling the vendors' foods and learning about the food preparation. While delightful and informational, the tour provided nothing unique from most large cities' farmers' markets, and the experience was no different from what any other bypasser at the market could get for free.
After touring the market, we walked past several restaurants (which we'd loved to have entered) and visited several food shops. Again, the food samples were good and information interesting, but the vendors seemed most intent on selling to the customers participating in the tour.
My favorite thing was the bag we received at the beginning of the tour - which contained cold bottled water (with coozies), Charleston maps, and a few recipes. |
|
This is the worst tour I've ever had in Charleston
|
| Fri, May 29 2:00 PM |
Juliechris |
Unspecified |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| We went to only 2 restaurants the rest were shops or stores that had nothing to do with Charleston. One was even a franchise, one was a Belgium chocolate store.
We have been on at least a 1/2 dozen tours in Charleston and this was the worst. The tour guide said that there are crocodiles in Charleston which is incorrect there are only alligators.
Do not go on this tour. |
|
Awesome!!
|
| Mon, May 25 9:30 AM |
tntlaxmom |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| This was so much fun. Not only did the leader show us amazing places to eat - but we also learned so much history - thru food! It was so much fun and we went back to chocolate store, candy store and cooking store and bought lots! Thanks so much for so much fun!! |
|
Good introduction to some of Charleston's treasure
|
| Fri, May 22 2:00 PM |
dlfriedel |
Female |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| Casual tour to some places we would not normally have gone. The food was good and we got a great sample of Lowcountry cooking. Would do this again when next we visit the area. |
|
|
Use NYC Culinary Walking Tour as a model
|
| Sat, May 2 9:30 AM |
debquill |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| We have been on a culinary tour in NYC - East Greenwich Village - for the same price and felt it was much more organized and that more planning took place ahead of time. Deals were made with many restaurants we passed in NYC and small tastes were tried in many places, or simple tours given of the restaurant - even if not it's regular hours. Someone is always at a restaurant in the morning prepping. This could easily be done at the Marion Square Farmer's Market as well, which is where our tour took place. In NYC, we all got a list of restaurants, with maps and short descriptions of each. This "advertisement" was probably why the tour group so much out of the tour - both many, many stops along the way AND quite a bit of "small taste" foods as well. I felt that we passed SO MUCH in Charleston that could have been included in the tour - and only the TOUR company was advertised at the end. If the company joined up with local restaurants and farmer's market merchants, those on the tour could receive so much more and the tour, in turn, would become incredibly popular. |
|
|
Very fun
|
| Sat, May 2 9:30 AM |
sw1224 |
Male |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| Fran, our tour guide was great. Very knowledgable and fun. I don't know what we would have done without the wonderful farmers market going on. It would have been fun to see and taste from a few local restaurants, but my wife and I had a wonderful time. |
|
|
Knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide
|
| Thu, Apr 30 9:30 AM |
DDomogauer |
Female |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| Generally good value! The guide is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the cuisine and culture of Charleston and the Lowcountry . Samples of food are quite generous, we couldn't have eaten any more food, but I wasn't completely satisfied with all the choices. No real reason to go to the chocolate shop--had nothing to do with Lowcountry cuisine. They should give some thought to replacing that stop. The visit to Charleston Cooks, an excellent cook shop and cooking school, could be improved. The other stops on the tour were excellent and most generous. |
|
|
Totally worth the money!!
|
| Mon, Apr 27 9:30 AM |
mmmorrone |
Female |
20-29 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| We had an amazing time on this tour. We sampled more food than expected and learned a wealth of history. The tour guide recommenced local places to eat that were far from tourist traps. I wish we had more time in Charleston to go to all of the recommend restaurants. Many of the chefs in Charleston are young and right out of culinary school. The chefs have fresh ideas and unique dishes. On the tour we tasted more traditional Charlestonian items. Here are some of the things that we tasted:
Sweet Tea
Stone Ground Grits (this were the most amazing thing that we tried)
Cinnamon Corn Cake
Pecan Wafers
Benne Wafers
5 Types of Chocolate, light to dark
Glazed Pecans
Pralines
Chocolate and Mint Fudge
Chocolate covered nuts
Peanut Brittle
Collard Greens
Pulled BBQ Pork
Corn Bread
All of the items were wonderful!! The tour was about 2.5 hours long and there were 8 people in the group. I would have paid more for this tour. It was wonderful! |
|
|
A Great Time Walking in Charleston
|
| Thu, Apr 16 9:30 AM |
momgills |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| Our tour guide, Brooke, was knowledgeable and friendly. Although not a native Charlesonian, she was very well informed about the area. We had a great time walking around Charleston and learning about the history. It was interesting visiting the candy stores, however 1 candy store probably would have been enough. It would be nice if we could have visited more Charleston restaurants. There seemed to be a lot of "down time", my suggestion would be to try to get a few more restaurants on the tour. |
|
Ok could be so much more!
|
| Tue, Apr 14 9:30 AM |
notime1 |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| We have taken "food tours" in several cities on the east coast. All have been more than what we expected. This one was disappointing. The food we tasted was good however we toured very basic places. We felt like we could have gone to these places on our own. We were hoping for a more local feel. There was very little history provided throughout the 2.5 hour tour in a city full of history! The guide was nice but she lacked knowledge beyond what seemed to be her script. If this had been our first food tour we probably would not do another one! |
