Melting Pot Food Tours

As my 15 year old niece was visiting from Chicago, my sister & I decided to take her & my sister's 12 year old daughter on the tour. I had read about it in the LA Times. After recently visiting San Francisco & doing the North Beach Tasting Tour, I was eager to participate. Also, I love to cook and have my own backyard veggie garden. The tour was informative and moved at a good clip. I would have liked to have met more store owners and chefs. I thought there were too many sweeties offered. Also, I liked how the tour guides incorporated LA history into their tour and would liked to have heard even more. Overall, I would recommend this tour to a visitor or LA local who is looking for a different way to see what the city has to offer.

The Melting Pot Food Tour in Old Pasadena was a lot of fun. We walked around the old town, enjoyed listening to the history behind and tasted amazing foods from around the world. All businesses are family owned and really put their hearts in what they do. This is a fun idea to spend a day as a couple, as a family or to give to someone as a gift.

The location is rich with opportunity and I would recommend staying in the Farmer's Market and the immediate vicinity rather than a five-block walk along an uninteresting street to four other locations - one was very crowded and not prepared (Joan's) and the other was totally empty and pointless (Little Door). The food vendors were not ready for us when we arrived - a stark contrast to the two other food walking tours I have been on (Seattle and New York City). The peanut butter sample at the nut shop was not worth stopping for. There was a long 20-minute break before leaving the market that was a waste of time. It might have been nice to arrange a tasting from the New Orleans place and allow people to use the facilities instead of everyone hanging around for a nothing long time. The tour guide (Trish) was friendly and mostly knowledgeable but let things drag out. I would have preferred more stops with more variety within the market. I had to leave the trip early because it went way over the time. Forget the tote bags; provide a bottle of water instead. I had a nice time and I will recommend the tour to others if you make some changes. Thanks.

I have two children aged 19 and 21 and they were not certain about this tour, when I mention it was a food tour at the markets. My husband was dragged along as well. The first stop was the doughnuts and coffee, my husband love a good coffee and my son love doughnuts, well say no more, they were sold. They enjoyed the tour and learnt so much from Diane, giving information and tips along the way. There was something for everyone, from ice cream to culinary tips, savoury to sweet foods and fresh meats, vegetables and fruits. I suggest you make this one of your first holiday tours, in LA as it gives a great overview and a starting point of the fresh produce and good food. We were able to return later to have our meals as it is close to many shopping centres such as The Grove, Beverley Center, Rodeo Drive, Melrose Ave and Sunset Blvd, with easy bus and car access. If you really like cooking,ingredients and good food, then you could spend hours just browsing in Monsieur Marcel and Joan on Third. You will not believe the varieties of tea until you see it at Chado Tea Room. The authentic Japanese food at Mishima will leave you wanting to go back for more. I had several favourites and so did everyone in my family, and they were different favourites. So take the leap as there is something for everyone, young and old. Enjoy.

The tour was great! Not only the food but the historical knowledge that was given was awesome! Food is so yummy. All buisness owners where very friendly and gracious. I can't wait to try the LA tour:)

very good tour very informational, would of liked if they gave time to take pictures

The tour was a birthday gift for my boyfriend. Our tour guide, Lisa, took us to lots of unique and out of the way places we may not have found on our own. She also had lots of interesting history of the area. The food at our first stop was very good and the sample was very generous. Although, it was said we would not need to eat afterwards, I felt the samples were not as filling as led to believe. We could have had a light breakfast and then the samples would have been filling. Overall, I would recommend this experience to anyone who has never been to Pasadena or would like a unique date.

Our group included an 80 year old and a 14 year old, and we all had a great time. Diane, our tour host, was entertaining and charming, and we learned a lot about the history of the Farmers Market and the various shop owners while sampling a wide range of delicious foods. This is definitely the best introduction to the Farmers Market and Third Street.

I took my 2 young teenage kids with me and we had a blast. We are from the area but still learned alot and met some great people from all over. It doesn't matter whether or not you are a "foodie" ... you will enjoy this tour and learn things. The guide was wonderful... personable and helpful. I really would recommend this tour to anyone who wants to do something different.

It's fun to find out more about your home town or one you visit a lot. If you like food this tour shows you all about some classic foods to find in LA. The tour is seamlessly set up so that you move easily from spot to spot and get just enough of a food sample to whet your appetite.

We had out of town family and wanted to try something out of the ordinary, tracked down the tour online after hearing about something similar back East. We live an hour out from downtown and had only a vague impression of what the Farmers' Market was, so this was a treat, as was our guide, Diane, whom we're pretty sure is acquainted with everyone in every business establishment in the Fairfax district.

Melting Pots Tour is a 3.5 hour long food tasting, walking tour, starting inside Farmer's Market, continuing along 3rd Street all the way to Beverly Center. The group is small and intimate (we were 9). A very knowledgeable guide (one of the two the sisters who actually own the company) leads you in a comfortable pace through various counters, stores and restaurants, with food tasting stops all along the way. Point is to really let you taste the "Melting Pot" that LA is - we have coffee from Ethiopia, Brazilian barbeque and French pastry ... Think there were in all about 13 stops. Our enthusiastic and very good guide also provides a lot of useful and interesting stories and information about the area (Midtown) and it's history. Hours went on really fast! If you are tired of being shuttled around Beverly Hills in a bus loaded with other tourists, desperately glanzing out of the window, hoping to catch even the smallest glimpse of a tennis court maybe once owned by a now deceased movie star - take this tour instead! Makes you feel you really get to see a small piece of LA from the inside. An extra plus is of course if you are interested in, and like good food ... Only reason the tour doesn't reach the absolute top score is that there was a little too large selection of sweets/pastries for our taste. Would have preferred more "food dishes" instead. Otherwise it was a tour I absolutely recommend - even to you living in LA!

We enjoyed this alot. It was exactly what we expected.

Grandparents with 17 year-old grandson, so a wide spectrum of ages and we were ALL delighted. Our tour guide was so gracious to our grandson (who can be difficlult). We walked away with the feeling of money well spent.

I had a large group of family visiting me for a graduation and decided to try this tour to show people around LA. We had an awesome time! I had been to the farmer's market, but never knew the stories or which stands were the best to eat at. I would definitely go back to the restaurants on Third St as well. The tour guide was very insightful and fun. Great food, neat stories, what more could you ask for?!