North End Market Tour

It was the second time.. I loved it....

My daughter & I were given this gift certificate from my office staff. And, I signed up on my daughter's 24th birthday in June. The tour guide was extremely knowledgable, interesting, funny, & thorough. His choices of a bakery, market shop, vegetable store, cheese & deli shop & wine store were perfect. His stories & tales were enjoyable. At our 1st stop, Maria's Pastry Shop, we were surprised with a sweet birthday cake for my daughter. That was so thoughtful.

This tour was brilliant. The details and descriptions of food interwoven with the Italian way of life, the samples we tasted, the obvious love that our host has for the Italian way of life and food was engaging and contagious. This tour is a "must do" for anyone visiting Boston.

My family and I loved the food tour of the North End! Jim was a great guide- he was very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and a lot of fun! We enjoyed the different stores we went to and the different ingredients we got to taste. We could not get enough of Maria's amaretto macaroons! We also love the prosciutto and cheese from the meat grocery we went to. Thanks for a great time!

I would recommend this tour to anyone who would like a more in-depth look at the North End of Boston. I loved meeting Pat, the 94 year old resident of North End, sitting on his park bench, dressed up, and loving to talk to each group of people as they passed. He could surely tell the stories about that street in those early years of the century. The stores we visited were authentic, the owners and family members genuine. I felt like we talked a little too much, spent too much time in a very few establishments. I wanted to see more than that one small area of the neighborhood. A more fast paced, more coverage, etc. would be my recommendation.

I had been wanting to do the tour for years and was very excited about it. It was the perfect day weather wise and the tour guide was very personable. It was different than I had anticipated. There seem to be alot of discussion on history which seem to overshadow the "food" aspect. I was also a little disappointed in the tastings that we did. Some of the foods were an odd choice and trying the balsamic & olive oil by spoon caught be by surprise. I loved the concept, it just didn't meet my expectations.

The tour gave us a different perspective on the North End,even tough we've been there many times. Found some places I will make a destination next time we visit. Thank you - we'll be doing your Chinatown tour next!

Our tour guide was easy to follow and fun to boot. (It probably helped that she is a special education teacher.) The amount of knowledge she relayed was amazing. The tour was so informative and the food was amazing. My husband and I immediately began planning shopping trips to the Italian shops we toured. We are already planning taking our parents on the tour next month.

This is a great walking tour of the local culture, wonderful food samples, and the history of the North End. Highly recommend.

Easy walk, great history and information. Wonderful stores and tastes. Try it, you'll like it ~ we did!