| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
 |
This tour exceeded my expectations! |
| |
Wed, Jul 2 10:00 AM |
hmidkiff |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| |
Jim is a wonderful guide, extremely knowledgeable, a great speaker. I thought I knew a few things about Italian food, but having Jim, a trained chef, as our guide made this tour such a fun learning experience. I will be using the information he shared with us for a long time to come because I enjoy cooking and shopping for specialty foods. I would recommend this tour without a bit of hesitation. I have encouraged all of my family in the Boston area to make the time to take this tour. |
|
Delightful Break with Routine! |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 2:00 PM |
mgianino |
Male |
50-59 |
Local |
Group of Friends |
| |
My spouse received two tickets as a birthday present; we purchased a third for a friend of ours who we know to be "a foodie". Between parenting, working, and tending to the needs of extended family, there's not much time left for relaxing and learning. This tour of the North End was a delightful break with routine--we got a chance to spend time with a dear and trusted friend to "catch up" and we had a chance to learn about the contrasts between Italian-American cuisine and Continental Italian cuisine. Our guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and charmingly eccentric. We had a great time, made some purchases after the tour, and have been experimenting with preparing some traditional Italian dishes all week.
The only low point was the frosty reception our group got at the wine shop. We don't have to pay to be glowered at. As one of our members commented from the curb: "I was going to make a few purchases, but thought I work too hard for my money to give it to someone who insults me." Like her, we jotted down some wine names and purchased them later outside the North End. This was the only reminder of the clannish, insiders-only orientation of the old North End. If you have any pull with that proprietor, we would suggets you ask them to either get their staff to "warm it up"--polite indifference beats rudeness every time--or we'd recommend you drop them in a New York Minute. After all the guide's hard work, that clerk really dampened an otherwise marvelous afternoon. |
|
AWESOME |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 2:00 PM |
JenMorrison |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
| |
awesome..would highly recommend and already have! |
 |
Too much money for this tour. |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 2:00 PM |
motolady |
Female |
50-59 |
Local |
Group of Friends |
| |
The tour guide was excellent and extremely knowledgable. The food samples were extremely small and very disappointing almost embarrasing. I didn't think the store owners were that friendly and overall it was NOT worth the money. I would not recommed this tour I would for less money. |
|
Entertainent for all the senses |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 1:00 PM |
PaulKuty |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| |
Excellent multi-sensoral tour, as history meets taste buds in this excursion given by a vivacious gourmet. As he explains the traditions of the food and people in the North End, you'll smell, see and taste some of the local flavors. |
 |
Very Interesting and Enjoyable! |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 11:00 AM |
mlavallee191 |
Male |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| |
The shops were great, the information usefull, and the guide was well versed in the area and items he discussed. |
|
I was ready to leave after fifteen minutes. |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 11:00 AM |
mcduff2008 |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| |
My companions were ready to leave after ten minutes. He was a nice guy and I think he knew his subject matter but he's not very engaging and often was difficult to hear. It was extremely easy to let your mind wander as you tried to listen. We spent far too much time at Maria's Pastry Shop and at the Sulmona Meat Market. One of the employees at Sulmona's agreed because at one point she called "Are you almost done?" from behind the counter.
I could tell from the faces of the rest of the group that they were as bored as we were. We entertained ourselves by coming up with plausible, polite excuses to bow out of the rest of the tour and flee when it mercifully came to an end. Again, he knew his stuff but was not a good tour guide. |
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A wonderful experience!!!!! |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 10:00 AM |
sallyd246 |
Female |
60-69 |
Local |
Family Without Children |
| |
I am absolutley delighted to recommend the North End Market Tour. The content was extremely informative and the tour guide....Beth....was the best! |
|
Wonderful family experience |
| |
Sat, Jun 28 9:00 AM |
sandyfryc |
Female |
40-49 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| |
Our tour group included family members from age 70 to age 12 and everyone had a great time. We are familiar with the North End and have gone to dinner there many times. On the tour we learned many new facts about the North End and found some great shops and restaurants. This is a wonderful tour for Boston locals as well as tourists. |
|
Our knowledge of Italian community increased |
| |
Fri, Jun 27 3:00 PM |
dandtdiercks |
Male |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| |
Beth, our tour guide, was obviously well acquainted with the North End Italian community and its merchants. Her choice of markets, her knowledge of Italian food and cultural details and her rapport with the merchants combined to provide us new appreciation for Italian cooking and an expanded knowledge of the Boston North End community. Handouts Beth provided gave us information about area restaurants and ways of contacting by mail or Internet the markets we visited. Primarily as a result of our tour, we stayed in the North End after the tour to enjoy dinner and returned to the North End the following day to continue our walking tour...and another meal. We would do a similar tour again. |
