Michele Topor, Inc.

If touring without a guide, I would have not relized the little jewels that are found in each store, bakery, and restaurant. I needed someone to point out the treasures galore that are available to me in the north end.

Who knew eggplant has a gender?! Michele was facinating from start to finish, we have already reccommed the tour to many others. We could not believe the amount of information we received, just couldn't retain it all. Michele had a way of presenting the information and the neighborhood in a manner to keep you interested and feeling like a part of the area. Thank you, Michele! We had a great time. Ed & Jan White

Have been on this tour 4 times! Enjoyable each time. New friends who come with me will also return.

This tour gave an interesting account of how the North End developed as a community of immigrants bound by their culture and love of good food. I enjoyed learning about the types of foods brought here from Italy, and how dishes were adapted to the American palate. The tastings were great. The group size was 12 and not too large. I took this tour as an individual, and enjoyed visiting with the other group members who made it a fun experience. Beth was an enthusiastic tour guide who gave a great deal of information and answered all questions. I recommend the tour for anyone who wants to learn about Italian food, good ingredients and history as an added bonus!

Great details on the history of the North End and some interesting stops along the way. Food samples were great. Tour was a little pricy compared to other similar tours in "Litty Italy" areas in other parts of the country.

I would recommend this to any food lover, cook or Italian...Michelle is warm, witty and has tons of knowledge. She provides you with great information and make the tour fun at the same time. I would go again, it was that great!!

Great history of the North End. Became acquainted with some businesses that we might have just walked past. Tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our recent North End Market tour, led by Beth. It was a great way to visit shops, some of which we otherwise might not have frequented. Her local history, knowledge, recipes and tidbits of information were very interesting. She kept the tour moving, while really engaging everyone. We have since, and will in the future, visit some of the shops on the tour. We anticipate giving tour gift certificates as presents for the holidays! Great job!

Would recommend

We took the 3 pm Friday tour on 9/22. Tour guide was exceptionally long-winded and had lots of information to share, just didn't seem to be able to do it in a timely manner. We ended up going over 40 minutes. Who has 3 hrs and 40 min of attention span? Also, guide offered opinions on items not applicable to tour, such as going on and on about Stonewall Kitchen products. Also - lots of anti-Americanism, by which I mean, throwing the stinkeye on American eating habits as compared to Italian eating habits. It is possible to convey information without expressing an opinion. Also - asking people, "who has not heard of an apertif?" is not the best way to explain what an apertif is. I liked the tour, but it could really be compressed into 2 hrs, 2 1/2 hrs max. You could also use more context and history at the beginning, instead of the rambling intro given at the wine store. Guide also used superlatives to describe everything - hard to tell if anything actually was wonderful, or just everything is wonderful and scrumptious, etc. Suggest giving guides an agenda for each stop and a time period so that tour moves along at a brisk clip and doesn't get so boring that people have to leave the tour.

Our guide was terrific and the tour was wonderful. I learned about new stores and new products and wanted to try everything. We were served many wonderful tastes, which did their job of enticing me to buy lots of good Italian specialties. I highly recommend this tour to locals and visitors alike!!

We throughly enjoyed the tour and learned a great deal about true italian cuisine and the North End. Meeting the storekeepers was a highlight as well as the tastings. Wish we received a "discount" at the stores we visited as we did return after the tour to buy lots of goodies from Maria's Pastry Store and that awesome balsamic vinegar from Salumeria's.

The North End Market Tour is an informative, yet informal, introduction to the history and culture of Italian Americans in this Boston neighborhood. As an academic who studies food and an aficianado of cooking schools and walking tours, I eagerly looked forward to my tour of the salumerias, pastry shops, grocery stores, and more--and was greatly impressed by the knowledge the tour guide imparted. In addition to offering a concise history of the area, our guide gave us cooking secrets, introduced us to a panoply of ingredients used in Italian American cooking, gave us pointers on buying olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wines, and other cosmestibles, and introduced us personally to many shop owners. The free samples that awaited us at each stop were delicious, and the generosity of the purveyors was, in my experience, unmatched. This tour is a valuable resource to people interested in Italian American culture, immigrant history, or just folks wondering where the best cannolis in the area may be found. Kudos to Michelle and her staff for preserving such an important part of Boston's--and America's--culinary history.

A definite must do when in Boston!! No place as much like Europe this side of the Atlantic.

It was nice to visit some of the hidden gems of the North End. Michele was very effective at conveying her passion for her neighborhood, and the shop owners were friendly. Group sizes of 11-13 can make for a tight fit in some of the smaller shops, but it's not uncomfortable. My wife and I would recommend this tour to both locals and out of town friends.