Michele Topor, Inc.

Almost felt like we were in Italy! Our tour guide Beth did a wonderful job describing the authentic Italian food we were tasting at each shop and combining the tastings with the history of the North End from the English settlers to today. I have been all over Boston and to the North End many times and still learned so much from the tour. I highly recommend it for everyone from locals to tourists.

Chris was great....very informative, personable and fun!

We had a great time touring the North End of Boston with our knowledgeable guide. Loved the the hand outs of recommended shops as we will be back to shop there. I thought the tour could have been shorter and less expensive, however. Three hours of mostly standing wasn't comfortable.

What a great way to spend a Saturday morning! My friend and I booked the tour to celebrate her birthday, and I'm so glad we did. We live in the Boston area, and my friend made a family trip to China last fall, yet we had only sampled a few local dim sum places, and didn't know much about the history or breadth of Boston's Chinatown. WOW, did Jim change all that! He is a friendly, enthusiastic, very knowledgeable guide with a wealth of detail at every turn. He obviously had a great rapport with the local merchants and restaurants, and anticipated the needs of them and the guests so smoothly, down to gently guiding us where to stand in the tiny shops. He clearly prepared and honed his tour over years of experience -- his bulging totebag yielded many tasty surprises. We felt completely at ease and surrounded by the ebb and flow of the neighborhood, like we were on our own weekly marketing trip. Jim chose both delicious samples of food, and enlightening tidbits of trivia, history, and cultural awareness to share with us. We were snapping photos, sharing bites, making mental notes of places to revisit, and chatting with our fellow tour participants the whole time, it flew by. Saving the best for last, our dim sum banquet was just wonderful -- the restaurant was bustling, the dishes stacked higher and higher, and everyone ate more than their fill, including most folks sampling something outside their comfort zone (like chicken feet) for the first time. Aside from the amazing food (and bubble teas!), our favorite stop was at the traditional Chinese pharmacy, it was so great to hear from the owners about their business and see local customers coming in for their favorites. We felt like we were really experiencing another culture nestled within Boston, it was wonderful. The tour was filled with thoughtful flourishes, right down to the keepsake soup spoon -- it was a great experience, and worth every penny. We are already looking forward to booking the North End "little Italy" tour next time a big birthday comes around! :) Thank you to Jim, he sparked a new pair of dedicated dim sum diners and mooncake mavens that morning.

Informational and fun is the best way to describe this tour. I can't believe how the time flew by-must be because it was so interesting. The dim sum lunch was delicious and very enjoyable. I'd recommend this tour to any adult-young or older.

Our guide, Beth, was very knowledgeable about the historic North End. Her grandfather was born there. Her knowledge of the various food establishments is extensive. A result of Beth's wonderful tour, all of our future visits to Boston (from Portland, Maine) will include a visit to the North End--for both shopping for gourmet food and dining.

People will want to note that this is a MARKET tour. (Perhaps a simple title change to Market Tour of North End would make this clearer.) The tour does take you to various small markets - a bakery, a butcher shop, a green grocer, wine store, etc - all of which are locally owned and run. That's a positive. The specialty items of the store are pointed out and explained - another positive. At times quite small samples are shared; but they are adequate and give one a sense of the product. However, the tour lasts 3 hours and you are on your feet the whole time in small spaces. Essentially you are talked to the whole time. That was just too long for us. And the price, for that kind of tour, was a little high. We have been on other food tours but this was our least favorite.

The tour was one of the best parts of my family's trip to Boston! Our tour guide was very informative and knowledgeable about everything relative to the tour as well as the city itself. We learned a great deal about cooking and finding authentic ingredients to use. Afterwards, we returned to many of the places we visited on the trip to purchase various products we learned about. I highly suggest this tour whether you are a local or not and especially if you like to cook. Additionally, it was even more interesting having an Italian background and learning about the history of Italy in relation to food.

If you love food or love to cook and enjoy history than this is the tour for you. We learned about the North End, the adaptations of Italian food served in America and some Italy history. Jim was so knowledgable and he enjoys what he does. If you ever wondered about balsamic, olive oil or cinammon he can tell you. We tasted lots of great food. This tour is worth every penny. Enjoy!

We took this tour because we did one in Italy and loved it! The North End trip gave us a short and informative history of the North End. The tour visited several local shops with information about the "products" and some tastings. Being a nice Saturday afternoon it was crowded in the North End so many of the stores were busy which was a little distracting from the "lecture" session.I would recommend taking the earlier tour as the 3:00 ended at 6 and then there really wasn't time to do shopping because we were starving and needed to go have dinner. We are looking forward to revisiting the North End and shop in the suggested shops and then have dinner at one of the recommended restaurants.

I'm really not a foodie, but who doesn't like spending a few hours in the North End? I originally thought $60 for a 3 hour tour - by the time you add the tax and svc charge, was too much money, but by the end of the tour, I knew it was well worth it, in tips and tricks alone. It's so nice to see the real sense of community within the North End. It's like it's own little town, and made me wish I could walk into my local stores and "they would know my name". This tour is fun, worth it, and a great "investment"...but I won't spoil the secrets. Take the tour and you'll see why.

We booked a quick trip to Boston and had used zerve for food tours in both Chicago and new Orleans that we loved. I went to this link http://www.zerve.com/ThingsToDo/Culinary_Food_Walking_Tours/ and saw the Boston tour and booked it. This is a market tour and not a food tour. My disappointment may be with ZERVE for listing this as a food tour. Had I done more research, I probably would have picked one of the other food tours that zerve sells in Boston. If you are looking for a market tour, I agree with the other negative post, we went in shops and customers couldn't enter. As we entered another store selling the same things, we didn't bother going in. Very disappointing.

John was very knowledgeable and personable. There were five of us in the group and he made us feel like friends though we hadn't met most of the others before. The merchants were very welcoming and provided tasty treats. The information we received has and will continue to influence our choice of products. We look forward to future visits to the North End to shop and eat.

We had a "stay-cation" and joined Jim Becker on a walking tour of the North End. As a former chef and restaurant owner his knowledge of food and wine and his passion for quality products was evident throughout the three hours we spent strolling through shops. We loved the tour so much when we learned he was leading a tour to Chinatown the following day we signed up for it. We were equally pleased and delighted. It was fun to spend time with the tour participants learning about the nuances of Dim Sum and sampling the variety of delicious foods. We highly recommend it for both local residents and visitors to Boston.

Jim was a fantastic tour guide! My brother and I enjoyed the tour so much and we learned more than we ever expected to about Chinese food and culture! I now feel confident finding my way around Chinatown to eat and shop. Thank you Jim, for sharing your knowledge with us! You were a warm and welcoming host who made everyone feel like honored guests on the tour!