I Can't Believe I Ate My Way Through Chinatown!

This was a very fun and yummy tour. We had a great time!

Shirley Fong-Torres led our group of 8, giving us an interesting history of herself and Chinatown as we walked and ate our way through the area. She was funny, warm, welcoming, and very inclusive of each and every member of the group. Food selections were plentiful and we were made to feel comfortable whether or not the food sampling was to our tastes. When one of the planned restaurants was closed on Sunday morning, Shirley remained unflappable and didn't give up on finding us jook for breakfast. We came across a lion dance and since the group wanted to linger, Shirley remained flexible and went and retrieved goodies from the bakery, the next planned stop, so we could stay and watch the dance. It was a great way to sample lots of different foods with the comfort of someone knowledgeable ordering and explaining what we had to eat. I loved the tidbits that she shared about her upbringing, her family, and the ways of Chinatown. My sister was visiting from NC and suggested that we look into a food walking tour because she had been on one in NYC and had such a good time. It was a great idea and a wonderful choice. I highly recommend it to anyone and I hope to enjoy it again - - next time with my daughter!

Shirley Fong-Torres is absolutely fabulous! She's vivacious and and fun and a great story-teller. Chinese food has never been my favourite - until this tour. The food was wonderful. It's a great tour for people on their own, because the group is small. There were 7 in our tour. I can't rave enough about it. I've already recommended it to all my friends.

Delightful company, but we expected more detail about the foods and more of the unique and special dishes of Chinese cuisine. Different regional styles might have been emphasized. The tour seemed more geared to the palate of a tourist from the Midwest than a person visiting from a large metropolitan area who has eaten Chinese food fairly regularly. Where was the jellyfish, dried oyster, frog's legs, etc? The pork with salt fish and bitter-melon with beef were definitely along the right line. And the stories behind them, their culinary significance, were a treasured part of the tour. Add more of that sort of thing. Our expectation wasn't just to taste a lot of food, but to taste and learn about the really unique dishes that we would never know to order unless we spoke Chinese. This said, I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting San Francisco who wanted to eat good Chinese food with the fun, exhuberant Shirley Fong-Torres. She is so worh the price of a ticket.

SPECTULAR WAY TO EXPERIENCE CHINA TOWN.

We went on the tour on Sat 8 April 2006. After convening at the Wok Wiz site at 10 am, the tour started with a 25-min introduction of the tour and fellow participants. Shirley then took us to Portland Square to describe her own background. The rest of the tour consisted of sampling delicious food. If that wasn't enough, soon after a full lunch was served in a local restaurant. I think the menu varies. Many of the group gave up after one or two dishes. All in all a very pleasant experience. You do not get much insight into the Chinese culture, but Shirley is very open to questions. A useful way to experience unusual Chinese food in authentic settings. All of the above happens in a 3-hour time span, so don't be surprised to feel completely full (and perhaps more than full) for the remainder of the day.

We consider ourselves world travelers and knowledgable about other cultures and their food customs. We still learned a few things while having a great time. The group size is small enough to allow for many questions and you cover a lot and eat a lot. You are introduced to some restaurants and foods you would not have found unless you had a guide. We covered breakfast including dim sum, lunch with a wide variety of selections and desserts. Shirley provided much insight into the Chinese community and what keeps it such a vital part of San Francisco today. We were looking for several specific items and we were quickly directed to places to buy them. After shopping on our own, we found the suggested stores also had provided the best buys. We were introduced to a great tea shop while on the tour and we returned there the next day. The shop offers focused tastings which allow you to taste teas based on what characteristics you like. I was very impressed with the whole experience and would take another tour. Shirley works hard to keep everyone in the group involved in the experience and she has a wonderful sense of humor. I'd love to take a cooking class with her.

I went on this tour alone and met such great people. Shirley was an amazing host, she made great effort to get to know each and everyone of us in the group. She was charming, funny as all get out and very knowledgeable. We ate like mad people. I learned so much about the culture and origins of chinese people and food. AND I ate the 1000 yr old egg!!! I highly recommend this tour!

My husband and I scheduled this tour because we wanted an authentic Chinese experience. The food was amazing and Shirley does an awesome job ordering all different kinds of dishes and showing us various foods along the way. It was a wonderful food tour and I left very full :) However I thought there was going to be more history involved. So if you are looking to learn the history of Chinatown take the other tour first. But if you love to eat and are only there to experience delicious food then by all means take this tour.

We loved our tour, eating our way through Chinatown in San Francisco with Shirley Fong-Torres! She took us to the yummiest restaurants, ordered great food for us (not "scary" in any way at all), talked about the history of the area and her own very interesting family history as well. I definitely recommend this tour to anyone who loves to eat and wants to learn about Chinatown!