Chicago Food Planet Walking & Tasting Tours
A Cultural Walking and Tasting Tour of Chicago’s Neighbourhoods
Oct 30, 2009
Chicago is a culinary-lover’s dream come true with gastronomic feasts, enterprising chefs, and delicious delicacies. With a knowledgeable food guide to navigate visitors through appetizers to desserts, Chicago Food Planet Tours are a must when visiting this exciting metropolis.
Food Tours Offered in Chicago
Chicago Food Planet operates two different tours: the Near North Food Tour and the Bucktown/Wicker Park Food Tour. Each tour is led by a knowledgeable Chicagoan who guides visitors to their culinary destinations while imparting historical and cultural facts and information on the neighbourhood.
With several tour times operating seven days a week, the food tours conveniently run around the lunch hour and last approximately three hours. Diners are encouraged to come on an empty stomach as there is more than enough food provided. Chicago Food Planet can accommodate diners’ food allergies when booked in advance. Detailed maps are also provided for diners to easily locate the start of the tour.
Bucktown/Wicker Park Tasting Tour
The current tour encompasses a route through these two diverse Neighbourhoods with stops ranging from traditional Chicago favourites like hot dogs and pizza, to Middle Eastern cuisine, pasta salads, hot chocolate, and ice cream. Enough food to fill even the hungriest tourist, the tour also includes an architectural tour through the stately homes surrounding Wicker Park. As well, knowledgeable tour guides provide historical information on the changes the area has undergone since the early 1980s.
Near North Tour Tasting Tour
The Near North Tour of Chicago’s Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park Neighbourhoods features stops for pizza, tea, and spices, as well as desserts and a visit to an authentic Jewish deli. Like the Wicker Park tour, the Chicago Food Planet Tours do not allow for shopping time while the tour is in progress in an effort to keep the tours on pace as there are sometimes other tour groups only thirty minutes behind the previous tours. Coupons for each location are distributed to attendees who are encouraged to return to the establishments to make their purchases.
Each stop lasts 15 to 30 minutes at the maximum in order to keep on schedule. Tour guides phone ahead to let the establishments prepare hot foods if required, such as for the pizza tastings so food is ready as the group arrives. Most places visited do no include seating, so comfortable shoes are recommended. There is at least one thirty minute sit-down stop per tour.
Tours Offer More Than Just Food
Opportunities for photos abound as the tours include walks through historically and culturally significant areas. The pace of the tour is comfortable for people of average mobility and fitness levels. Children are permitted on the tours, as are younger children in strollers. Animals are not allowed on the tour as they visit dining establishments. The tours run with a minimum number of people as some of the stops are quite small and cannot accommodate larger groups, which also adds to the atmosphere of the tour as an intimate experience. Private group tours can also be arranged. Tours sell out quickly so advance booking is advised.
The Wicker Park Tour and Near North Tours are both highly recommended for any trip to the Windy City. More information can be found on the Chicago Food Planet’s website.
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