My husband and I attended the near north tour with another couple while on vacation during the first week of June. We loved it. It was informative, fun, and yummy. Nicky was a wonderful guide. Our favorite places were the Spice Merchant (with a huge variety of fresh spices and employees that could answer all our cooking questions) and the Fudge Pot (a fudge and chocolate shop with amazing toffee). We liked several of the places so much that we went back on another day and used coupons that we were given on the tour. The Spice Merchant even shipped our purchases home for us, and they were waiting on us when we returned from vacation. This was my favorite activity of our vacation. It was a great experience and we will be attending the other food tour they offer when we return to Chicago.

We took the north side tour on a rainy Thursday, but that did little to dampen our spirits. It was a very interesting way to take an up close look at a small part of a large city. We were fortunate enough to take the tour with a terrific tour guide, Ariana (sp?)..... it's hard to imagine a better host.

My wife and I did the Near-North tour this morning while we were downtown celebrating my birthday. We live in the suburbs, about 45 minutes from downtown. Jesse was a great tour guide, the tour covers a great area, and you get lots of great info. I can't wait to try the Bucktown/Wicker Park tour!

On the Tripadvisor Forum, a lot of posters recommend, “getting out into the neighborhoods” of Chicago. I could never figure this out. What neighborhoods? I live in the suburbs - How would a tourist ever know what neighborhoods to visit outside the loop, museums and major attractions?
The Chicago Food Planet Tour is an excellent way to see the real Chicago. My sister and I took the Bucktown/Wicker Park tour and loved it. I had never been to this part of town before, but I’d love to go back. For a very reasonable $44, you get a tour of an interesting neighborhood, architectural and historical highlights, and enough tasty food to fill you for the rest of the day. Our tour began at 12:30 and lasted until 3:45. We stopped at a hot dog stand, a classy restaurant that served the best chocolate drink I’ve ever tasted, a deli that served pasta salad, a pizza place where we were served pizza and beer, a middle eastern restaurant where we had falafel sandwiches, and an ice cream parlor where we sampled a white chocolate/cream soda/nutella concoction that was excellent. We had a great group of people on our tour that made the experience a lot of fun.
We did the tour on a beautiful spring day, but dress for the weather since you will be outside for most of the time. Wear comfortable shoes since there is quite a bit of walking.