Chicago Food Planet Food Tours

Hi all,

we are visiting Chicago in about 2 weeks and we think aboit taking one of those "Chicago Food Planet Food Tours".

I know that locals probably don't participate in such tours 'cause they don't need it, but can someone tell me, if it is worth it, anyway? The cost is 40$ and is described as follows:
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"Our guided, narrated Near North Food Tour visits 8 food tasting locations in the historic, delicious Gold Coast, Old Town, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods. All food tastings, enough for lunch, are included in the ticket price.

Delicious food specialties are served on the Near North Food Tour from:

* An award-winning Italian stuffed pizzeria (est. 1978)
* America’s top spice and herb specialty shop (est. 1957)
* A fudge and confectioner specialty store (est. 1963)
* A gourmet foods store and cheese shop (est. 1977)
* An authentic Ashkenazic Jewish deli (est. 1975)
* An aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil specialty store (est. 2007)
* A high-end specialty loose tea and tisanes merchant (est. 1978)
* A gourmet chocolate lounge (est. 2005)"

www.chicagofoodplanet.com
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What do you guys think?

Thanks!
kai

Hi,

The above looks interesting and something I might do as a visitor to another city. I was already guessing which stores they may be referring to. I did look at the video as well, I liked their advice to take it early in your visit to allow a return trip, if desired.

Evelyn Thompson is a friend who does Ethnic Grocery Store tours in various areas of the city. I have gone on a few trips with her via our Culinary Historians group. There was a recent post on her tours you may want to review.

Whatever tour you do take, please give feedback because it will be useful to a future traveler.

Regards,

Hi,

I actually took this tour a few months ago and really enjoyed it. I am a local but was curious about what places were included. It turned out I'd previously been to about half the places so those weren't that interesting to me, but the tourists in the group really seemed to enjoy all the spots. My favorite aspects of the tour were the tidbits of historical information and anecdotes about the neighborhoods. There was a lot of interesting information about buildings, architecture, populations, etc. mixed in with the food talk, plus it was a very enjoyable walk.

This could be a spoiler, but if you're interested in more details about the tour you can read my post on it here http://foodiereflections.com/?p=88.

Enjoy your trip to Chicago.

Jackie

Im actually doing the Wicker Park tour this Saturday. I was invited to take the tour & write about it and take some pictures for my blog.

Even though I have lived in Chicagoland for over 40 years there is always something to learn, & it was/is a good excuse to get into Chicago for the day.

Plus the tour ends right near Big Star... win, win.

I ended up rather randomly meeting Chicago Food Planet's founder/owner Shane at Finca Belavista, a sustainable treehouse community, in the southern zone of Costa Rica this Spring. Really nice guy, and an extremely odd coincidence given that I had been subbing for Chicago's bicycle-based food tours, Fork and the Road (run by LTH'ers) the previous Summer.

-Dan