Chicago Food Planet Food Tours: Honing in on the best neighborhood food and beverages
With an overwhelming amount of food and drink options in the city, Chicago Food Planet Food Tours helps narrows it down. Part food tour, part architectural tour, Planet enlists knowledgeable tour guides to navigate groups of foodies through Chicago’s hippest neighborhoods.
Founded in 2006, Chicago Food Planet started with the Near North neighborhood tour then added the Wicker Park/Bucktown tour in 2008. From local dwellers to Canada, groups of people flock to not only learn about Chicago’s eclectic food scene, but also to sample the award-winning food. The Wicker Park/Bucktown tour commences at old school establishment George’s Hot Dog, which was around way before most of the current shops were. Guests are presented with the quintessential Chicago hot dog topped with onions, peppers, tomatoes and of course mustard. Quickly following the hearty dog, the group saunters across the street to Mindy’s Hot Chocolate for a tasty chocolate beverage and a homemade fluffy marshmallow. After washing the remnants of that dog down, sampling pasta salad from organic deli and market The Goddess and the Grocer comes next. A couple of blocks later, the group leaves Bucktown and crosses into Wicker Park where brewpub Piece eschews Chicago deep dish pizza for thin crust New Haven-style pizza and beer. The stomach’s getting full, so that’s when the residential walking tour activates.
During the tour, it’s revealed how the ‘hood has gentrified from cheap housing into the million dollar mansions of today. The guide points out a few of the more interesting homes in the neighborhood like the ones modeled after the Swiss Chalet and Queen Anne school of designs. After discovering where The Real World Chicago and scenes from the movie High Fidelity were shot, it’s back to the food with two more stops. Guests feast on Sultan’s Market number one seller, the falafel sandwich, then must save room for the sixth and final stop, ice cream. Using liquid nitrogen, the innovative iCream cafe concocts over 200,000 combinations of flavors together. Three hours later, guests will most likely be enlightened and satiated.
HelloChicago Tip: Since the two neighborhood tours of Near North and Wicker Park/Bucktown feature different tastings, it’s recommended to try both. The tours cater to vegetarians and people with food allergies, so just mention it when registering.
Posted by Garin Pirnia
