I booked the Secret Food Tours Austin at the recommendation of a family member who had participated in a Secret Food Tour in another city. I also added the beverage option with our reservations.* This was our first time visiting Austin, Texas and we thought this would be a good way to learn about it. We were not disappointed. Benjamin was our tour guide. He was at all times prompt, professional, friendly, and knowledgeable about Austin and the wonderful restaurants he was showcasing. The foods we tasted were fresh and delicious! Our drink option included alcoholic drinks, but a couple of us requested "mocktails" instead and Benjamin was happy to accommodate our request. Each food and drink were perfectly paired. Benjamin also pointed out the history and sights around Austin and our walk was at a comfortable pace. Greatly enjoyed our afternoon and we highly recommend Secret Food Tours Austin. * I am glad I booked two weeks ahead of our stay. While there are a lot of slots available, most of them were already booked! read more

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Since this was my first trip to Austin, we decided to book a food tour to familiarize ourselves with the Downtown area and get some tasty treats along the way. We had a group of six plus our tour guide, Zack. Before we started, he let us know what our itinerary was for the day which included six different meal items during a three hour tour. (Cue Gilligan Island theme song). We walked around the Fareground food hall before going to our first stop at Veracruz for migas tacos, which are breakfast tacos stuffed with scrambled eggs, tortilla chips, onions, jalapenos and cheese. This was my first migas tacos so it was a great way to start our tour. We walked along the Congress Street bridge and Zack told us about activities around the river and told us about the different sections of Austin. As we walked, he would point out landmarks in downtown where we could find live music, comedy clubs, speakeasies and karaoke. Our second stop was at Cooper's Barbecue, where we got to enjoy amazing brisket along with beans and sweet tea. Zack also gave us instructions on how to order and the proper etiquette when ordering for barbecue joints. After eating such a heavy meal, we walked around quite a bit before our next stop for refreshing smoothies. Our fourth stop was to enjoy Tacos El Pastor. We made a complete circle and made it back to the Fareground food court for our last two items. The fifth item of the day were pork arepas, and we finished off our tour with caramel cheesecakes. The amount and quantity of the food we received was above and beyond what I expected. I've been to numerous food tours where the food was sometimes lacking. That was not the case with our tour. I loved the ease in which Zack told us about different locations and shared with us his favorite spots in Austin. I think a group of six was just the perfect size to be able to leisurely do the walking tour . We enjoyed getting to know the two couples on the tour with us. I would highly recommend Secret Tours and Zach specifically. read more

Had an amazing time on the Secret Food Tour in Austin with our guide Juan! He was hilarious, super knowledgeable, and made the history, culture, and food scene come alive. Every stop was local, tasty, and full of Austin character. Even with a big group (plus a toddler), the pacing was smooth--though the tour did go longer than expected, which honestly just meant more fun for us! Juan also hooked us up with iconic photo spots, hidden speakeasy tips, and recommendations for places to try later. Highly recommend this tour (especially with Juan) if you're ready to eat great food and soak up real Austin vibes! read more

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I booked the Secret Food Tour in Austin directly with Secret Food Tours for March 25, 2024 at 1:00 pm. I got the upgraded drinks package to my ticket. My husband and I went to the meeting spot at the Ellis cocktail bar - 111 Congress Ave and met our guide, AJ. AJ checked us in on his phone and we waited for a few minutes prior to our tour starting. AJ welcomed us and asked everyone to introduce ourselves. We headed to our first stop, Veracruz All Natural at 111 E Cesar Chavez St, for breakfast tacos. Our group grabbed tables and AJ bought the food to us. The breakfast taco was delicious and the sangria was really good as well. AJ provided a brief background about the Vazquez sisters journey from a local staple food truck to a brick and mortar. Then, we headed to Fareground At One Eleven which is downtown Austin's beautifully modern food hall. We had a reuben slider from JewBoy Sliders. OMGSH so good! AJ informed us that we were lucky to try JewBoy Sliders before they closed their Fareground location but have another location in Austin. We walked around and stopped at the tallest artwork in Austin and took a group picture. Next culinary stop was JuiceLand. We all got the Honey Beary smoothie and played a game of guessing what the components were. After, we stopped at Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que at 217 Congress Ave to get pit-style BBQ brisket, pinto beans, and a cider. Our group sat upstairs and were the only ones there. For our last stop, we went back to Fareground At One Eleven while AJ picked up food from ZIKI (a favorite Greek + Mexican Food Truck) and bought dessert to us from another vendor at Fareground. Before we departed each other, we went around the table saying what our favorite dish was. All the food AJ bought us was mouthwatering, delicious, and succulent. I was completely stuffed by the time we finished this tour. During the tour, AJ provided history and recommendations for things to do in Austin. Each establishment had water and restrooms. He was very sociable and I enjoyed this tour a lot. Tips for guides were not included in the ticket price so we gave him a tip at the end. I highly recommend the Secret Food Tour in Austin for the food choices, information, and a wonderful experience. The other people on the tour were really friendly too and it felt like we were a family at the end. read more

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2 hours into a 3 hour tour (cue the soundtrack to Gilligan's Island), we had half a meatball sandwich and a cold chicken empanada. This felt rather like a slow grind on gentrification. I get it. I just don't need 3 hours of it. The word "culinary" isn't appropriate for the tour at all. There was no "pairing" with the additional drink package, except for what we did ourselves. The guide was a very nice guy. That's not enough to justify the price. We will be asking for our money back. We might get lucky? I'm not upset that the tour wasn't identical to what was listed. I'm all about creativity and experimentation. This just seemed half thought through. Maybe the last part was exceptional. The two stars is for the first two hours before we left the tour and went self-guided. The rest of this is a copy/paste from their website (with my comments in parens): We'll begin in front of Austin's most famous mural, a testament to the city's creative and expressive spirit. (TRUE) First up, you'll delight in a specialty iced coffee drink with a cult-like following to help you cool down in that hot Texan sun. (Well, I think we were at the right place but no drinks for us.) Next, you'll discover why Austin has been named the #1 taco city in America as you chow down on authentic Mexican street taco with Lebanese roots. (We skipped the tacos too for some reason. I love street tacos.) After which, it's time to learn what the locals actually order at the city's hippest pizza joint. (We were served a half a meatball sandwich each. Then another guide crashed our tour, taking blog pictures and videos. She was kind of like the laugh track on a sitcom. Performant. It didn't help things. The meatball sandwich was very good! I think they messed the order up though, because on our way out one of the staff brought us a pizza to apologize. It was a little awkward.) On our walk, you'll discover firsthand how "weird" our city really is as you pass by the eclectic shops and colorful murals that make up this quirky artistic enclave. (True. Austin is awesome and SoCo is super weird and interesting!) (We were two hours into a three hour tour at this point, hanging out for some reason in a souvenir shop when we decided to go off on our own instead. Presumably all the rest would fit into the last hour. I was hungry, thirsty, and bored at this point.) Of course, no visit to SoCo would be complete without stopping by the most amazing candy shop the world has ever known. And finally, relax in a one of a kind diner that is sure to get your gears turning with a wonderfully southern treat - a Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie! As with all our tours, there's also our delicious Secret Dish. read more

This "secret" tour regularly comes to the very popular full service restaurant that I have worked at for years. My coworkers and I always dread to see them coming. They tell their customers total outlandish lies about our business during their spiel (a script their bosses give them). They act like they are our coworkers, interrupting our flow of business by walking up to us and trying to order or pay discreetly while we are at our service terminals, getting in our way and making our jobs harder. At a full service restaurant, your server comes to your table and takes your order/brings you your check. Payment areas are for employees which these "guides" are not. They are known for being a general nuisance. They are instructed to give their guests the least impressive item on our menu (the only item with a frozen element) presumably because it is the cheapest, telling their guests that it's a "secret" item that only the locals know to order. This is a lie. Guests always look a little disappointed that they didn't get the item our restaurant is known for. They are right to be disappointed. The tour guides are also notorious for coming in drunk/coked out and/or drinking secretly during the tour. My restaurant does not take reservations or call aheads; certain tour guides have thrown fits and verbally abused our hosts for not being prioritized in seating. No one gets priority seating. This tour is a RIP OFF run by people that are not local to Austin or even the USA and have no clue what they are talking about, simply looking to exploit tourists that don't know any better. It's pathetic, it's embarrassing, and severely irritating to put up with on a daily basis. Do better. read more

We had a wonderful time on this tour. Zachary, our tour guide did a great job of keeping the tour entertaining and sharing some Austin history with us! We enjoyed everything we had and it was all delicious. We tried two different types of tacos, brisket, a smoothie, an empanada and finished with caramel filled churros! All were from local businesses in downtown. It was a fun experience we would definitely recommend. read more

I booked a food tour online for the date of October 9th, 2021 on line. I booked this tour for a friend as I as part of their birthday gift. This walking food tour took those in attendance to various restaurants in downtown ATX to sample one menu item from each location. The tour I was a part of included the tasting at the following establishments: Velvet Taco, DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana, Gloria's Latin Cuisine, Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que, Juice Land, and Taco Deli. During this walking tour, each establishment's history was discussed to provide tour goers with a bit of background about the establishment and what inspired the food and vibe. This information proved to be informational for non-local tour participants. I will admit I wasn't as impressed with the information given on the tour as I am not a tourist. For those who come from our of town, this tour is worth a try. Hopefully, their tours wills start on time as our tour started about twenty minutes late. read more

Secret Food Tours - The photo our tour guide snapped of us at the end of the food tour. - Food Tours Near Me

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Really great opportunity to check out local restaurants in soco Austin. Our your guide was informative had a great personality and treated you like a friend visiting town. Thank you Zachary ! read more

So 3 stars for most of the food choices being pretty good and our tour guide was entertaining. However, there wasn't as much variety as I assumed there would be for the price we paid. Downtown Austin really isn't that big so it was fairly easy to get around. We stopped at Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ, Veracruz All Natural, Jo's Coffee, Velvet Taco, Henbit and Little Wu (The last two at Fareground). The tour guide was engaging and had some fun facts about Austin. Some of the "facts" were a bit embellished and one of the group challenged him, which was actually hilarious. It added to the entertainment factor and we laughed about it later. This was the first food tour I've ever been on so I didn't have expectations but I feel like it was overpriced. I'm glad we had a 10% off coupon. read more

We had a beautiful day for our tour. We booked through Viator, Austin Walking Food Tour with Secret Food tours. Every stop on the tour was delicious and a variety of foods_ BBQ, smoothie, desert, breakfast wrap, etc. Plenty of food, suggest to go hungry. read more

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3 hour food tour with big servings: bbq, tacos, smoothie, cheesecake, dumpling. Tour guide, Zachary, was AMAZING!

We were not sure what to expect on this tour as someone else booked it for us. I can confidently say that we highly recommend this tour. Pete was amazing and everyone on the tour had a great time and nice sampling of local Austin Fair combined with a bit of history Made for a great three hours. Plenty of photo ops too. We will look for this tour on the next city we visit! read more

We had a wonderful tour with Denise. She is very knowledgeable in the history of Austin but also about the six lovely food stops we had. We saw a nice amount of the city and Denise informed us of the history of each location. Do NOT eat before. Some much food was served I could not eat the rest of the day!! Highly recommend read more

Tour was extremely disorganized, food was fast food quality in most places and tour guide was friendly but not very informative. Wasted 3 hours and $80 on mostly not great food. Will never go back. read more

I think your experience with this tour is very dependent on the guide. Our guide was well-meaning but very disorganized and I think we taught him more about Austin than he taught us. Also keep in mind that Austin is not, historically, a food town (like Chicago, NOLA, San Fran), with various cultures/ethnicities lending to the cuisine. So you're gonna eat tacos and tamales and may feel like you've been cheated with the $80 cost. We would not do it again - learned nothing about Austin, sadly, and basically ate casual foods. read more