If you're doing a food tour and you're walking through the city, you should definitely have some…read morehands sanitizer or have spots along the way, picked out to be regularly washing your hands. You also should refrain from touching people's plates and cups as you discuss and show them the food items. I understand it's a food tour, but especially when you don't have clean hands, it's highly unsanitary! It's also a good idea to not greet dogs and let them lick all over you ... your hands.... your arms AND your face while you're interacting with people who are eating food, bringing them food from the restaurant & leading a tour. It's a good idea to give people space after you give them the information about the tour and the food and the art and let them socialize with the people that they came with. We should not have experience the person who is giving the tour or learning how to give a tourist next to you constantly asking you questions about what you're eating, what you're trying, where you're from or other questions that are really irrelevant .. it is pretty annoying & doesn't allow you to enjoy the experience fully. It's not a good idea to take shortcuts, because it's easier for you as the tour guide. One of our group members ate meat. The other 2 are vegetarians, but to keep it simple or make it easier. She was repeatedly offered vegetarian options and not given the opportunity to try the meat options along the tour. This was frustrating as you were very clear when setting up the tour, what the food restrictions were, we reminded them again when we got to the beginning of the tour and also reminded along the tour. How often will we need to say it in order to get the full experience. Although the tour guide and her trainee were very nice & social, it is not likely not an experience we'll do again.

We had a fun day in Solvang with our guide Hannah. Although we were locals, it was great to find…read moresome new spots we had not visited before. Hannah was very friendly and accommodating to our requests. There was plenty of food to eat and a couple of adult beverages included. The photo tips were marginal, but we didn't care as we booked the tour for the fun of walking around town and tasting the delicious food. The highlight was Kim Jensen, owner of the Ingeborg's Danish Chocolates, giving us a wonderful tour of his factory and sharing lots of chocolate treats!

After being super excited to walk, explore, eat, and drink with friends.....we were all totally let…read moredown by the amount of actual tastings provided. Out guide was Nancy, and she was super sweet, thoughtful, and insightful, but my review isn't based on her. It's based on experience and value. What did $270 plus tip get us over 4 hours? 2 regular sized margaritas, one small one and a total of 5 Street sized tacos and some very unathentic churrros. I would have loved to have options of some kind, we were served whatever meat they wanted to serve. These tacos were not authentic and definitely were not filling, we all were starving when we left. We definitely did more walking and talking than eating and drinking. Would definitely say, for the price, you're better off bar/taco hopping yourself. I gave 3 stars since I went with good friends and Nancy was sweet.

What a wonderful tour we had! I am so happy we went on this…read moretour, we had a fantastic guide, Georgia, that was so very knowledgeable about the Santa Barbara history and she also had a great spunky personality that made the tour even better. We got plenty of food! Definitely no need to eat lunch after as was our plan. Delicious dishes! My favorite was a Thai salad with Mango, but we also had street tacos, and a cheese board oh wait maybe that was my favorite... or maybe the ice cream?! Oh also had chicken parmigiana and tagliatelle served with a fun Margarita! Yummy.... We also had one really great wine tasting, the only "bad" part was that I really wanted to order some wine but we kinda moved on before we got the chance to order. If I would change anything I would ask that they maybe give you a little more heads up. Georgia did a great job weaving together stories about both historical events and famous people in SB history with architectural information. I would highly recommend you put some comfy shoes on and book this tour ASAP!

We had a fantastic fun 4 hour tour eating our way through Santa Barbara today!…read more To start, it's not just a food tasting tour because one learns all about Santa Barbara history. Our guide, Manuel, was not only a great guide but a fun person to talk with, ask questions to and gave the 8 of us on this tour an insight into the city, it's good and much more. One of the great things about this company is they are open to understanding any food issues one has. In our group we had people who don't eat dairy, others who don't eat beef and another who can't have much sugar and when told ahead of time they ordered food that each of us could eat. We started with macarons (not macaroons), had Italian food, wine, Mexican food, empenadas, beer, ice cream and more as we toured State Street and other places in the area on what turned out to be a 4-hour tour. If we had a suggestion, it would be not to start with macarons, but to finish with them, as it seemed a bit weird starting with a cookie-type baked good, although they were delicious. One of the nice things about our tour is that there were just the 8 of us good friends, and Manuel fit right in. So if you're looking for bites of good food and learning about the city, the Santa Barbara Tasting Tour is a great way to do it, and kudos to Allison for setting this up for us!

We've never been to Santa Barbara or a food tour before. After looking around we decided to go with…read morethis tour. They do discourage kids, but to contact and let them know upon booking if you will be bringing kids. We have 3 kids (7,5, and 2 years). They did great! It was just enough walking and resting/stopping and eating for them. We met our tour guide Manuel (I think that's what his name was) along with the rest of the group at Arlington theater. He then gave use a quick history of Santa Barbara and the town. He also passed out a summary of the 6 different places that we'll be stopping at. First stop was Renaud's Patisserie and Bistro where we got a quick lesson about macaroons. We tried an assortment of them. We had Lemon, Raspberry, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, pistachio, and strawberry. It was a good start to the day. Second stop was Ca'Dario where we tried brow butter and sage spinach ravioli and a bolognese. This stop was our favorite. It was so good. Even the kids ate the sage! Third stop was II Fustino for Olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. Eh, wasn't our cup of tea. Fourth stop, Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar where we had potsticker (just one potsticker) and yellow chicken thai curry. The potsticker was soft and when you dip it in the spicy sauce it tastes even better. The chicken curry came with some type of noodles. It wasn't too spicy. The kids were able to eat it, but they preferred the potsticker instead. Fifth stop was at Chocolats du CaliBressan where we all had a Buddah shaped chocolate that filled with an ooey creamy caramel that oozed out when you bit into it. SO GOOD! We also got to choose one more chocolate of our choice from the counter. This was our other favorite spot! The last stop was at Cebada Winey where we got to taste some wine. The owner was actually there pouring and presenting the wines. Cebada wines are very light and not too sweet. We got to taste a 2013 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a Blueberry dessert wine. All were very light, but me and husband liked the Chardonnay best. We stayed and our kids got to taste the jams. They tried 3 jams. Blueberry, citrus and one more (I forgot). They liked the blueberry one, so we ended up getting a jar. This tour was very informative and a great way to try a bunch of spots Sanata Barbara has to offer. I would suggest having a lite snack before touring. Otherwise, you might still be hungry. We ate a little something before the tour started and we left feeling contented. We weren't full but weren't hungry. Water is offered at most of the stops and there are restrooms practically everywhere. The tour ran about 2.5 hrs. We did a bit of walking so I would suggest comfortable shoes just like their website states. I would suggest this tour especially if it's tour first time to SB. You get to see some cute shops and plazas along the way that you could stop at after the tour is over. You also learn about some of the buildings, statues and history of the town.

We attended Market Foray's cooking class in January, and it was one of the most enjoyable and…read moreeducational experiences I've had in the kitchen. We started with a trip to the farmer's market, where Laurence pointed out different items and talked through the differences in different types of food (green garlic was new to me!). We later met at her home, and the cooking began. She did a good job of rotating the tasks throughout the group, and explaining the techniques as she went. We got to taste as we went, and after all the chopping was done, wine was served. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and the other participants were friendly and engaged, making it a fun, social experience as well. And, of course, the best part was sitting down at the end to enjoy the fruits of our labor. The dishes we prepared were full of flavor and creativity, and I walked away feeling incredibly satisfied and inspired to keep cooking. I highly recommend this class to anyone who loves food and wants to expand their culinary horizons. Whether you're looking to learn new techniques, discover fresh ingredients, or just have a fun day out, Market Forays is a fantastic choice.

Amazing experience! It was great shopping and cooking with Laurence. She opened the group up to a…read morewhole new world of ingredients from the local farmers market and fish market. We made a whole array of dishes and they all were so simple to make yet so delicious. I would highly recommend taking one of her classes and I would happily do it again

I spent the week in Santa Barbara and had the pleasure of attending a beautifully curated event by…read moreSanta Barbara Tours & Experiences! I also had the great joy of meeting the owner, Joseph. He's immensely personable and knowledgeable of the SB area and kindly shared some locals only recommendations for restaurants and sightseeing. Looking forward to visiting again to enjoy a food and sightseeing tour! Thanks again for helping me with a memorable week in Santa Barbara!

I discovered Santa Barbara Tours and Experiences when I was looking for different ways to discover…read moremy new hometown and I am so glad I did. Joseph was professional, knew his stuff, and made the tour a lot of fun. I look forward to the next one!

Love the tour Folks! They were so accommodating of our food allergies and the spots they took us…read morewere close distance.

Good service!! And the food was amazing too!! Will definitely be back and do this againread more

Full transparency - I DIDN'T go on a wine tour with SB Taste BUT, that goes to show how much of a…read moregentleman the owner, Michael is. Booked one through the Yelp tool which was automatic but never got a confirmation or anything. I told my girlfriend about my plan for my birthday and she surprised me with a wine tour herself. Called to tell Michael that I had to cancel and rather than be bitter, he was giving me recommendations on where to go, which winery has the best type of wine, etc. etc. Just based off of giving great recommendations (which I'll be using) despite me cancelling my tour with him shows a lot of class. A lot of other reviewers can speak to the experience but Michaels character deserved a 5-star review alone.

The short: if you're looking for a highly personalized and exclusive-feeling wine tasting…read moreexperience... I highly recommend Michael and Santa Barbara Taste. The longer: My boyfriend and I were looking to do a private wine tasting for the two of us. I contacted Michael a month or so in advance, was able to pre-pay by credit card (yes - points!!), and found Michael to be so warm and helpful. We got picked up exactly on time in a Mercedes truck and drove 45 minutes to Santa Ynez. We started at Grassini family vineyards - where Jared led us through an incredible tasting experience, and gave us a tour of the property, including the wine cellar and wine production areas. Michael had set up an adorable picnic for us near the lake, but we weren't quite hungry yet, so without question - he picked up and we moved onto the next spot. It was pretty hard to top Grassini, but Roblar Vineyard was beautiful, had such nice staff and an outdoor area where Michael set up a second picnic for us - complete with paninis, chips & glass plates, silverware and cloth napkins. For our last stop, Michael gave us options: we opted to go into Los Olivos - a cute little town with tons of tasting rooms and bars. We had another tasting included and he gave us some free time to drunkenly wonder around town (aka walk across the street). We did Dragonette's tasting room, which was good (but at this point we were both pretty drunk) and then popped across the street, so we could try local beer. Michael dropped us home - and even gave us dinner and local brewery and tasting room suggestions! Thank you, Michael, for a really memorable experience! We appreciate your kindness, knowledge, and professionalism! :-)

Jacob was professional, efficient, friendly. Everything you could ask for as he navigated shuttling…read moreguests at our party. The van was comfy and clean. I highly recommend this company!

By far the best tour company in town! Great day horseback riding and visiting the spectacular wine…read morecountry. If I could give them 6 starts I totally would :)

Celebrated my birthday in Santa Barbara and Melissa is an excellent tour guide. She arranged an…read moreexcellent itinerary and so informative about the history of Santa Barbara

Had a quick weekend trip with some girlfriends and decided on the wine & chocolate tasting tour. It…read morewas the perfect weather, Melissa was very knowledgeable about the history of Santa Barbara, provided lots of recommendations. Very pleased with our tour!