We do offer Food Tour experiences year-round.  Currently, the products offered year-round include Best in Chow Food Tour, Signature Food Tour at Navy Pier and Gateway to the West Loop Food Tour.  These events account for outside conditions and inclement weather by spending a majority of the experience indoors and limited outdoor exposure and time.  Click on our Tour Calendar to see the updated list of events.

We CAN provide vegetarian-friendly tastings, however we CANNOT provide alternate tastings or substitutions for any other food-related allergies (including lactose intolerant) or dietary preferences (including vegan and gluten-free).

Vegetarian-friendly tastings must be requested in advance during the ticket purchase process. All food and beverage tastings have been prepared in advance at each restaurant partner based on the information you provide to Chicago Food Planet at the time of the ticket purchase. Last minute food-related allergies and/or dietary preference changes on the day of your event will not be accommodated.

We work with only the best food and restaurant partners.Therefore, keeping streamlined allergy and dietary preference policies ensures that guests have a consistently high quality experience. Some partners see us multiple times a day and up to seven days a week, so we want to minimize mistakes and ensure a positive experience for our partners and our guests.

We are sorry if this is an inconvenience. Our Food Tours and events have been designed to highlight the best and most distinctive foods from each establishment. There isn’t always a “next best” option that meets the special dietary and allergy-related needs of each of our guests. Since we care about your health, palate and overall experience, we truly appreciate your understanding of this policy.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy, please email us or call us at 312-932-0800 x750 before purchasing tickets for any of our Food Tours or events.

For all Chicago Food Planet experiences, water is provided at many of our partner locations.  Additionally, we offer Adult (21+ up) drink packages via the VIP Ticket option that includes a variety of curated food and drink pairings.

 

 

Yes, bathrooms are available during all experiences at selected food-tasting locations.

Yes! Cameras and filming are allowed during the tour. We strongly encourage participants to take photos during the tour. Please feel free to share these photos on any of our social media pages or when posting your TripAdvisor, Yelp or Facebook reviews of Chicago Food Planet.  Please be sure to include our hashtag #chifoodplanet when uploading your photos to your preferred social media platform.

Yes- water is provided at most of our partner locations.  Additionally, we offer Adult (21+ up) drink packages via the VIP Ticket option that includes a variety of curated food and drink pairings.

Yes, Chicago Food Planet Gift Certificates are available for all tours offered. To purchase or learn more about our Gift Certificates, please call (312) 932-0800 or click on our Gift Certificates page.

Yes, we only offer tours in English at this time. However, if you’d like to make arrangements for an interpreter to join your event, please email us for more information.

Yes, Chicago Food Planet Private Group Tours are available for all tours offered. To set up or learn more, please visit our Private Group Tours page and submit a Private Group Tour Request Form. A member of Chicago Food Planet staff will respond within 24 hours.

We ask that you please wait to shop until after the experience so that we can stay on our food-tasting schedule and continue with the informative narrative and food tastings in a timely manner. We ask you allow time at the end of the experience to return to your favorite locations and/or stores. The experiences are on a schedule to arrive at each tasting location so its important to stay on schedule so the food is freshly prepared for the participants.

Tickets must be purchased in advance for all Chicago Food Planet events as they tend to sell out quickly ahead of time. To maximize your chances of getting the day, time, and number of tickets you prefer, please book well in advance. Tickets can only be purchased with a Visa, AMEX, or MasterCard from our website or by calling (312) 932-0800. Cash and/or walk-up traffic the day of the tours are not accepted.

Yes- all guests must purchase a ticket whether they plan to partake in the food tastings or not. Non-paying individuals will not able to join the experience for any reason(s). The ticket fees help cover the costs of all the food samplings and also to pay for your tour guide(s) wages, whom are offering valuable commentary on historical, architectural, cultural and restaurant information during our neighborhood food experiences.

Absolutely not! Chicago Food Planet Neighborhood Food Experiences combines architectural commentary, historical facts, local culture and culinary insight into a unique 2-3.5 hour experience. Imagine walking through Chicago eating our local artisans’ most delicious foods while learning the neighborhoods from real locals. Lastly, read our Chicago Foods, Dining and Restaurants Blog that gives an insiders view into the evolving Chicago food scene.

We absolutely do! We can accommodate a variety of special requests (family reunions, birthday parties, out of town guests, corporate, conventions, festivals, parades, grand openings and more).

A majority of Chicago Food Planet attendees live right here in Chicago. Chicago locals partcipate to learn about the neighborhoods and the city in which they live in as well as take advantage of knowing the best specialty food store locations and local restaurants in Chicago’s tastiest neighborhoods, away from Downtown and traditional tourists. Consider reviewing our Chicago Foodie Blog to learn more about the Chicago restaurant and dining scene.

Chicago Food Planet Experiences do not finish at the same location as the meeting point. However, detailed instructions are provided after ticket purchase with starting and ending point locations. Return trips can be accomplished by walking, taking a LYFT, taking a Chicago taxi, or taking the CTA “L” trains or bus.

Gratuities are greatly appreciated, although not mandatory. The standard gratuity in the service industry is 15%-20%.

Chicago Food Planet Neighborhood Food Experiences serve enough food that for most participants, lunch afterwards is not necessary. With the combination of drink and food tastings along with breaks for architectural, cultural, and historical insight, most participants are comfortably full after our food tours. Please understand our experiences are not intended to replace two meals, so please consider eating breakfast before afternoon tours or lunch before evening tours.

Tours generally last between 2 to 3.25 hour depending on the tour route, and participants can expect to be standing or walking for a majority of the time. We walk at a moderate pace and also provide at least two sit-down locations on all of our tours for at least 45 minutes total during the tour.

We do not provide a waiting list. If a date and time is sold out, there is always a good chance that we will add an additional experience on that day. Please email us to let us know what date you are interested in if you do not see availability. We also have Private Group and Custom Tour options available which allow more flexibility with date and time availabilities, please see our Private Group Experience page for more details.

If you are bringing an infant / very young child and they will not be participating in the tastings, you do not need to purchase a ticket for them. However, please do let us know if you will be attending with an infant or young child when you purchase tickets in the notes section.

Yes, there is both private and public parking located near the meeting point of the The Classic [Gold Coast and Old Town Food Tour], 3-1-Chew [Bucktown & Wicker Park Food Tour], The Chinatown Adventure, The World’s Fare and Winter Delights. Specific parking details are included in the meeting location directions after purchasing ticket(s) with location, pricing, and hours.

Currently, we only participate in wine tasting(s) on The World’s Fare experience which includes two possible wine tastings, in addition to a beer tasting and a cocktail sample. We also do participate in a sake tasting on The Classic [Gold Coast/Old Town Food Tour] and a beer tasting on The 3-1-Chew [Bucktown/Wicker Park Food Tour].

While we offer both adolescent and children tickets, the tours range from 2 to 3.25 hours in length and some children have a limited attention span and therefore the tour may not be appropriate for some of them. Parents, who know their children best, should assess the situation individually. Since there is a lot of standing and walking, please consider this when deciding whether the tour is appropriate for your child.

The tours are held rain, shine, or snow. In the event of inclement weather, we will be able to go inside many of the establishments on the tour. We also provide ponchos in case of sudden weather changes or if you do not have your own umbrella. However, we advise to check the weather conditions for your days event and dress appropriately. If there is ever a winter weather emergency and safety of participants is an issue, we will address these rare circumstances accordingly.

Please be sure and let us know if you (or anyone in your group) has a dietary restriction (e.g. vegetarian, diabetic, allergy, etc.) when you purchase your tickets. As long as we know in advance, we can accommodate your needs.

A list of all the current tasting locations can be found on each of the individual experience pages. Food-tasting locations can change without notice.

Food is provided by ethnic eateries, specialty food shops and local restaurants. For a better idea of what types of eateries we will visit, a list of the food tasting locations can be found on the product pages.

We highly recommend taking our food tours at the beginning of your visit so you can allow plenty of time to revisit the wonderful off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods and also enjoy returning to you favorite food tasting locations and redeeming your Tasting Location Coupons. Since experiences and tours usually sell out well in advance, there is not a better day of the week versus another.

Each Food Tour starts at a different location depending on the tour route.

We CAN provide substitutions for vegetarians, but we CANNOT provide substitutions for any other allergies or dietary preferences. Allergies and preferences must be indicated in advance at the time of ticket purchase. Please notify us of any serious allergies so we can tell you which food(s) to avoid.

We CAN provide substitutions for vegetarians AND gluten-light individuals, but we CANNOT provide substitutions for any other allergies or dietary preferences. Please note gluten-light does not mean gluten-free, as in some cases cross-contamination is a possibility. We cannot provide 100% gluten-free substitutions in the event of serious cases such as celiac disease. Allergies and preferences must be indicated in advance at the time of ticket purchase. Please notify us of any serious allergies so we can tell you which food(s) to avoid.

We CAN provide substitutions for vegetarians, but we CANNOT provide substitutions for any other allergies or dietary preferences. Allergies and preferences must be indicated in advance at the time of ticket purchase. Please notify us of any serious allergies so we can tell you which food(s) to avoid.

We CAN provide substitutions for vegetarians, but we CANNOT provide substitutions for any other allergies or dietary preferences. Allergies and preferences must be indicated in advance at the time of ticket purchase. Please notify us of any serious allergies so we can tell you which food(s) to avoid.

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