Columbus Food Adventures — Local services in Columbus

This was my 4th tour with Columbus Food Adventures and I've always been over-stuffed with both food and new fun facts about whatever area we're exploring by the end of the tour. I'd give 5 stars to the Grandview tour, the Worthington tour and the German Village tour, but the Franklinton tour fell a bit short. This was absolutely NO fault of our tour guide, Jim, who was the former Executive Director of the Franklinton Development Association and co-founded the Franklinton Arts District. He was extremely knowledge as well as personable. He clearly had a passion for rejuvenating/reinventing the area as an arts hub and even pointed out his own house as we were touring! The problem was the food -- or the lack thereof. There were 13 of us (I think) in our group and at the first stop, we got to split (into 13 pieces) one soft pretzel, one plate of chicken wings and one plate of buffalo cauliflower. The portions were miniscule. At the time, I was thinking, 'Well, it's just the first stop; maybe it's good they're pacing our eating.' Turned out the only other food on the tour was a quarter slice of pita bread with hummus (which was delicious, but way too small) and a tiny BBQ sampler with one singular rib, half a chicken thigh and half a piece of sausage. That was it. I left the tour hungry -- and I'm a 120-lb woman; I cannot imagine how disappointed some of the larger folks on our tour must've been. Yes, we were given adult beverage samples at four stops and those were generous pours, but I thought I'd signed up for a FOOD tour, not a BEER/ALCOHOL tour. Thinking this tour should be publicized differently if it's predominantly beer with a small sampling of bar food on the side. It was listed under "Walking Tours" on the website, the same as the other food tours mentioned earlier. Definitely not what I was expecting after my previous 3 tours with this organization, which were all over-the-top delicious and filling. Kudos to Jim for imparting so much history as well as the hopes of Franklinton to our group, but that was really the only bright spot...

My first Food Adventure was Feb 10, 2012 when my boyfriend surprised me with tickets for the Alt Eats Tour and we had an absolute blast. I would say this was one of the most fun, unique experiences I've had in my 12 years in the Cbus.

I will tell you I had my reservations at first. 1) I was scared of Alt Eats. Will I like anything?? Let be honest here. I am not the most adventurous person when it comes to ethnic foods. 2) Do I want to experience all these special commodities with strangers? 3) Will it be worth $60 per ticket? After the tour my answer to all questions was YES! YES! YES! and Let's do this again!

Our tour guides, Bethia and Andy were lots of fun and made everything approachable. The owners of the restaurants were gracious hosts and made us feel welcome. The van was pretty comfortable. We made stops at: Mi Li Cafe (Vietnamese), Intercontinental Restaurant (Nigerian), Udipi (Southern Indian), Panedaria Guadalupana (Mexican Bakery), and Solay Bistro (Somalian). Forgive any mispelling, I don't have my tour sheet in front of me. The whole thing took about 4 hours and we left absolutely stuffed. I was sad I got so full because I wanted to eat way more than I did.

I realized I liked almost every single dish we tried with the exception of 3. (And there were 16 or so items) I now know I love Somalian food, which I never would have guessed. I also feel comfortable going back to any one of these restaurants without someone holding my hand.

Since then we've gone on almost ALL of their tours. We've taken out of town relatives on the Short North and German Village tours, we've taken dad on the dessert tour for his birthday, we've gone on the taco truck tour, and most recently the boozy brunch tour as a double date with friends.

Columbus Food Adventures crafts unforgettable experiences making exploring your own city SO. MUCH. FUN. My favorite tours have been the Alt Eats Tour and the Taco Truck Tour. The next one I want to go on is the Meat Lovers Tour.

If you've been on the fence about taking a food tour, don't...

I'm a long term Columbus resident and passionate about pizza. I've gone on several tours by Columbus Food Adventures and couldn't resist trying the Italian Village / Short North Pizza tour. This tour was a great way to experience some local pizza places and their pizzaiolos.

GoreMade was the first stop. Nick Gore's creativity and enthusiasm (especially pizza) is infectious. His enthusiasm shows in his thin Neopolitan style pizza. He shared some of his dough preparation practices and allowed us to view inside his 900+ degree oven and provided us a slice of a simply topped pizza as well as a chef's choice, both delicious examples of his expertise.

Borgata was next. Housed in the buzz of the Budd Dairy food hall. We also got a tour of the historic Budd Dairy, an unexpected surprise. There we received a sample of their medium thin crust pizza indulging in an unconventionally topped peach and prosciuotto pie. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it as did the others on the tour (about 8 of us on this tour).

Next up, Paulie Gee's. I've had Paulie Gee's Neopolitan style several years back, but the sample of pizza we received this visit was a thick pan pizza, a variation of a Detroit style. This was a highlight for me. It was crisp, not oily with crisp melted cheese against the edges of the heavy black steel pan (Lloyd's?).

The final stop was at the Hoof Hearted brewery where I enjoyed a hazy ale. Adriatico's delivered their Sicilian to Hoof Hearted. A robust thick (but not heavy) crust that was loved by all. This pie was topped with the large Ezzo cupped pepperoni.

Our tour guide, Andy, was friendly and knowledgeable about the pizza we sampled and the history of each establishment. His insights added depth to the experience and made the tour even more enjoyable.

This tour's fun for residents and especially for out of towners. ...