The Flavorful Journey: How to Craft Your Food Tour

I have always seen travel as an opportunity to explore different cultures through their diverse cuisine. The excitement of discovering new and unique flavors that tell the story of a place, connecting with the locals who make it, and discovering hidden food gems make my vacation that much sweeter. The best part is that this experience does not have to be limited to an expensive foreign trip.

In this article, I will be focusing on Phoenix food tours, but the ideas shared can apply to any location where a food tour is being planned. Recently, my daughter and I went on a quest to find the best tacos in Phoenix. We were able to discover some amazing taco shops that we didn’t even know existed. Additionally, our family has an annual tradition of planning a local dessert tour, revisiting some of our favorite bakeries, and adding new spots to the list each year.
This guide will help you create your very own food tour, making your day more than just a typical tourist experience or a quick bite to eat.

Research and Planning Your Food Tour

When it comes to planning your own food tour, your first step should be to narrow down your options. One helpful way to do this is by choosing a theme for your tour, such as a Mexican food tour or a tour of locally-owned restaurants within a certain area. By narrowing down your options, you can prevent the planning process from becoming too overwhelming. Having a theme is essential to selecting the right locations for your food tour itinerary.

Once you have selected your theme, it’s time to do some research. Google is a great resource for finding recommendations. You can search for “Mexican food tours” to see the restaurants included in predetermined culinary experiences and consider adding them to your own itinerary. Or, you can search for “best taco places in Phoenix” to get recommendations from foodies in the area. Another great way to find locations to add to your personal food tour is to ask for recommendations from friends. You can ask for suggestions on social media, in person, or simply by mentioning your taco tour plans to a coworker. Ask them why they like a particular location, or what specific items they recommend from the menu to help you decide if you should add it to your list.

After you have compiled a list of locations from these suggestions, it’s time to do some more detailed research. Create a list with the names and addresses of each location, their hours of operation, and the menu items that were recommended. You should also include some of your own favorite locations, especially if you don’t get to visit them often. Your list may become quite long, but don’t worry – you’ll use the next step to narrow it down. Plus, you’ll have a resource already created for future food tours.

Choosing Your Destinations and Timing

When I go on a food tour, I prefer dedicating an entire day to the experience, so that I can explore places that are farther from my usual location. Since it takes me over an hour to get to the other side of Phoenix valley, I have to plan my visits to those locations in advance as they are not my regular spots. However, I find it exciting to explore new places that are not commonly visited or known to me, and this is an added treat to the adventure.

But if you don’t have a full day to spare, you can always choose to visit spots that are closer to your home or reduce the number of places you want to visit.

Mapping Your Tour

To plan your food tour efficiently, pull up a map and rearrange your list based on the map route. This will help you estimate the distance between each location and the time it may take to travel between them. It will also assist you in determining which locations to keep on this itinerary and which ones to visit on a different day. If you have six locations closer to one highway and another location in a completely different direction, you can decide if it’s worth the extra travel for this itinerary, or if that location could be visited on another day on its own. You can remove the locations you know you won’t be adding to this food tour and save them on another spreadsheet for future consideration.

To decide how far you want to travel, start with the locations furthest from your house. This ensures that you are closer to home during peak traffic hours. If something happens where you must cut the tour short, you’re less likely to miss out on locations further away from your house. You can always revisit the shops that are closer to your home on any random day. These are just a few points to consider when creating your food tour itinerary.
Consider other activities you could do along the way

When you plan a full-day experience, it’s important to think about other activities that you can do along the way. Walking off some calories can be helpful to make room for the next stop. You can consider taking a walk in a park that you don’t usually visit, stop by a bookstore, or maybe visit a small museum midway through the day. On our recent taco tour, my daughter and I stopped at a few furniture stores to look for her new apartment. You just need to research the locations of these activities to see where they fall on your map route, which will then help you decide where to include them in your itinerary.

Add Some Variety

If your theme is tacos in Phoenix, it’s still a good idea to introduce some variety in the cuisine. I never thought I’d get tired of tacos, but by the time we got to the fifth taco shop, I was grateful for the surprise cheesecake we received from the owner of one of our last stops. Similarly, if you’re organizing a dessert tour, consider including some savory items mid-day or at the beginning and end of your day.

Group or Solo Tour

Planning a food tour on your own can be a bit challenging, especially if you’re visiting an unfamiliar location. It may seem like a better idea to sign up for a food tour through a tour company, such as Get Your Guide, or find an experience on Groupon. In such cases, someone else does all the research and planning, and you just show up and eat. However, designing your own food tour gives you the freedom to personalize it according to your preferences. For instance, if you want to experience a Mexican food tour but have specific menu items you want to try from each restaurant, you can do so without any limitations. On arranged food tours, you are often limited to certain items off the menu, as well as the time you have to enjoy them. By designing your own tour, you can take your time and ensure you get to sample the menu items of your choosing.

A quick Google search for “best taco tour in Phoenix” gives you several options to choose from. However, most of these tours are limited to 4 or 5 stops, and they are quite expensive compared to what you would spend on your own. It’s hard to imagine how anyone can eat at five different taco locations in just three hours unless they’re only getting one little street taco at each location. With a little effort, you can take the day to explore all your desired locations, take your time to enjoy the food you’ve been anticipating, and throw in some non-food related activities to build up your appetite.

Budgeting and Costs

When you create your own food tour, you have control over the cost. You can set a food budget for the day and allocate the funds in various ways. For instance, if you’re planning a dessert tour, you can research menus in advance to decide what you want to taste, and then divide the average cost among the number of locations you plan to visit. This will help you determine how many stops you can afford.

For example, let’s say you want to take your family of three on a dessert tour but don’t want to spend more than $120. You can allocate $120 among 6 different locations, which works out to be $20 per location for the three of you. If you end up spending less than $20 at a particular location, you can use the remaining funds to splurge at the next one. This way, you can have a fun-filled food tour without going over budget.

The best day to schedule a taco tour is on Taco Tuesday, as the cost will be lower than on other days.

Document the Journey

While you’re on a food tour, it’s natural to take pictures of the food, but don’t forget to also capture the unique details of your favorite spots. As you go on more and more tours, it can be easy to mix up the locations. To avoid confusion, I suggest making a list of your preferred places and the menu items you enjoyed the most from each one. This way, you can refer back to it anytime and even share your recommendations with your friends or on social media. Remember to tag your favorite spots in your posts to help them gain more publicity and customers!

If you’re unsure about what to order, ask the person behind the counter or your server for their recommendations. This can lead to unexpected and delightful culinary discoveries.

Other tips on creating a successful food tour:

• Wear unrestrictive clothing, like a dress or pants with an elastic waistband.
• Bring a cooler for leftovers or to-go items your body won’t let you eat immediately.
• If you’re planning a dessert tour, be sure to include one real meal during the day.
• Invite various friends to meet you at certain locations as a bonus to your day.
• Make it a celebration! Where a birthday sash even if it’s not your birthday, no one needs to know, and you might get an extra free treat.

When you embark on a culinary adventure, keep in mind that having a plan can transform a simple outing into an unforgettable journey. It doesn’t matter if you’re enjoying a Mexican food tour that transports you to the streets of Mexico or savoring the flavors of your hometown, designing your own food tour can make any day a memorable experience.

Armed with a personalized theme, you can explore a world of culinary possibilities at your own pace, without borders or budget constraints. Whether you’re planning a food tour in Phoenix or any other destination on your bucket list, take the time to create a plan but leave room for the unexpected delights that are sure to happen along the way. Budgeting and costs become a personal choice when you create your own food tour adventure. The possibilities are endless!

Inspire others by sharing your own discoveries, recommendations, or food tour experiences in the comments below!