Explore San Francisco

We did the China Town food tour and while the food was OK and a few of the destinations were interesting the female guide was very uninformative. She was nice but she didn't seem to know much, pointed to a sign or plaque when anyone in our group asked a question. One of the stops was closed with no exhibition From reading other reviews it seems like Dan Chew should be requested.We would have had a better tour by simply using self guided and paying at the restaurants or other stops. I do think with the right guide the tour would be worth it but our guide was nice person but horrible guide.

Do NOT book tours through this company! They did not show and now will not respond to phone calls or emails!!!!I booked the mission desserts tour which was scheduled for March 3rd at 3pm. I got a confirmation email the day before and everything. I showed up the requested 10 minutes early. At about 3:15pm I called the main number. Then began to call the numbers of all of the guides listed in my original booking email. No one called back. I also sent an email to the employee that had helped me book, with no response. I waited until 3:30 pm before finally giving up on them. I have called multiple times since that day, originally requesting to rebook, ending with requests for a refund. It has been over two weeks and they have not responded! This is unacceptable customer service. Do not risk your money! Buyer beware!

I helped plan our corporate holiday party event and Michael helped us set up with the Chinatown/North Beach tour for 34 people!I was a little nervous after reading the Yelp reviews, but the problems seemed to be mostly Travelzoo related .... and I had a similar problem booking a craft beer tour through Living Social. I'm absolutely thrilled we went with Explore SF. We had a wonderful time! Michael and 2 other guides led us through everything from a tea tasting and dim sum in Chinatown to pasta in North Beach and a really special culinary surprise at the end. They incorporated our ideas for holiday games and made the day really special.(I went to college in SF and lived there for years... and they managed to impress me.)Michael and I spoke via email for a long time before the event. I think that my only minor issue is that as they grow as a company it would serve them well to have someone designated to handle the administrative tasks. No matter. They delivered on everything they promised.... in fact, we got way more than I expected! I hesitantly went with a couple of Michael's suggested stops and I'm so glad I did. The tour itself and the tour guides were all fantastic. I would recommend them in a heartbeat and I would definitely use their services again.Thank you so much for giving us a wonderful holiday party! I love the pictures you posted of our day!

I purchased a tour via Travel Zoo to take my mother on a food tour in SF. I called a few weeks in advance to make sure everything was in order. The first issue was when I called, their phone was having issues and they told me they would call back in a few minutes. Two hours later, I called again. The guy took down my name and number and said he would call me back. Two days later, I had to call again. Not a good start. Finally (after I emailed), they got back to me and set up a tour for the Ferry Building. We got there on time but when the tour guide showed up, he clearly had not set up the tour with the vendors and looked panicked and kept making various phone calls. Finally, after consulting with my mother, we said if he wasn't ready that I would simply call later and reschedule the tour. The guide looked relieved, apologized profusely and left.A few months later, I emailed to reschedule the tour. The website still had the Ferry Building so I asked for that tour. The email I received was short and curt saying that they didn't do those tours anymore (why is it on your website then?). When I asked about another tour, all I got was that everything was sold out on the weekend I was looking at. At this point, I was so done with this group, I just stopped trying. Thanks Explore SF, I just wasted $100 on trying to reserve a tour but ending up with an expired voucher!

I highly recommend doing a food tour! We went on the Mission tour and went to five restaurants and also learned some history of the area while sightseeing. Food selection, drinks and tour guide were all great. I highly recommend it and can't wait to do the Chinatown North Beach tour next!

I have been on 4 tours. One with my extended family and then 3 with groups from work. I think the Mission tour was my favorite, but China Town was a close 2nd.You have to pace yourself so that you don't eat too much, and the food and local owners are great. The walks are short, but they give you time to digest and mingle. You can also sit with different people at each spot so a great work event. The tour guides are very friendly. I needed something in my car once and one of the guides walked me back 1/3 of the way thru the tour and we then joined back up with the group. Definitely worth your time!

Four of us went on the Mission Dessert Tour.Loved David. Got confirmation email as well as a personal call from David the day before. Recommendation for parking was easy. Greeted with treats for us to take home. All of the food was tasty. David is very easy to talk too and fluid with conversations within our group. (two moms and to 12 year old girls). He did follow up with sending pictures of us and the itinerary of where we went. Our favorites were Sixth Course and Craftsman and Wolves. The owners of Sixth Course gave us a look into their latest creation of Artesian Chocolate filled eggs for Easter. We each chose gelato desserts. Each was unique and true in its flavors. Mine was an ale gelato. Wow, frozen beer dipped in chocolate. We came back later in the day to purchase a few eggs for Easter. All of the chocolate, even the dark had a smooth silk texture. Craftsman and Wolves was the perfect ending as we were at the end of our sweet buds and were able to satisfy our savory as well as get another unique tasting of sweet. They had a layered dessert with Earl Gray biscuit with Lychee foam and Hibiscus jelly that was light, complex, and wonderful balance in texture. Great fun to eat. Xanath Gelato was our first stop. We would have like to heard from the owner/background of the business more. They had a display of a variety of vanilla spices/beans for retail but without background it was just a display. Could have played well in the unique qualities of the place. Good gelato not great tour quality.Samovar Tea Bar was very lovely. For inlanders who have not had much in "real spice" Chai to me was a treat. If you are a Starbucks fan this is overly spicy and not sweet. Nice that the owner was there and the man who made our tea came over to talk a bit about the tea/place. The chocolate tort was fantastic. With future tours I would want to have a couple classic teas too. This was 50/50 with our group as two were 12 years old and it was "too spicy" for them. From a parent view I liked they were expanding their horizons.Dandelion Chocolate to me was fantastic as I'm a lover of dark chocolate. Not much in options for the milk chocolate lover. The toffee was a perfect brittle, not hard on your teeth crunch. The Bar we split was out of this world. It had a brown butter cookie bottom with a soft camel center and a smooth chocolate ganache on top. There was more to the food that this but then this becomes a novel.Super cool to go down one of the mural allies of the Mission district. It is a bit sobering to feel to power of the murals. They represent just a glimpse of the daily life/struggles within the area as well as some of the results of political muscle on the neighborhood. A must. Nice history and background by David. If you are looking for in depth history this is not this tour. Lots of nice tidbits on the walk around the neighborhood.I will book again for our next visit.

My mom and I signed up for the Chinatown walking tour with Dan Chew, not really knowing what to expect. It turned out to be the most memorable experience of our whole week in San Francisco! We were the only two on this tour (I highly recommend doing this during the winter months, or at least on a weekday) so it was such a personal experience. Dan is such a fun guy, with so many great stories and cool insights, that the 3 hour scheduled tour turned into more like 4! We also signed up for it on Chinese New Year's Eve (not realizing the good fortune we had stumbled upon), so Dan took us through all the markets, showed us all the tasty treats, and explained the traditions that he grew up with/still practices in Chinatown. Dan grew up in Chinatown and still lives there, so he knows ALL of the good spots. To recap a few of what we saw:-Tin How Temple (Oldest Buddhist temple in SF)-Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company (fresh made daily, plenty o' scraps for tasting..)-Vital Leaf Tea (gotta talk to Kenny, he's the man!)-Golden Gate Bakery (get there egg custard tarts!!)Dan's level of knowledge goes way beyond just the facts; he lives, breaths, EATS Chinatown. Somebody give this man a raise!!

My friend and I did the Mission North food tour after finding a deal on Gilt City. We had such a great time- even though we're both familiar with the Mission, the only place we went to that we'd been to before was Bi-Rite Creamery. We were lucky enough to have Michael as our guide, who I believe is the owner. Not only did we get a great sampling of Mission food, but we also got a little SF history as well.We hit up a nice variety of spots- butcher shop, tapas, empanadas, Indian fusion, pizza, chocolate, and Bi-Rite for ice cream. He was also nice enough to buy us prickly pears (aka tuna) to try from the local bodega, which apparently are only in season for a couple months out of the year. We had a generous portion of food, and got to sit down at most of the restaurants. With that said, the portions were mindful not to get us too stuffed by the last stops, so it was perfect. He also took us through Clarion Alley, filled with a ton of murals.He said he has relationships with 30 places in the area, so the stops change depending on the day. He's lived in the area for many years, so he knows it well.If I have to picky, I'd say the only criticism I have is that when we went to Bi-Rite, for practicality sake because of the perpetual long line, he got us ice cream sandwiches. I feel like we missed out on the scoop ice cream they're known for. In my case, I'd been there before so it was fine, but I feel like for those who weren't familiar with Bi-Rite, they weren't getting an accurate taste of it.Overall, I had a great experience and my friend and I agreed we would totally be open to another food tour they offer. Whether you're a local or a tourist, I highly recommend it!

Total Scam. Booked the Vegetarian Food Tour through Viator (thankfully not directly with Explore San Francisco). And received my ticket via email. I emailed them 2 weeks prior to ask a question and never got a response. I called one week prior and got a message that phone was temporarily unavailable (and it continues to have same message). I got no confirmation prior to the scheduled event. Went to the appointed place at the appointed time and no one ever showed up. No attempt at contacting them was fruitful. Called Viator when I got home and they processed my $396 refund promptly. Don't book an Explore San Francisco company tour. Period.