Savor Oakland Food Tours

As part of a small contingent of Yelp Elites, I was fortunate enouh to go on Savor Oakland Food Tours' tour of Oakland Chinatown. For anyone not hardcore Chinese, like myself, this tour is a necessity for braving the Andrew Zimmern-like delights of Oakland Chinatown.I mean, let's face it. Many of us are are going to have at least some amount of trepidation about diving right into the restaurants & markets of Oakland Chinatown. But with Carlo's trusty & knowledgable guidance, we were all able to relax & really enjoy the wonders that this non-touristy Chinatown has to offer.& it wasn't all about food. Though there was more than enough downright delicious food at each our 4 restaurant stops to stuff all of us, even with plenty of walking during the tour. The Oakland Chinatown tour also had a healthy helping of history mixed in that deepened the understanding & appreciation of this neighborhood.Savor Oakland Food Tours' tour of Oakland Chinatown was truly a mouth-watering & eye-opening experience. Knowing what a great tour this is, I know I'll have to check out their Jack London Square tour sometime.

This was one of the events from Yelp's 10th Birthday celebration weekend. The tour I went on was the Jack London Square tour with Geneva as our tour guide. Here were all our stops, which took 3 hours:1. Home of Chicken and Waffles,2. Oakland Supply Co.3. Blue Bottle4. Authentic Bagel Company5. lOAKal6. Rosenblum Cellars7. Baia Pasta8. Forge9. Bocanova10. MietteAnd there were other stops along the way where we learned the history of the area, including who Jack London was. Geneva was an awesome tour guide! She's so passionate about showcasing what Oakland has to offer in hopes to shed the negative image. And the tour was evenly paced, not too fast, not too slow. More importantly, the food was delicious and I was quite full at the end!If it wasn't for Yelp, I would never, ever heard about this tour, let alone be in Oakland. I hope to go on their other tours soon, and perhaps discover Oakland on my own!

They said I wouldn't be stuffed, but they lied. The plethora of good eats and drinks on this tour will make everyone - but especially locals - proud to have such a diversity of foods and businesses in their own backyard!Meeting in front of the House of Chicken and Waffles in Jack London Square on a Sunday morning made me have my doubts. It was cold and overcast and the square was silent and empty except for trains passing through every few minutes. That all changed when our warm and welcoming host Geneva arrived and took our group of fifteen inside. We were seated and immediately began chowing down on chicken and waffles, all while learning the history of this wonderful establishment. Things just kept getting better from there. Over the next three hours, we casually strolled through what I'd always assumed was just an empty and unattractive warehouse district and discovered wonderful stores and eateries dedicated to local goods. The selection of experiences and the knowledge imparted made for a truly memorable experience. As I said, Geneva said we may get a good amount to eat, but we got far more than that. Between the locally-made bagel, pizza, bacon popcorn, coffee, chicken and waffles, ceviche, churros and macaron, I was bursting at the seams. I'd encourage anyone in the area to take this tour and see what this district is really about. Just be sure to tip your tour guide!

The Chinatown TourThis tour is very informative and very interesting not to mention that the diverse food stops were excellent. Walking around this vibrant part of Oakland was a real eye-opener.For some reason I have not spend much time in this neighborhood. This going to change, I liked everyplace we stopped. What makes this tour perfect is that we went into the restaurants and sat at a table. We also stopped at several other businesses and cultural spots that possible might be found only in Chinatown. I learned some things about Oakland and the people who live in this exciting city on this tour. Our guide, Carlo, is so enthusiastic about Oakland that I suspect everyone else will be when they finish the tour. His knowledge of Oakland, food, culture and history is amazing. Of the two tours I've been on I can say which one I like the best. They are tied for first place. I would love to go either of them again.

Carlo has a way... with helping to illuminate me 'bout Oakland.. i mean.. 168 distinct different neighborhoods in Oaktown? A Neo-Gothic style building smack dab in the centre of Chinatown? He took me on a wonderful, splendid journey of Chinatown, and visited haunts I never knew even existed before. What a fun time to enjoy the newish Chinatown option of the tour! Guilin noodle shop, Vietnamese banh cuon rolls, Chinese vegetarian food, and Cambodian food on Broadway. along the way, the easiest little walk, visiting a fortune cookie factory, a ginseng/sea cuke vendor, and sampling Chinese pastries...Too awesome... a lotta lotta fun, and small groups to get to meet people on a personal level. $10 tip... well deserved!

Went on Mothers Day, we has a great time! It's not really a foodie tour, as there's not a lot of talking about food or meeting chefs, and it's not really a history tour, as the history is given in snippets and is pretty random. It is a great way to get out, appreciate what Oakland has to offer, eat some great bites, drink a little wine, and enjoy the company of energetic guides and lovely tour companions for a few hours.I had the distinction of being that person who brings a baby. It was fantastic. The tour is set up so that there are pit stops and we sat to eat the largest bites around noon, perfect for hungry baby. The guides were very kind and we never felt like a bother. Our stroller became the jacket and wine cart. A baby who can be carried is fine. The Ergo was better because there are some tight spots for a stroller. Toddlers would not be fine. They would be restless and bored. Go with your not walking baby, or your grown up baby, but steer clear 12 months-16 years old. They just won't like it. I really had a fun day. Beautiful weather, yummy food, pleasant people. A great first Mother's Day.

Yelp tour for the win!Host Carlo took us to four exciting dining spots, exposing us to a wide range of regional cuisines. I learned a lot, and I can't wait to get back to the Vietnamese spot especially.I only wish his food spiel was a bit more detailed, challenging and foodie-friendly. I mentioned this to him in person. If you're a Yelp Elite and you're signed up for a Chinatown culinary walking tour, you already know where dim sum comes from, if you know what I mean.I wish the tour had been REALLY geeky and detailed from a food-lover's point of view. I can handle it and I know my fellow Yelpers can too.

Who would've thought that Oakland has a hip and vibrant art scene or is a hot spot for foodies and newbies? It never crossed my mind to explore this city until the hubby surprised me with reservations to Savor Oakland Food Tours. Our tour guide, Geneva, was upbeat, fun and very informative. Her pride of Oakland is conveyed through her enthusiasm as she guided us through the Warehouse District and Jack London Square. Savor Oakland Food Tours isn't just a food tour but also a historical tour of Oakland.The tour involved eats and drinks from restaurants in and around Jack London Square. I loved the way the tour flowed. It started off with breakfast/brunch type foods (Home of Chicken and Waffles, Blue Bottle Coffee, Authentic Bagel), then lunch related foods (Chunky Pig, Urban Legend Cellars, Forge, Bocanova), and finally dessert (Miette). The one thing that threw me off was tasting the Candied Bacon Caramel Popcorn before visiting Urban Legend Cellars for wine tasting. It was a bit of a challenge to appreciate the richness of the wines because of the bacon taste in my mouth. Aside from that the tour flowed seamlessly. During the historic part of the tour, Geneva incorporated media by the use of her iPad to show us old images of the "then and now" of historical sites. Pretty awesome to see the evolution of the city.Savor Oakland Food Tour is the way to go when it comes to experiencing Oakland's local cuisine and learning a bit of history. Definitely bring your appetite, dress in layers, wear comfy shoes and bring extra $$ to buy unique and amazing local art.

I work for Visit Oakland and as part of our research, they sent me on the Savor Oakland Jack London Square food tour -- and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Friday afternoon! Not only is this walking tour perfectly paced for any age -- it's so fun! Carlo is a freaking hoot and manages to squeeze in awesome historical facts without boring or taking away from the main point...the food, of course! They did such a great job balancing savory, sweet, caffeine and wine - and we came away with a bunch of new friends. Doesn't get much better than this! Highly, highly recommended if you're new or old to Oakland - discover a new neighborhood's cuisine or rediscover a hood in a whole new way. All I have to say is nommm. Oh, and when's my next tour??

My wife and I live in two worlds: Stockton and Sausalito...one a not-so-great tourist destination and the other a highly desirable tourist and foodie destination. Thus, I enjoyed what our foodie guide Carlo, one of the founders of SAVOR OAKLAND, said: "There are 54 districts in Oakland and only 3 of them are bad"--heck, it's just like Stockton! But where Oakland differs from Stockton is that the Oakland waterfront area has EXCELLENT restaurants, boutiques and shops. The SAVOR tour started at the Chop Bar (hangout for young hip workers) where we were served a hearty meal of pork sandwiches and pickled carrot salad. Then the WALKING tour and history lesson began...walked to the food produce processing area, but along the way we also tasted delicious New Orleans Blue Bottle Coffee...made in Oakland! From there we walked to and tasted Oakland "soul food" at Home of Chicken and Waffles, one of the few restaurants locally owned. Learned that most of the hoitty-toitty restaurants are actually owned by San Francisco expatriate chefs who moved to Oakland for the more affordable rents...now I know why the food is excellent...SWEET! We visited Urban Cellars Winery and got to see wine-making in progress and met the owners who served us some of their award-winning wines. Okay...this was one of my favorite foodie stops! We bought two bottles of their excellent Riesling and they bring back memories of our visit to the Rhine River valley vineyards in Germany. Then we walked to Jack London Square with more history lessons and an excellent view of the Harbor...learned about Jack London's connection to the African American community. :) Enjoyed our visit to Baia Pasta and met the owner from Northern Italy who makes excellent organic pasta--we bought a couple of boxes and enjoyed them for dinner later that evening...Nice! From now on, we will be returning and buying our pasta from Baia. :)At the very toitty-toitty Bocanova (owner is a classically trained French chef), we tasted Pacific Rock Fish Ceviche and churros with chocolate...which reminds me of all the excellent churros and chocolate dip we had in Madrid! This was definitely the high-end on the restaurant stop...congratulations to Carlo and Geneva for including this on their foodie tour. Finally, our tour ended at Miette, a French dessert shop voted in top 10 in the world by Conde Naste magazine...needless to say, my wife was in heaven. This foodie tour would be excellent for out-of-town guests and for those of us living in the SF Bay Area who want something new. The Oakland waterfront area has excellent restaurants and great walking area. When our friends from LA, Spain and Germany visit in the next few weeks, SAVOR OAKLAND will be on our HIGHLY RECOMMENDED list.