We came on this tour as two couples. We had read only very positive reviews. The website states that on any particular walking tour only 4 of a possible 8 restaurants are visited. After going on this tour, I learned that there seems to be only 4 restaurants that this tour ever goes to. That being "Nancy's Bar-B-Q, Owens Fish Camp, Caraguilas Italian and Pastry Art".
All the food was very good and by the end of the tour you won't be hungry. The reason I'm giving only 4 stars and not 5 stars is for a couple of reasons. The first one is "Sarasota Culinary Tours" does not allow any substitute of any food items. I'm allergic to shell fish and at "Owens Fish Camp" they served "Bloody Mary Oyster Shooter". Out of a party of 13 people, only 8 people elected to try the raw oyster shooter. Another dish that was served was "Shrimp & Grits with Smoked Sausage". I understand this was very good but I couldn't eat any due to allergies. So the only thing I could really eat was a "Deviled Egg and Fried Dill Pickel" and fish spread with crackers.
The last place that we visited was "Pastry Art". This was the place for dessert and coffee. Our only complaint here was there was only 4 Cannoli's for 13 people. So only 4 people got to taste the Cannoli's. There were other small pastry's to eat but in the other 3 restaurants, everyone had the chance to sample everything that was on the table. The 4 people in our group didn't get to sample a Cannoli even when we mentioned it. It fell on deaf ears. I know this may sound like I'm being nick picky but this isn't a cheap tour at $60.00/person to get little sampling's at each of 4 restaurants. That said, all the food served at all 4 restaurants was served at the right temperature for that item and tasted great. Each restaurant had it own unique flavor and personality.
Our tour guide (Gary) was excellent. He was a very good explaining the history of Sarasota, helping to get water for tables and asking if anyone needed anything. At each stop he passed out a card and menu for the restaurant. The owner at 2 of the restaurants (Fish Camp and Caraguilas Italian) came over, introduced themselves, told the history of the restaurant and answered any of our questions. When the owner at the Fish Camp spoke, it was hard to hear her talk due to the loud music.
These are only helpful suggestions. It would be nice to know where to park. Street parking in downtown Sarasota is only good for 2 hours. This is a 3 hour tour. There are parking garages and unless you frequent the area one doesn't know where they are. Also I was informed that the first couple of floors of the parking garage is also only good for 2 hours The upper floors are for longer parking.
Even though the website states that no food substitutions will be made, I feel that if there are individuals who have allergies to shell fish, I truly believe that some other kind of seafood should be available.
This is no fault of our tour guide because he was a very patient man. We had 3 individuals in on our tour who couldn't keep-up with walking. As a group we waited at least 10 minutes at each stop for these individuals before we could go inside each restaurant. This is only a 3 hour tour and our time seemed to be cut short at each restaurant due to having to wait for these individuals. All the individuals on this tour appeared to be in their sixties. All that said, if you can't walk a total of 2 to 3 miles at a decent pace, perhaps this isn't the tour for you.
So everyone in our 4 party group said this was a great way to learn about other restaurants in Sarasota. We each felt that we would sign-up again in the future. Overall we had a wonderful experience. read more
