Had a wonderful tour led by a man named Sergio. He was extremely knowledgeable about Palermo, history of the island in general, food in particular, I needed it I was a wonderful sense of humor! I wish I could've kept track of all the different foods we sampled. I even like the spleen sandwich, although I was sort of prepared to not like it. BF and I are normally not the type of people to do tours, but the group is small and this was a highlight of our trip to Palermo. read more

This TOUR tho! Ah, Palermo. Such an interesting, historical city. Full disclosure, I didn't want to go to Palermo--we had been in Catania and Ragusa and all that jazz and my husband insisted we spend a few days in Palermo. Ok, fine. We get there and it was ok. And it continued to be just ok until....enter Streaty, stage right. My husband had booked us a food tour and of course, being the fatass that I am, I was like, food? Ok, let's do this. But it better be good. And it was. Oh, it was. We met outside of the Massimo Theater (which of course, always cues that Zumba song by Pitbull in my head, of the same name). Then I saw him. There, in all his glory--our beautiful food tour angel. I'm going to go ahead and say his name was Marco because all of the other reviews talk about someone named Marco, but in all honesty I don't remember his name--he was the owner of Streaty so that is what I will call him in this review--and he was perfect. We all introduced ourselves with our names and where we came from which I thought, with being a small group of about 10, was really nice. We were then given a "food passport". GENIUS. It makes eating more than anyone should ever eat in one day seem like a victorious occasion, which I genuinely appreciated. It makes you hate yourself a bit less when you can look back at your stamped off achievements on this passport--it takes "oh my gosh, I can't believe I just ate all that food" into "hey y'all look at what I did! I did it! YAS!" For this alone, Marco deserves the Nobel Prize. Then we were off on our adventure! We walked through Palermo's food markets while Marco, in his stereotypically swoon-inducing Italian accent, told us personal stories and tales of Sicilian life, culture and family. And of course, the ins and outs of where to go and how to buy anything we could imagine. As we walked, it was great to see that our guide had such great personal relationships with every place we went to. It makes the tour that much more special. The food: I have no idea where to begin on this one--I suppose I'll say firstly, that I keep kosher. Which is super complicated to explain so to keep things easy, I just say I am vegetarian, to be safe--and everything was wonderful. When there was something meaty, I was given something vegetarian and it seemed like it was no trouble at all when in reality I know that it's a huge pain in the butt. So for you vegetarians out there--don't fret! This tour is for you, too. Everything we tried was delicious. My favorite was the chickpea thing that I don't remember at all what it's called. Just eat it. It's really good. I will give you this one warning though--ok I lied, I have 2 warnings: 1) You will go to a bar. It will be super seedy yet super awesome all at the exact same time. You will be offered olives that your guide brought in from elsewhere. Eat these olives. They won't let you down. You will also be offered some kind of sweet wines (I really don't understand why I don't remember the name of literally anything--GOOD THING I HAVE MY FOOD PASSPORT AT HOME TO REMIND ME!), and while they are sweet, don't be fooled--they are also strong. They may or may not be strong enough for you to encourage the cute journalist on the tour with you to be with the tour guide as a favor for all married womankind, to live vicariously through her. This may or may not have happened. (And girl, if you are reading this, hit me UP I have to know details!) 2) You will end at a gelato place. For some reason that I still don't understand, Sicilians think it's normal to eat gelato (also granita) in a brioche. I do not understand this for many reasons. The first being that brioche is not Italian. Why brioche? Why? Secondly, why is gelato ever ok for breakfast, brioche or no? Also, as a born and raised American (New Yorker, actually), I've seen some big portions in my day. But holy Lord, this thing is huge. My point being that there will be tons and tons of food. You have to ration yourself and weigh what is more important to you--the savory or the sweet--and plan accordingly. Ok, you've been warned. In conclusion, this tour is basically the best thing there is about Sicily and if you don't do it, you will really be missing out. Marco is a fantastic guide who is passionate about everything he talks about and really wants to make sure you have a good time, and he succeeds. Do NOT miss this tour when you are in Palermo--if I had known they had the same in Catania when we were there, we would have definitely done that too, it was THAT good. Why are you still reading this, go book now! read more

My family and I enjoyed a fun walking tour through part of Palermo with Alessandra. She was very knowledgable and obviously enjoys her work. We loved that the tour takes you into a marketplace that is steeped in history and tradition. It was a great way to get a glimpse into the lives of people who live in Palermo. The Arancini we had was amazing, as well!!! We have kids who didn't want to experiment with "different" food and Alessandra went out of her way to make sure they were happy with tomatoes, strawberries and cookies!!! We also enjoyed a second day with Marco at the Palermo v Torino football match. Marco was a blast to hang out with and it was really nice having a local to take us to the stadium. I highly recommend the strEAT tour and if you enjoy soccer, check out a game with Marco!!! read more

A definite highlight while in Palermo. You are in for a treat if you book this food tour with Marco. He is charming, funny, knowledgeable, and really takes an interest with everyone in the group. There is plenty to eat, so come a little hungry. I won't give away exactly what you'll eat, but everything is authentic and tasty. I can't imagine any other eating/walking tour being as good as this one. read more

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Had 2 days in Palermo and this tour was a great way to get a local perspective of the city! I look forward to visiting this vibrant city again! read more

Sergio was a fantastic tour guide. He knew everything and anything about the sites, city, and local life of Palermo. Giving insights about the mafia, the history, and the combination of cultures within Sicily, I was amazed at everything this place had to offer and the knowledge he had. The food was outstanding, and I learned so much in 4 hours. Highly recommended tour while visiting Palermo. read more

We absolutely loved this tour. First, we felt very safe and the food was all healthy/safe to eat. It was more than just a food tour. Marco's passion for his city of Palermo was evident and he shared numerous details about the city. The food was great and the tour was fun. It was not too much walking. We would highly recommend the food tour, even if you are just doing it for the lunch aspect, it is great to have a guide around the city. The price was great, much less than other tours we have done. But, you can't beat the love that Marco had for the city! read more

We took a wonderful tour of the back streets of Palermo with our guide Francesca. We toured through two open air markets and learned about some local produce. The tour winds through some of the back streets of Palermo past some of the striking piazzas and churches. The food we ate was delicious. You could taste that is was freshly made. We stopped at a stand that served a local sandwich, pane con la milza, or fried veal spleen sandwich. It was amazing even though it doesn't sound it Francesca is very relaxed. She tells stories about local culture, local food and local landmarks. She doesn't rush through the 4 hour walk. It is an easy walk with many stops along the way. We recommend this if you like food and culture. It's a great way to learn about the city and it's people read more

We signed up for this tour with the recommendation of our B&B hosts. The tour was certainly a highlight of our stay in Palermo. Marco is extremely educated in the history of the city and was a delight to walk the streets of Palermo with, and have him explain the city to us. He showed us the market stalls, and we stopped at some incredible food places and ate along the way. We got to experience Arancine, panelle and cazilli. We walked through narrow streets of old neighborhoods and visited the most exquisite churches. We ended with a typical Sicilian lunch, and then to top it off, we walked over and enjoyed the worlds greatest cannoli. The experience was wort every euro of the modest price. We would recommend this tour to anyone visiting the city of Palermo. Meeting and spending the day with Marco was truly one of the best experiences on our trip!! read more

This is so much more than a food tour. The guides are just incredible, and they bring the city to life through food and explaining the history of la Vucciria. We included this as a daytrip for our guests after our wedding in Cefalu, just outside of Palermo. And everyone absolutely loved it - a highlight of their trip to Sicily. Marco, Alessandra and Glenda were so accommodating. We had two big groups, with many people cancelling or wanting to be included after the original booking. I can't speak more highly of the entire experience. Palermo is a city which can only be truly appreciated when you can get under its skin and have someone explain it to you. And this is just the best way to do that. If you are in Palermo, you must go! read more