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About Us

Local Tastes of the City Tour Guides

Learn about the team of real San Francisco residents who bring you to the bakeries, cafes, restaurants, and hidden gems of North Beach & Chinatown.

Tom

Tom

Local Tastes of the City Tours founder, Tom, has been guiding our San Francisco tours for close to a decade. In addition to extensive knowledge of San Francisco history, architecture and cuisine, he is a trained naturalist.

Cynthia

Cynthia

Cynthia, a Bay Area native, grew up playing in Golden Gate Park as a child. Her teenage years were spent buying shoes for school in Chinatown, and eating pasta dinner with her family on Sundays in North Beach.

Brian

Brian

Brian is 2nd generation born and raised in San Francisco. You can see him on stage in theaters around the Bay Area as well as in the film "Colma: The Musical" (not the city). He has stories you won’t believe!

Isabella

Isabella

Isabella immigrated to San Francisco from Holland when she was just 3 years old. She is an avid traveler, but she always enjoys coming home to share her city with people from all around the world as a tour guide.

A Message from Our Founder

A Message from Our Founder

Each one of our San Francisco tours explores the soul of a neighborhood. We have a passion for life, for trying new things, for living life to its fullest. San Francisco is one of the culinary capitals of the world and every block has its own unique feeling and foods.

On every one of our sojourns into San Francisco neighborhoods, we'll go into local bakeries, restaurants, and cafes, and taste the food. We know these places because these are the places we go to ourselves. We don't go and look at "tourist" shops. Our San Francisco tours takes you into, to spend time with, local artisans as they practice their crafts, whether it is calligraphers, bakers, or families who have been fishing for generations.

We have a passion for life, for trying new things, for living life to its fullest. Our goal is that after you join our San Francisco tours and explorations, you will take that same passion with you. After experiencing the real zeal of this place, we know you will. And not only will you leave your heart in San Francisco; you may find that you have left part of your soul here as well.

Local Tastes of the City San Francisco Tours is a group of passionate, professional, and certified guides with years of experience leading adventures in our San Francisco tours. We live here; we can't imagine living anywhere else. We love the City and want you to also experience its magic.

- Tom

Local Spotlight: Z. Ciccolato

"Hi, I'm Mike, the owner of Z. Cioccolato. Sweets have always been my weakness and retail has always been in my blood."

When in Little Italy, a stop at Z. Cioccolato is mandatory, whether you're on one of our tours or not. This acclaimed purveyor of homemade sweets (think fudge, candies, caramels, and much more) is acknowledged as one of the top chocolatiers in all of the United States. You'll quickly understand why as you bite into their signature 7-layered Peanut Butter Pie fudge.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have tours every day. In addition to daytime hours, we can also be reached in the evening. We enjoy taking reservations by telephone, so we can customize your tour to your interests. You can also click here to reach us by email.

 

Whether you join our tours by yourself or with friends or family, we ensure your enjoyment by keeping our tour sizes small.

 

If your group is over 15 people, call us at (415) 665-0480 or (888) 358-8687 or send us an email. and we'll customize a tour for your group. Whether your group is 15, 50, or more, we'll make sure that you have an phenomenal time.

 

Our rates for the North Beach (Little Italy) Tour and Chinatown Tour are:

 

  • Adults - $79 ($79 plus 6% Online Booking Fee = $83.74)
  • Youths (8-13) - $54 ($54.00 plus 6% Online Booking Fee = 57.24)
  • Children with parent or guardian (2-7) - $25 ($25 plus 6% Online Booking Fee – $26.50)
  • Children under 2 with parent or guardian - No charge

Our rates for the Chinatown and North Beach (Little Italy) Tour are:

  • Adults - $89 ($89 6% Online Booking Fee = $94.34)
  • Youths (8-13) - $59 ($59 plus 6% Online Booking Fee = $62.54)
  • Children with parent or guardian (2-7) - $35 ($35 plus 6% Online Booking Fee = $37.10)
  • Children under 2 with parent or guardian - No charge

Our tour costs include everything, from the tastings to the crafts, everything!

On the North Beach tour, you'll have everything from coffee drinks (lattes, cappuccinos, etc), chocolates, breads, pizza, specialty meats, pastries, and more. On the Chinatown or Night tours, you'll have everything from dim sum (at least five or six types), fortune cookies, teas, and more. Many of our guests are, to put it mildly, not hungry, and you're not going to know that until after the tour is over.

We really suggest that you don't eat much before the tour. On each of our tours, you'll be tasting a wide variety of phenomenal food.

If you reserve your tour online, we'll e-mail to confirm your reservation.

Even though we can accommodate same-day reservations for our San Francisco tours, when we have spaces, since we keep our groups small, we would suggest reserving your San Francisco tour in advance.

If your desired San Francisco tour has reached it's capacity, we can suggest another San Francisco tour time and date.

One of the founders, Tom Medin, has been guiding our San Francisco tours for close to a decade.

Local Tastes of the City San Francisco Tours is a group of passionate, professional, and certified guides with years of experience leading adventures in our San Francisco tours.

We live here; we can't imagine living anywhere else. We love the City and want you to also experience its magic.