Dupont Circle Food Tour Reviews

I was very very impressed with this food tour. Our tour was initially cancelled as the company made adjustments to make an excellent product. We are local and have taken other food tours. So we are happy to wait for something excellent. It absolutely was worth it. 4 stops, 3 savory and one sweet give you a gastronimic and frankly delightful view of Dupont Circle, from its history to its culinary culture. Nowadays big restaurant groups and local chains drive the scene, as its frankly too expensive for anyone else much to make it. Despite this, they gave us a look at some fabulous gems, and we had a wonderful afternoon. Yay!

We had an excellent experience with the Dupont Circle food tour. Sam, our tour guide, was friendly and knowledgeable. He accommodated our late arrivel (due to transportation slowness) very comfortably. We enjoyed the restaurants and food shop on our tour. We plan to return to Darlington House for a birthday dinner. I look forward to attending another food tour. Thank you, Janice

she is a great human being and fun to be around

Really fun your. Great food. Just enough to make you feel full but not too much that you leave feeling stuffed. Very knowledgable tour guide. Highly recommended!

This tour began at a very nice restaurant and probably my favorite stop - Darlington's. Although the food took a while to come out, it was excellent. The next stop, a Mexican joint, offered fantastic food and margaritas as well. The following stops included chicken and biscuits, which I thought was a little cheap for the price that I paid for the tour. In addition, we had to leave before our drinks were delivered (This was entirely this particular restaurant's fault). Another stop included a Greek grocer that offered light tapas on the second floor. I really liked this place but I wish I had discovered it on my own and spent more time there. The owners were really lovely. Lastly, we reached the grand finale at a renowned ice cream shop. I really enjoyed this place and it led me right back to the metro where we started.

The tour guide could have been a bit more enthusiastic and her stories a little more planned. She was a very nice and helpful woman.

All in all, I enjoyed this food tour, but not for the price I paid. No drinks were included and half of the stops had really low priced food. I was hoping for more exciting dishes that I could rave to friends about, but this food tour just didn't allow for that. When I'm in DC again. I will try a different food tour with this company.

This food tour of the Dupont neighborhood was a great way to spend an afternoon. Despite coming to DC for more than 4 decades, I learned about the area and how it developed. That, in turn, brought different ethnic groups eager to share their food and cultures. There were 12 of us in the group, representing a wide age span, backgrounds and interests. This is a fun event for anyone interested in food and local history. Remember to wear good walking shoes!

This tour was great along with our tour guide! He was very knowledgeable about the area and gave us lots of information on the history. The food was wonderful! And I was able to arrange cupcakes as a surprise for my daughter for her birthday at one of the stops! Would definitely do this again!

Excellent tour guide got everyone involved and interactive; good walking distance (not too much, not too little); great food with very large portions (the biggest I've had on a food tour!); lots of history of the neighbourhood described; could have made more of a connection between the food we were eating and the history of the neighbourhood

Sam was a good tour guide, but I wish this tour expanded further. I've been on other food tours where they go further into different areas of a city. This one stayed in just one neighborhood. I would've liked a wider area, maybe Adams Morgan or downtown dc. That would be good.

Dupont Circle is beautiful and the tour guide was wonderful but I was disappointed with the food choices. I was

not impressed by the Mexican restaurant and the Lamb was hard and not good at the mediterranian restaurant. I do not eat lamb and most of the people on my tour also did not eat it. The tour guide said the people in the past complain about it but that "the lamb should still be a meal." I truly enjoyed the George town tour and felt everything was better.

Leah was friendly and entertaining. The group was fantastic! The atmosphere lent itself to interactions and getting to know our fellow tourists. There were only four stops for food - there was plenty of food at each stop, but in a 3 1/2 hour tour, it would have been nice to have more stops, just for variety.

This was a great way to learn about the neighborhood and its history. Our guide was friendly and knowledgable..all around great actually. The tour itself though did not appear to focus as much on the cuisine as we had anticipated and the restaurants themselves were just "okay". Having said that, we noticed a lot of interesting restaurants in the neighborhood that were not part of the tour and we will definitely return to Dupont Circle to experience them.

It was a fun way to hear a bit about Washington. Would have like to have had one ore stop. Four places was a bit short considering one was more of a store. The group had a good feel and the night was a fun adventure.

We very much enjoyed this activity. Our guide was helpful, knowledgeable and a joy to work with. We had expected at restaurants that the chef or manager would come out and welcome us to the place and talk about the business and what they do, their views on food, etc. this did not happen. Also, the qualify of the food was not what we thought it would be . ie: We expected 3 to 4 stars but got 2 to 3 stars (by example). Our last restaurant was the most interactive with us and it was a deli.

We will sign up for more tours. We just thought you need to get the participating restaurants more involved with the tour groups and the quality of food served needs to be top notch

Again, loved our tour guide!

The tour was fun and interesting. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and personable. The food selections were diverse and quite filling!

We had a great time on the Dupont Circle Food Tour. This was our second tour with DC Metro, the previous being a Pub Crawl tour. In both cases our guide (Leah) really made the tour for us.

- Seth & Renee

Our group consisted of four adults. Myself, my husband, our son and his wife. Our guide was very informative about the history of the neighborhood. She was laid back and very friendly. We all felt that the oral history could have been condensed a bit. There was a good variety of restaurants and all were delicious. Our least favorite was the Greek/French grocery store. It felt more like a sales promotion than a true part of the tour. Also, Bar Dupont, was unorganized, and did not seem ready for the group. The Mexican restaurant and DGS were both prompt and delicious. We will definitely return to these two restaurants. All in all it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon in D.C. We will surely participate in other D C Food Tours when we return to the area.

Leah, our guide was very informed about the Dupont Circle area history. The pace was good and the narrative was engaging. Our stops were at: Bar Dupont, Mediterranean Way (not a restaurant but had unique Olive Oils, Balsamic Vinegar, store that carries imported delicacies), Crios (Mex-fusion) and Downtown Grocery Store (DGS) Deli (this is my fave of all). DGS had the mouth-melting pastrami. We walked long but the historical narrative made it interesting. I got good tips for venues where I can entertain visiting guests. I would recommend this to get the "knows" where to dine or take local friends.

We were lucky to be part of a 4 person tour which was great as was our guide Leah. However, we felt that the venues were visited in the wrong order. The Mediterranean shop should have been the first stop, as an appetiser. The evening of our tour was very hot and humid and guests didn't have much of an appetite for the items they had carefully prepared by the time we arrived as the last stop of our tour. The DGS Deli was an absolute highlight and we have since been back for dinner. Leah provided a lot of interesting details about the history of the DuPont Circle area.

Enjoyed the more than plentiful food and interactions with the guides and other participants. Nice evening.

We love good food and good tours. We also love the Dupont Circle area. So we invited friends on this tour thinking it would be a sure thing. Wine bar, some swanky spot, some local joint! I know this is super easy to do! Problem number 1, no discount! I think locals should always get a little more, maybe its just me. 2. The Food. Not good enough for the price -- SHOULDA BEEN GOURMET FOR THAT!!. I dont understand how $60 can only get you into 4 restaurants. But I digress. Number 3. The guide! She wore a nametag but when we are taking tours we want a polo tee! or a hat! I will give them another chance maybe, or just do the research and go to restaurants on my own - Im a millinial, I can do this!!

Before we get to the food, our tour guide gave us pretty good information about the Dupont Circle area and its history. I'm from maryland and now live in DC but was still learning alot of new things. I'd say it wasn't really tied to the food we were eating but it was still fun to learn.

The food: we had a braised pulled pork taco with yucca fries first, the Taco was above average, but the fries were some of the best i've ever had, not sure how they did them. We then went to a malaysian place and had a sampler of street foods. Nothing amazing there, but still very tasty. Next was Moroccan, the lamb was close to some of the best i've ever had. We ended with scallops and bread pudding, which I'm sure were good, but I was already so full that I'm not sure I appreciated it fully. I'm a big guy so wasn't expecting to be so full. I think having a couple extra cocktails and the couple minutes between each course contributed to how full I felt.

Definitely a great value, am going to be doing many more of these in DC.

The food was really good and the guide was very knowledgeable about the food and the designated stops. The guide was not as much fun as when we had done the Eastern Market tour last year. This guide knew the stops, but didn't really interact with the group as we were walking.

Tour leader very nice but not very knowledgeable. This tour was literally walking to 4 restaurants with 2 or 3 interesting facts about area. Number of restaurants less than most Zerve tours. All were eat in rather than sampling tray brought outside. A combination of both is preferred. Half the tour was sitting in a restaurant waiting for food. No retail shop on tour, I.e, spices, oils, coffees or teas; no handout about restaurants on tour. Description on booking site less accurate than previous tours booked. That said, I am a loyal Zerve customer an will book again at another city.

The tour had a great combination of history and food. We visited 4 places and learned about the area inbetween stops. Our tour guides were very knowledgable and enthusiastic. Will definetly do another tour again!

Obviously DC on Memorial Day weekend is something to remember as far as the parades, patriotism, museums and monuments. These event were all great, but the weekend would not have been the same without going on the Dupont Circle food tour.

The tour lead us to 4 different restaurants with very different tastes. The guide Leah was excellent in explaining each dish from each restaurant and also entertained by pointing out local DC facts and attractions/landmarks as we walked to each establishment.

In giving a brief synopsis of the places we went I warn that I am not a picky eater and very much a foodie so these are reviews based on an open palate. The first place was a small family run Malaysian restaurant that was amazing. There were many different finger foods (utensils provided as well) that were very flavorful and unique to Malaysian cuisine. This was my wife's favorite place.

Second we went to a more funky nuevo Mexican restaurant and had 2 pulled pork tacos and yuca fries. This was alright, but nothing special and it was a little ruined by the crowd at the time of some afternoon young loud drunks. The place was clean and interesting to see and again for was ok, but this was the least enjoyed on the tour.

The third place we went was a fusion type place with good local craft beers. The dish we had here was amazing......we were served 3 large seared scallops on this white bean salad that was amazing. This was one of the restaurants more popular dishes and you could see why. I had a local DC beer here as well that was great and went perfect with the dish.

The last place was a Greek style restaurant that was wonderful as well. First we were served this warm air filled bread that steamed when you opened it, and this was accompanied by 3 dipping sauces (hummus, tzatziki and a red pepper sauce). All 3 were delicious....The dishes were some lamb meatballs (wonderful), chicken skewers (cooked perfect) and a sweet rice that went well with everything. Lastly we were served some baklava that was great.

I did not mention the landmarks and sights that were pointed out, but you can imagine getting a tour and all this food for a very low cost. The Dupont Circle or any of the food tours are a must when you are visiting DC!!!

We wanted a fun way to explore new parts of DC, eat some good food and meet new people. This tour meet all of our expectations. Leah was very experienced in DuPont Circle and she introduced us to restaurants with wonderful foods. We will definantly go back to a couple of them. We also talked about some other ideas for food tours in the area that we would sign up for. Beer and Sandwich tour, Sweets tour (I have always wanted to go out to eat just for desserts), and Female owned restaurants tour were just a few I really liked. Thanks again for the wonderful experience. We look forward to exploring other food tours through DC.

I went with a friend on beautiful April day and the tour lived up to all of our expectations! Our guide Leah was friendly and funny and informative, and we learned some cool things about local DC history. The food was phenomenal at all the four places we went and I definitely want to go back for full meals another time. The people in our group were really diverse as well, and service at all the places went very smoothly. Overall, fantastic time and I'd enthusiastically recommend any fan of food and local history. (They also made great accommodations for the one person with peanut-allergy on the tour - make sure to let them know ahead of time!)

Since I am a very picky eater, I was a little reluctant about this tour. However, much to my surprise this was the highlight of my trip to Washington DC and cant wait to come back and try another tour.

Even though the food isn't really "Dupont Circle." This is the fewest number of stops I've ever had on a food tour...3. That's pretty paltry. Not saying there wasn't enough food, just that there weren't enough stops. I guess its tough when there isn't really anything particularly food-ish about Dupont Circle. Calling this a food tour is a bit of a stretch. It's a tour of Dupont Circle, with some stops to try food from three area restaurants.

The tour guide was very good - knowledgeable, processed a sense of pride and interest in the sites and foods we encountered throughout the entirety of the tour which maintained a sense of excitement for all. The food was just phenomenal - an eclectic menu that satisfied my own international tastes of indulgence. The proportions were just right, initially I thought we would just be offered small appetizer dishes - I was wrong, the variety was great. And I was reassured that I wasn't going to go starving for I have a big appetite. The other tour members were interesting and nice so the atmosphere was welcoming and pleasant. The length of the time of the tour was just right. I was introduced to amazing restaurants in Dupont Circle of which I may have never entered on my own accord and I was introduced to new and amazing food. It was a great escape from the norm and a pleasant afternoon. My date loved it as did I!

Love the tour. Roxanne was a great guide. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon exploring DC a bit, learn a little of the history behind many of the buildings and enjoy great food and people. Part of the fun was that the group was interactive and got along very well. Roxanne did a great job facilitating the group conversation and made everyone felt at ease. My girlfriend and I look to do another tour in the summer. Highly recommend it!

My husband and I gave this foodie tour to each other for a Christmas gift. Coming from the suburbs of Northern Virginia and never done one of these before, we were excited to have a date night. It was one of the coldest days of the year and it added to the enjoyment since our tour guide, Roxanne was totally knowledgeable, friendly, upbeat and great guide in explaining all the food and history of the area. She walked us around the area, spoke about the history, answered any and all questions from us and going into each warm restaurant tasting delicious food, only made the experience that much more enjoyable. We read the other reviews and they were correct - we were stuffed and full by the time we finished. It was a great way to enjoy the holidays and I would recommend it highly!

Good amount of food sampled at great restaurants, the time goes very quickly. Our guide Roxanne was knowledgeable and very conversational. We will be going on many more tours of the various neighborhoods. Be weary of the cold if you venture out during the winter - dress warm. Recommend this as a guaranteed good time. We checked out the DC Improv after to finish the great day.

Leah made the history of the area vibrant and alive. Each restaurant was unique and a gastronomic delight. The portions were generous. The tour was a highlight of our weekend in DC.

Out guide, I believe her name was Lia, was fabulous. She provided tons of details about the area that no one in my group even knew about! I can honestly say I enjoyed each restaurant she took us to. After the tour was over, we all headed out for margarita's. It was a fabulous day and I can't wait for our next tour!

We wound up with a group of 3 plus the tour guide. She was OUTSTANDING. The history we learned was quite interesting. And she was quite knowledgeable; and the food was DELICIOUS. I wholeheartedly recommend this tour. I've been on three of these tours and by far, hands down, this was my favorite!!!

A really interesting and enjoyable tour with four excellent food stops at a variety of restaurants in the DuPont Circle area

Don't even think about eating lunch before you set off and you certainly will not want dinner later!

I am a food tour novice, and it seemed like something to try for my wife me. We're from suburban Maryland, and we enjoy feeling like urbanites for a few hours.

What a great way to spend time in/around Dupont Circle. My wife lived her many years ago, so it was a coming home for her, and it was all pretty new to me. The tour was excellent in spite of the light rain.

The food was outstanding. I had no expectation of getting that much food. And the thing that struck me the most was how eager the restaurants were to see us. They were super attentive, and they got us in, seated, fed (and drinks if we wanted) and out in such a great fashion. I commend the tour guide (Roxanne) for having built good relationships with the restaurant staff.

I'm definitely doing other tours around the city. Worth the time and money for a couple suburbanites! ha!

My family and I really enjoyed this tour. Our tour guide was Roxanne and she did a great job. We learned some very interesting facts and the food was fantastic!! I look forward to another DC food tour!

We liked it

The food was fantastic and I learned a little about the history of Dupont Circle.

We were amazed at the amount of food given on this tour. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of DuPont Circle and it was a great addition to the tour...

As a tourist (from out of state), it was good!

This was a great experience more than I expected the tour guide Roxanne was very upbeat and kept the tour interesting with all the facts she provided about the history of Dupont circle. One thing I liked was each restaurant we visited was waiting on our group and service was very quick bring your appetite and you wont be disappointed. I will definitely try another tour with this company very soon

Had a wonderful experience Roxanne was a great tour guide. Food was delicious and plentyful

Thoroughly enjoyed the DC Dupont Circle Food Tour. An amazing amount of food.From a divine cocktail and crabcake, delicious Moroccan (wow), surprising Malaysian and flavourful Japaneses- including a creamy mango ice cream it was all satisfying.

Roxanne was a great guide regalling us with stories of Dupont Circle. She really paced things well giving us lots of time to eat before heading off again. Would loved to have heard more stories and seen more of Embassy Row but there wasn't enough time. Our 21 year old son came with us and he loved it! Highly recommend this tour!

We learned alot and ate some wonderful food.

Overall the tour was pleasant, and our guide Roxanne was an outstanding historian & host. I really enjoyed the group interaction and walking around the Dupont Circle area. The restaurants chosen were all interesting and tasty except for only 1 sub-par restaurant. As soon as I walked in, it felt dirty and dingy. When the food was brought out, NONE of it was warm, less much hot. It tasted like leftovers not even reheated. The guide said the dishes were common food truck items but even so, i've had delicious, hot food from street carts better than this. I'm very familiar with the dishes being I've eaten plenty times in NY Chinatown. If the food was prepared fresh, the Roti would not have been so oily but flaky, the curry hot. The rest of the dishes too seemed either soggy or coagulated fat. I barely ate but a couple bites at that place. The other restaurants were wonderful, both ambiance & food. I loved the lumb crab meat at Bar Dupont, the lamb at the Morrocan place & though the sushi was plain at Sushi Taro, it tasty good. I noticed the other customers' more elaborately designed dishes as we walked out, enough to this popular place hopefully someday.

Really fun experience on the tour. Nice group size - not overwhelming and not awkwardly small either. FANTASTIC FOOD and lots of it! Tour group leader was very friendly, not an exceptional story-teller, but interesting nonetheless. When a unforeseen problem arose, she did an awesome job of working around it and making sure we still got plenty to eat!

We highly recommend the Dupont Circle food tour to anyone visiting DC! We were at first wary about the amount of time it would take to complete the tour (3.5 hours as stated online) but soon found out that it is just the right amount of time to enjoy the sights, the food and the joys of being with other tour members. Roxanne had a vibrant personality that helped each member of our tour group to loosen up and enjoy the company, as well as the most amazing food that had been served to us. The variety of the dishes added up to the appeal of the whole tour. I definitely would recommend this tour!

Great mix of food, sightseeing, history lesson, and making new friends! This would be great for someone new to the city, or someone from out of town. Our group was a mix of locals and travelers!

Adam was fun, bright and informative. He knows the area and food, in general, well. All added up to a great afternoon. We plan on doing Georgetown next!

Instead of writing a review, I'll just include the unsolicited letter I wrote to those who run the tours:

----Begin Letter----

To whom it may concern-

Recently we purchased and attended a "food tour" with DC Metro Food Tours. Our tour guide was named "Adam" though I didn't catch the last name.

I just wanted to let you know that this tour was incredible. It was well worth the cost per ticket ($65) and we can't wait to schedule another tour. We have lived in the D.C. area for over 10 years, and found ourselves only venturing into DC when family or friends came to visit. I found your tours online, and the fiance and myself decided to take the tour with just the two of us to learn more about the nation's capital.

Not only was Adam incredibly personable, but he was knowledgeable as well. There was also a young lady accompanying him (Roxanne?) that was in "training" I believe, and she also shared very interesting tidbits about the history of DC as we walked from one restaurant to the next. The food was so incredible that we had a significant debate on our 2 hour drive home as to which was really "the best." (I'm still arguing it was the Moroccan soup, she claims it was the lamb with prunes. I'll keep you updated on who wins.)

I even learned stuff I hadn't expected, such as how one's palate can be determined by genetics (and now I know why I don't like cilantro!)

I couldn't recommend this tour enough, and we can't wait to take our next one! Would it be possible to be put on a mailing list to notify us when Adam will be doing the Little Ethiopia tour?

Thank you so much for a great experience!

----End Letter----

True story.

Our tour guide was fantastic and did a fantastic job describing everything. Food was excellent.

We had a great time on our trip. Our trip leader was fun and informative and the places we went were great! Definitely worth the time and money. We had a great couple w us which if they weren't cool could have made the trip awkward.

We loved this tour. We had an excellent tour guide. He was knowledgeable and humorous. Unfortunately, the weather made it difficult to spend much time outside, but all of the restaurants were warm and inviting with delicious food! I highly recommend this tour!

Good food. Good presentation.

The Dupont Circle Food Tour was incredible. The food was amazing (especially at the last stop). Not only did our tour guide know the area like the back of his hand, he was able to present the information in a manner that was humorous and engaging. His knowledge of food (not just the foods at our stops, but food in general) was very insightful. I would do this tour over and over again!!!!!

My daughter and I had a great time and the food was fabulous. I am a picky eater and enjoyed everything. There was lots of food and we skipped dinner afterwards. Adam is great and has put together a wonderful tour of the neighborhood and restaurants we would have walked right by.

I loved this Food Tour !!!!

Adam did a great job of keeping it interesting, informative and fun. This was our 5th food tour and we were so happy with the food selections. The portions were awesome and really gave a great tasting of each restaurant. Adam really made everyone on the tour feel important and really looked for our feedback. He really did a great job of having the group chat and mix well. Well done!!!

Adam was funny and knowledgable. Have been raving about this tour to everyone.

This was an awesome way to spend an afternoon and is such a great value. For $65 we got 4 meals and an awesome tour of the Dupont area of DC. Our tourguide, Andy, was very knowledgeable and extremely personable. We had an awesome time!

Little tip - a little bit of walking (I'd say the perfect amount, especially since you're eating so much) so wear comfortable shoes.

BIG TIP - DON'T EAT BEFORE GOING. So much food you could have rolled us back to the Dupont Metro stop!

This was awesome, I can't say enough .... take this tour, you won't regret it!

My boyfriend and I went on the DuPont Circle tour and had a GREAT time with absolutely delicious food. We were expecting to have appetizers at the individual restaurants, and while we didn't make dinner reservations for that night, we thought we would just grab dinner a couple hours after the tour. We were WRONG! We were absolutely stuffed by the end of the tour, in a good way! And the diversity of food was wonderful - we had an assortment of Moroccan, Malaysian, Japanese and East Coast food - I would definitely not have been able to experience so many different cuisines had I not gone on the tour. I am recommending this to my parents when they visit, and even to DC locals because it's just a great value and a great time. Our tour guide was great too - he really knew the ins and outs of the part of town we were in and I learned a lot from him as well! I will definitely look out for other culinary tours when I travel to other cities, it is such a great concept!

Tour guide was very enthusiastic about DuPont and we started on time and focused on the food. The restaurants were a wide variety and exposed me to several different styles and each were delicious. A great way to spend an afternoon - you won't feel hungry when you are done.