My family was in town so I took them on this tour and we did have a good time, but it was a bit expensive for what we got. I would call it more of a walking tour of the neighborhood with stops for food and drinks than a food tour, because we really only got to try one, pre-selected (by the company, not us) item of food from a few restaurants in a 3.5 hour span. Maybe it should be re-named the Fell's Point History & Restaurant Tour.
Our guide was fairly knowledgeable, but we thought he must've been new because he wasn't particularly clear or concise in his descriptions - some of it was even a tad boring, and I'm usually a history-oriented person who enjoys random facts you might learn on a tour. He did know a fair amount about his own neighborhood, but considering half the tour guests were from out of town, a larger picture of how the local neighborhood fits in with Baltimore or Maryland on the whole would've been better. Really, I think a new tour guide should either have more training or guests should be offered discounted rates.
The food at most of the places we went was good, though two stops should be adjusted, in my opinion. BOP's pizza was not worth trying and it would've been nice to have a selection of beer to choose from at the bar we stopped at because the beer we were served wasn't very good (five agreed).
We also felt like we really had to take the initiative a lot. At the beginning of the tour they said we'd have time to have a beer or drink at each stop, but no server ever came to ask if we wanted anything when we arrived. I asked the tour guide's boss (more evidence that he was new) if we could get a drink from the bar and she said no, she'd find us a server. But by the time we entered an order and then received the beverages, we only had about five minutes to drink them and the coffee my Mom ordered was large and expensive. (They didn't have to-go cups.) It wasn't the end of the world, but we wouldn't have bothered ordering anything if it was going to be that quick of a stop and it's annoying to spend $25 to not be able to finish beverages.
They did a good job of introducing the tour group to the restaurant owners or managers, but, again, we had to take the initiative to learn more about the menu, prices, hours of operation, etc. Giving tour guests the opportunity to take a to-go menu or business card from each establishment would've been really nice for us, as well as for businesses if they want us to return.
Overall, I would recommend it if you love Fell's Point and want to learn more about the neighborhood or if you are really looking for something different to do, but as a tour of Baltimore, it doesn't fit and food tour is not an accurate term either. |