Saturday, November 7, 2026 · Customer reviews of US businesses
The Fair Hearing score
Excellent
138 reviews
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Secret Food Tours - We are local people, who have a deep passion for our food, history and culture. We would be delighted to show you the real tastes of the...
Secret Food Tours (secretfoodtours.com) has 138 customer reviews on The Fair Hearing, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
138 approved reviews, newest moderated first
I would like to start by saying the guides were good but the tour went off from the advertised stops. The food was ok just not what we were expecting. We were disappointed that the two surprise stops were the Olive Oil store and the Honey store. Anyone off the street could go into those stores to sample honey or olive oil. We paid for those stops. I have been on several foodie tours and loved them. Would not recommend this one.
By Anonymous
Just a little warning about SFT, this is not a review about any of the tours or guides but booking a tour directly with them and my customer service experience. Secret Food Tours does not offer refunds when booking directly with them. No matter the reason. But if you book through Viator there is refund for cancelations. I had to cancel a tour in Vienna because of the problems caused by the low water levels on the Danube. Our tour was 3 weeks away but in essence they said, "tough luck". But they have the right to cancel a tour at their discretion. They do offer a gift card but it has to be used with a year. I'm sure the tours they offer are very good but their care and understanding for their customers is not that good. If there are any chances of a change in your trip I'd use Viator.
By C B.
Response from Secret Food Tours· Sep 28, 2026
Thank you for sharing your experience and explaining the circumstances surrounding your booking in Vienna. We understand that changing travel plans can be frustrating. When guests book directly with us at Secret Food Tours, our cancellation and refund policy applies to the reservation. Bookings made through third-party platforms, such as Viator, may have different cancellation terms depending on the platform's policies and the conditions selected at the time of booking. This means refund options can vary depending on where guests choose to make their reservations. We also offer gift card option as an alternative for guests who are unable to attend, giving them the opportunity to enjoy one of our tours at another time within its validity period. While we recognize that this may not be the preferred solution for every situation, we aim to provide an option that allows guests to experience our tours in the future. That said, we hope you'll reconsider joining Secret Food Tours in the future and give us the opportunity to welcome you on one of our tours in Vienna or another destination. We would love for you to experience firsthand what makes our tours memorable, from the local food and culture to the knowledge and hospitality of our guides.
The first thing that struck me about this tour was our guide Eliot’s bizarre and purposefully off-putting behavior. For a food tour, we were given a rather extraordinary amount of personal information on they/them upfront. After about six minutes of painful emotional prodding during an all-together confusing summation of they/their time attempting a career as a comedienne at second city, Eliot stopped the tour inexplicably for a long and lingering moment by the Obama family’s top literary picks to explain Chicago’s diversity-rich history to us. We didn’t receive any food for another 45 minutes afterwards. Somehow, the tour still ended almost an hour early. When receiving my pizza slice, I shot Eliot a rather confused glance and they/their response still has me perplexed. “MY tour differs greatly from the script that I’ve been given,” they said curtly. I said nothing at all before or afterwards. In my opinion, this was strange when speaking to a customer while all the others could easily hear. Between the destinations, Eliot studied their reflection in the windows of the buildings we passed. Very odd behavior for a tour guide of any kind. Also, the food that one is given on the food tour totals about $30, so one essentially pays $49.99 to be toyed with for a few hours. I’ll walk myself up and down Jackson Blvd next time (which comprises the entirety of the food portion of the food tour) and avoid the nonsense next time.
By Matt F.
Response from Secret Food Tours· Jul 27, 2026
Thank you for sharing your perspective, Matt. We’d like to provide some additional context for anyone reading this review. The experience described here was not that of a paying guest joining one of our public food tours. You attended as part of our guide onboarding process, where the purpose is to evaluate and discuss different guiding approaches. As such, it was not representative of the experience our guests receive on our regular tours. We're sorry to hear that the tour did not meet your expectations. As part of the onboarding process, candidates are encouraged to share their feedback directly with us so we can have an open discussion. Unfortunately, after the tour, communication regarding your application came to an end before that conversation could take place. We are incredibly proud of the experiences our guides deliver and of the feedback we consistently receive from the thousands of guests who join our Chicago food tours each year. We have shared the relevant information with the review platform so they can determine whether this review complies with their guidelines. For anyone considering joining us, we encourage you to explore the experiences shared by our guests, which reflect the tours we deliver every day.
I went to the meeting point as scheduled, but the guide never showed up. After contacting the operator via WhatsApp, I was told they had decided to cancel the tour because I was the only participant. I had booked this tour well in advance and was really looking forward to it. The operator claimed they had sent me an email about the cancellation, but that doesn't change the fact that they canceled a confirmed booking at the last minute. There was no indication on the booking page that the tour could be canceled due to a low number of participants. If that is their policy, it should be clearly stated before customers book. This experience was extremely disappointing and completely disrupted my plans. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this tour.
By Serkan
Response from Secret Food Tours· Jun 26, 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, Serkan. We'd like to provide some additional context regarding what happened. We reached out well in advance of your scheduled tour through several emails to let you know that, due to the number of participants, we were hoping to reschedule your booking. We made multiple attempts to get in touch, but unfortunately, we did not receive a response before the tour date. On occasion, we do make this type of adjustment to preserve the experience for our guests, as the shared and social nature of our food tours is an important part of what makes them enjoyable. We regret that our messages did not reach you in time. When it became clear that the available rescheduling options would not work with your plans, we promptly processed a full refund for your booking. While we're saddened this visit didn't work out, we truly hope you'll consider joining us again if your travels bring you back to Sydney. We'd welcome the opportunity to share the experience we know so many of our guests have come to enjoy.
We showed up two minutes late after catching the bus, with no way to call to speak to anyone to catch up with the tour. Only messaging available and by the time we heard back, it was half way through the tour. THEY DO NOT REFUND. No exceptions. BS. I will not accept this policy and neither should you. They are so secret that the Chamber of Commerce had never heard of them. Don't trust these people!!
By Amber Jones R.
Response from Secret Food Tours· Jun 25, 2026
Hi Amber, thank you for sharing your feedback. Our team understands how disappointing it must have been to miss the start of the tour. To be fair to all of our guests, we begin each tour at the scheduled start time and are unable to delay departure for late arrivals. As equally outlined in our Terms and Conditions, all bookings are strictly non refundable, and we apply this policy consistently. Even so, we wanted to help you make the most of your booking, which is why we shared the location of the first food stop so you could still meet the group and continue with the tour. We understand that you chose not to do so. While we're saddened the tour didn't work out as planned, we'd still be happy to welcome you on another tour in the future. We hope you'll consider giving us another opportunity to show you the experience that so many of our guests have enjoyed.
I’m really disappointed in this tour unfortunately. My partner and I have been on countless Secret Food Tours (London, Rome, Florence etc) and have always been so delighted with the tour that it becomes the highlight of our trip. We usually enjoy it so much that rebook a new tour in the majority of the new places we visit! The Copenhagen tour however did not meet our expectations. While the food choices were decent, the amount of food received wasn’t even close to enough. One of the spots was literally the SMALLEST piece of pork you can imagine (picture one teeny bit of char siu from a bowl of ramen) and HALF of a meatball?! Not even a full meatball!!! We also upgraded our package to include drinks which was only 2 shots in 1 bar. This doesn’t even compare to the other tours, for example - we had at least one full glass of wine in every single place we visited in Florence. The price compared to the amount of food we got is not even comparable and we ended up needing to grab more food an hour later. So disappointing as we are usually so happy with the service but I unfortunately couldn’t recommend the Copenhagen tour to anyone.
By Zarah H.
Response from Secret Food Tours· Jun 16, 2026
Thank you, Zarah, for taking the time to share your feedback. While we're pleased to hear that you enjoyed the food selections themselves, we recognize that the portion sizes and drink inclusions did not align with the expectations you had built from other tours. Our tours are designed to balance variety, local specialties, and overall satisfaction, though this can vary from city to city based on local culinary traditions and market conditions. Copenhagen is one of Europe's most expensive food and beverage destinations, which does influence how tastings are structured compared to cities such as Florence. Even so, the goal is always for guests to leave feeling that they have enjoyed a substantial and worthwhile experience. Your comments regarding the portion sizes, particularly at specific stops, have been shared with our local team. We are also reinforcing the importance of guides proactively checking in with guests throughout the tour, as additional servings can often be arranged when needed. We want guests to feel comfortable raising these concerns during the experience so adjustments can be made whenever possible. Feedback from returning guests like yourself is especially valuable because it helps us better understand how our tours compare across destinations and where expectations may not be met. We appreciate you taking the time to provide such detailed observations, and we hope you'll give us the opportunity to welcome you on another Secret Food Tour in the future.
I booked a Secret Food Tour for Toronto in March 2026 for May 2026. I used the secretfoodtours.com website, not an aggregator website (e.g., Victor). I paid the full price of the tour at that time. The day before the tour, I was contacted by the local office to say the tour had been cancelled. After considering the alternative options I was offered, I decided to simply cancel and asked for a refund. I received an initial email after that request with full details about the refund. But after 7 business days no refund was posted to my credit card account. After another four/five email exchanges in which I supplied the initial booking reference — all purportedly with different people - I was asked for my BANK ACCOUNT information for the ticket fees to be refunded. I found this suspicious and did not supply that information. I no longer trust the company, particularly the Toronto branch. Be aware!
By Det
Response from Secret Food Tours· Jun 1, 2026
Thank you for sharing your experience. We understand how the cancellation and subsequent refund process may have raised concerns. Regarding the request for additional payment details, we would like to clarify that this is a legitimate part of our current refund process in certain situations. Due to recent updates and limitations associated with our payment processing system, some refunds can no longer be returned directly to the original payment method. In these cases, our team may request either PayPal information or bank account details to ensure the approved refund can be completed successfully. These requests are made solely for the purpose of processing the refund and are handled securely by our authorized team. We appreciate you bringing this feedback forward. Our intention throughout was to ensure that your refund was processed in full, and we regret that the necessary steps created uncertainty about the process. Should you wish to proceed, our team remains available to assist in completing the refund through the option that is most convenient for you.
First let me say we have been on many food tours but the experience we had last night was one of the best! Gabrielle is fantastic! His knowledge and the way he shares it with us was passionate and informative. All the stops were excellent! If you are lucky enough to get Gabrielle as your guide you will be in for a lifetime memory 🇮🇪
By Stacey H.
Response from Secret Food Tours· Jun 1, 2026
Thank you for joining us and leaving such a kind review. We're delighted that the experience gave you a chance to explore parts of the city you may not have otherwise discovered. Thank you again for choosing Secret Food Tours, Stacey!
