OUR STORY
EXPERIENCE NASHVILLE THROUGH ITS FOOD
Sidewalk Food Tours was founded in New York City in 2011 by Joshua Hirsch with a simple idea: one of the best ways to understand a neighborhood is through its food.
After years of leading food tours in cities across the U.S. and abroad, we brought Sidewalk Food Tours to Nashville in 2023. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of time eating our way through the city, getting to know its neighborhoods, working with local guides, and finding the restaurants and stories we think are worth sharing.
Nashville was an exciting city for us to explore because there’s so much more to its food scene than what first comes to mind. The city’s growth has brought new restaurants and chefs alongside the longtime establishments and Southern food traditions that helped define Nashville in the first place.
Today, our food tours explore Downtown Nashville and East Nashville, two neighborhoods with very different personalities. Along the way, our local guides share the history, people, culture, and stories behind the neighborhoods while introducing guests to the foods and restaurants we’ve chosen for our tours.
We’ve done a lot of eating our way through Nashville, and not every restaurant we’ve tried has made the cut. Great food matters, but so does the story behind the restaurant, its connection to the neighborhood, the experience our guests have there, and how each tasting fits with the rest of the tour.
We believe a great food tour should be more than a series of restaurant stops. The food—and the people who prepare it—help tell the story of the neighborhood.
Our private Nashville food tours are popular with families, friends, celebrations, and other groups who want to experience the city together with their own guide. It’s an easy way to eat well, explore Nashville, and spend time together without having to plan all the restaurants and logistics yourself.
We also specialize in corporate team-building experiences in Nashville, including private team-building food tours and hands-on cooking classes and cooking competitions. Food tours get coworkers out into the city, eating and exploring together, while our cooking experiences bring teams together in the kitchen to cook, collaborate, and have some friendly competition.
Whether you’re joining a public tour, exploring Nashville with family and friends, or planning a corporate team-building event, our goal is pretty simple: great food, interesting stories, and a fun way to experience Nashville together.
We’re always discovering new restaurants, meeting new people, and finding new places worth sharing.
Come hungry. We’d love to show you around.
OUR TOURS
EXPLORE NASHVILLE ONE BITE AT A TIME
MEET THE TEAM
JOSHUA HIRSCH
OWNER
On a six-hour historical tour of Lower Manhattan, Joshua’s stomach began to grumble as the guide pointed out some delicious food spots. It was then that he had an “aha moment.” He decided to include his favorite food places on a history and culture walking tour, so folks wouldn’t be hungry while discovering the city!
He wanted his tours to tell the story of the neighborhood through its food and the people who prepare it. The rest, as they say, is history. Sidewalk Food Tours, a culinary experience company, was born. He has since expanded into ten delectable cities. His goal is to expand to every major U.S. city you travel to, so you can experience its food and culture on a Sidewalk Food Tour.
CHIEU HIRSCH
PARTNER
We are honored to have Chieu Hirsch on our team. She plays an integral part in the company’s overall success. Her family bravely refuged to the U.S. from Vietnam in the 1980s. She brings years of business experience, previously working for Sprint, Principal Financial, Morgan Stanley, and Hartford. In addition to her business acumen, she is extremely passionate about feng shui, astrology, food, and culture. She loves meditation, traveling, and hiking to beautiful mountaintops. Spending quality time with her eight nieces and nephews is what brings her the most joy.
ROBBIE BRUENS
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Robbie Bruens designs, develops and manages food experiences for Sidewalk Food Tours. In addition to food (the highest art form, as we can all agree) he is also passionate about movies, books, paintings, and architecture. With that in mind, he recommends you watch Big Night (1996) directed by and starring Stanley Tucci and read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, as these combine the culinary arts with cinema and literature.
TREE LILY BUTCHER
GUIDE
Born on Halloween in Nashville, Tennessee, Tree Lily Butcher has always had a passion for stories. The greatest stories are usually told around a dining table. This sparked a passion for hospitality and food that lead to her becoming a food tour guide. Tree Lily lives that #lakelife with a loving partner of 12 years, an adorable toddler, and a tiny dog in Nashville, TN.
LILY JAREMSKI
GUIDE
Raised in Augusta, GA, Lily knows Southern cuisine inside and out. She has spent the last seven years getting to know the best eateries in Nashville and loves giving recommendations. When she’s not leading groups on a culinary adventure, she enjoys karaoke, line dancing, and hanging with her elderly chihuahua, Pink Pink.
SEAN MCCORMACK
GUIDE
Sean has spent an inordinate amount of time eating and talking all over the world. A spirited food adventurer who once traveled to Lisbon for the octopus and ended up spending 2 months in Spain for the boquerones, he’s a regular poor man’s Anthony Bourdain. Sean loves a good yarn and did I mention he likes octopus? But where was I? Ah yes – Sean is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, a quick witted laddie, and a lover of people and life. You’ll probably feel like the long lost cousin he never had if you want to know the truth. “My goal is to fill your belly with great food, your head with great knowledge and your heart with song.” Sean told me this once while we were waiting to be served pan-seared octopus at this little seaside town in Calabria.
CHELSEA KINSER
GUIDE
Chelsea moved to Nashville in 2006 and has proudly called Music City home ever since. With a strong background in the hospitality industry, she loves welcoming visitors with a dose of true Southern hospitality. Chelsea is passionate about sharing not just the must-do sights, but also the must-eat spots that make Nashville unforgettable. As the “Mrs. Daddy” of Daddy’s Dogs, she has a unique connection to the city’s vibrant food scene and loves bringing that insider knowledge to every visitor. Though not originally from Nashville, Chelsea has had the pleasure of watching the city grow and transform into the incredible place we see today.
ALI VAN OVERBEKE
GUIDE
Ali moved to Nashville, TN to move to a city where the fun things happen first. Although she has only lived here two years, she’s taken advantage of all Nashville has to offer and loves being a tourist in her own town!