ABOUT SIDEWALK FOOD TOURS OF NEW ORLEANS

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.

We brought Sidewalk Food Tours to New Orleans in 2018, and for the past 8 years we’ve been introducing guests to a city where food and history are almost impossible to separate.

New Orleans was a natural fit for us. Few cities have food traditions so closely connected to the people and cultures that shaped them. Creole and Cajun influences, generations-old recipes, neighborhood restaurants, and dishes you immediately associate with New Orleans all have stories behind them.

Today, our food tours explore the French Quarter and the Lower Garden District, two very different New Orleans neighborhoods. We visit a mix of longtime establishments and newer local favorites while our guides share the history, architecture, people, and cultures behind the places—and the food—we encounter along the way.

We’ve spent the past eight years eating our way through New Orleans, and not every restaurant we’ve tried has made the cut. We look for great food, but we also consider the people behind the restaurant, its connection to the neighborhood, the story we can tell 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—tell the story of the neighborhood.

Our private New Orleans food tours have become especially popular with families, friends, birthday groups, and other groups who want to experience the city together. A private tour gives the group its own guide and makes it easy to enjoy great food, spend time together, and explore New Orleans without having to plan all the restaurant stops themselves.

We’re also known for our corporate team-building experiences in New Orleans, including both team-building food tours and hands-on cooking classes. Our food tours get coworkers out into the neighborhood, eating together, learning about New Orleans, and having plenty of time to talk and enjoy each other’s company. For larger groups, we can divide guests into smaller groups with multiple guides and coordinate the experience so everyone can participate.

For teams that would rather get into the kitchen, our New Orleans team-building cooking classes give coworkers a chance to cook, collaborate, and have some fun together. Depending on the event, groups can work alongside a chef in a hands-on cooking class or compete against one another in a friendly cooking competition. Either way, the focus is on bringing people together over food.

Whether you’re joining one of our public tours, spending the day with family and friends, or planning a corporate team-building event, our goal is the same: great food, interesting stories, and a fun way to experience New Orleans together.

After eight years of leading food tours here, we’re still discovering new places and learning new stories. That’s part of what makes this city so much fun to explore.

Come hungry. We’d love to show you around.

New Orleans is a city made for walking and eating. Our food tours take you through the French Quarter and Lower Garden District, two neighborhoods where the food, history, culture, architecture, and people all help tell the story of the city.

Come hungry. Along the way, you’ll stop at local restaurants and food spots we’ve chosen to give you a taste of New Orleans. We look for delicious food, but also places with an interesting story, a connection to the neighborhood, or something you might not discover on your own.

But a Sidewalk Food Tour isn’t just about eating. Between tastings, our local guides share the history, culture, architecture, and stories behind the neighborhoods you’re exploring. You’ll see landmarks, learn about the people and cultures that shaped New Orleans, and experience more of the city than you would simply going from one restaurant to the next.

That’s one of our favorite things about food tours: the food gets you into the neighborhood, but the stories help you understand it.

Join one of our small-group public New Orleans food tours, book a private food tour for family and friends, or bring your coworkers together for a corporate team-building food tour. We also offer hands-on team-building cooking classes and cooking competitions for companies looking for a fun way to get their teams cooking, collaborating, and spending time together.

Whether you’re visiting New Orleans for the first time or you’ve lived here for years, we hope you leave with a full belly, a few good stories, and some new favorite places you’ll want to come back to on your own.