I didn’t realize that Philadelphia had food tours until I received a gift card. City Food Tours offers a variety of tours in different areas of the city. We went with the Historic Old City Food Tour – overall it was a fun adventure and a great time.
First our tour guide, Steve, was great. He had a wealth of knowledge and historical facts to share about the history of Philadelphia, sites such as the liberty bell and Independence Mall. It was impressive how much he knew that he didn’t read from any papers. He started us off at Independence Mall.
1st Stop for our food tour was National Mechanics. It was a fun older building that had lots of history. We started off strong with one of my favorite ciders, Downeast, a large Belgian style soft pretzel and mac and cheese. The pretzel was good. A good amount of chew but needed a bit more salt lol. It was served with a beer cheese and a spicy mustard. Both paired nicely with the pretzel. But I preferred the cheese slightly more. The Mac and cheese was cheesy and delicious. However, I think it needed a crispier finished around the edge and on top. Or maybe some salty bacon chunks mixed in! We were off to a good start I felt like, with some hearty comfort food to enjoy. I give both an 8/10. The vibe and the rest of the menu and special items did look like it was worth checking check more. So, this may be a spot to come back to and give a full review!
2nd Stop was to Olde Bar formally known as Bookbinders. Another spot with some great history and fun facts. I love the classic old school vibe. I would say more high-end than the first spot. It’s known to be a frequent stop for celebrities, such as Frank Sinatra. Also best known for their seafood, I thought we would get a sample of that. We did by chance and luck, but it was not the intent lol. Servers mixed up tables and we were given oysters and some cocktail shrimp. Though I didn’t get to taste the shrimp, the oysters were fresh and enjoyable. You could tell it was quality seafood. It was not on the plan for our menu, but I was happy to get a sample, as I love oysters! What was on the menu were fried cauliflower and crab fries along with a signature cocktail, the Fish House Punch. The cocktail was delicious. I wish I was able to have two more glasses LOL. It was the perfect summer cocktail; very refreshing. A mixture of rums, peach schnapps, brandy, lemon, and black tea. It gets a 10/10. The fried cauliflower was also good. They were served with a buffalo and ranch mixture that created for a nice bite! I would give them 8.5/10. The crab fries were okay. The crab was fresh, and the fries were fresh cut. However, it was served with a stout beer cheese drizzle. When you had bites of that, it ruined it a bit for me. I would not recommend a stout beer cheese. If you ate fries that had not had the cheese, they were good lol. II would give them a 6.5/10. They were not the best crab fries that I have had. Both these food items were off the happy hour special, so I felt like we did not get a decent try off their menu. Or maybe I just wanted more seafood and cocktails see the drink and oysters were what I favored LOL. Perhaps it is worth to go back for a dinner to give the seafood spot a better try and full review!
3rd Stop and final food stop was Khyber Pass Pub. Another spot that had a rich history and fun facts. One of the oldest pubs they have creole inspired menu. We were served gumbo, that I am not sure I would consider gumbo. It was more of a beef broth with chicken, rice, and ham chunks. It tasted okay, was a bit salty. Taste along I would give it a 6.5-7/10 but it is not a gumbo. The tour advertised a Pennsylvania beer, but here we had a German pilsner from Memphis. Not a terrible beer, but it didn’t give much wow, and it was not a pint, so a bit small. The first two spots were fun, and I felt like this one felt short to the hopes I had set higher.
Last Stop was Shane confectionery, the oldest confectionery in the country. It has lots of history and facts, so it was great to round out the history tour here. Though we just received a sample of some candies to go. We were able to go in and look and buy more if we please. I think it was good to end the tour with something sweet. But again, my hopes were high, and it fell short of an ending. I also was still hungry and probably could’ve gone for more of a dessert other than chocolates. However, I will say the chocolates were delicious, not too sweet, and very well made. The store was awesome to see the old style candy shop.
As I said, overall, it was a fun experience, and our tour guide was great. We also lucked out with a great group of people, some of which had not been to Philly. So, it helped make for the experience fun and adventurous. I think it hit all the notes of an historic tour and the stops were very thought out. Though, I am not sure it was worth the value of food tour and not sure I would recommend (unless you knew up front and were okay with it all being shared plates that you shared with people you just met). Some of these shared plates were off the happy hour menu (so at a discounted rate). The food and drink had a great start, but Khyber was a disappointing food stop. I also wish we had more options of food or drinks. I was anticipating, more small bites from each location and possible an option of two. We upgraded to the drink package, and it made it more fun. But again, we didn’t have the option of what drinks, and we couldn’t order more (even if we paid for it). It was advertised as a 4-course dine around, but it was more of a historic city tour with some added bites. I would also say, it doesn’t take place of dinner because I was still hungry LOL.
We passed several spots in Old City that looked fun and interesting to try. I do think you can look up some spots and create your own little mini food tour on your own time. I would event go back to the first two spots and maybe order more off their menu. Maybe that is what we will do next time: look up new and old spots and hop around during happy hour and dinner times– any suggestions, make sure you comment below!
Rating: 6.5/10
🤤🤤
Recommend: Maybe
Live To Eat,
Tiv
Living Tivalicious 
well at least it was fun and you had a gift certificate:)
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