Dumplings to Dim Sum: Food and History Tour of Boston's Chinatown
Description
Join us for a walking culinary and cultural adventure in Boston’s Chinatown! Never been to Chinatown? Curious about how to navigate this neighborhood and find the best of both traditional and modern day eats? Join us and we’ll show you! During this tasty stroll, you can expect to: • Stroll the neighborhood streets, visit sites and learn about Chinatown’s past and present • Visit beloved local restaurants and enjoy both traditional Chinese and Chinese-American tastings • Discover how Chinese-American cuisine evolved and led to Boston-specific dishes
Tour Options
Itinerary
At Bites of Boston Food Tours, we believe local food is best enjoyed when served in the context of your local surroundings. Boston’s Chinatown is a small yet historically and culturally significant neighborhood in the city. Brimming with delicious food tastings and fascinating stories, our Chinatown Culture and Cuisine Tour is one you don’t want to miss! We'll share the history of the development of Boston's Chinatown, as well as discuss the evolution of Chinese food in America and aspects of the cuisine that developed specific to the Boston area. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to try traditional Chinese food specialties, Chinese-American dishes, and modern twists on traditional cuisine from 2nd generation Chef Owners in the neighborhood. We'll share the fascinating stories behind the people, the places and the food that make Boston's Chinatown the vibrant and tasty gem it of a neighborhood it is today! We look forward to seeing you in Chinatown!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Tours run rain or shine - we have fun in all types of weather, so please come prepared for the forecast!
- This experience is not recommended for participants under 12 years of age
- This experience is not appropriate to attend with toddler or infants and strollers are not permitted on any of our tours
- All participants must have a ticket and advance ticket purchase is required.
Reviews(18)
Experienced this tour with my husband and adult son. Our tour guide was Andrew who did a wonderful job giving us some information on the history of Chinatown and on the samplings of food we were eating. A nice intro tour with yummy food! Recommend for a fun day out!
Thank you for joining us! It means a lot that your family chose to spend time with us while exploring Boston. We're so glad Andrew helped bring Chinatown's history to life while guiding you through some of the neighborhood's delicious dishes. We so greatly appreciate the recommendation and hope you'll join us again to explore another one of Boston's great neighborhoods!
Katie was a great guide! Not too much walking, three restaurant stops and some history of Chinatown. Group size is not too big. It was fin because our group was friendly!
Thank you so much for your review, Karen! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed exploring Chinatown with Katie. We love sharing the neighborhood's rich history and incredible food, and we're glad the pace of the tour and group size made for a comfortable and enjoyable experience - we limit our groups to 12 guests to keep things intimate and special. We'll be sure to pass along your kind words to Katie—she'll be thrilled to hear them! Thank you for joining us, and we hope to welcome you on another Bites of Boston Food Tour in the future.
Andrew was a wonderful guide. Food was very good and plentiful. It is surprising how small Boston’s Chinatown is so the “tour” was more about small pockets of history and the influence of Taiwan in this particular community.
Thank you for joining us and for taking the time to share your feedback! We’re so glad you enjoyed the food and that Andrew helped bring the neighborhood’s history and culture to life. While Boston’s Chinatown may feel more compact than some might expect, it’s actually considered one of the largest and most historic Chinatowns in the United States — and we love highlighting the rich stories, immigrant history, and diverse culinary influences that make the neighborhood so unique. We are thrilled you could join us and we hope to welcome you on another tour in the future!
swetha was awesome! Fun to learn a little more about your hometown. The restaurants were all accepting and the food was excellent
Hi Bill, Thank you so much for joining us and for sharing your experience! As a locally owned company, we love hearing from fellow locals who enjoy discovering something new in our wonderful city. There’s always something new to taste and learn—even in your own backyard—and we’re so glad you were able to experience that while exploring Chinatown over delicious dishes with Swetha!
This was a fantastic tour with fun historic tidbits of information and great food along the way. Definitely recommend.
Thank you so much for the kind words and recommendation! We love weaving together Boston’s history with its amazing local food scene, and we’re so glad you enjoyed both. As a small local business, we take great pride in our guides who bring these stories (and flavors!) to life.
Wow what a fun afternoon! The food was a great variety and delicious. The stops were well planned. Katie our guide was exceptional
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful feedback! We’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed the variety of food and thoughtfully chosen stops — and we couldn’t agree more that Katie is exceptional. Our guides are truly the heart of what we do, and we take great pride in the passion and knowledge they bring to every tour. As a proudly local, woman-owned business, it means the world to us to showcase Boston’s neighborhoods through their eyes while supporting the small restaurants that make our city so special. We’re so glad you had a fun afternoon with us!
Be adventures and try everything and you will definitely not starve. Good history, tons of different food and fun guides.
Hi Mark, thank you so much for your wonderful review! We love hearing that you enjoyed the mix of history, delicious tastings, and time with our guides. And we agree - trying everything is definitely the best way to experience the tour! We’re so glad you left full and happy and we hope to see you again on another food adventure soon!
The tour was paced well & super informative -- I learned a lot about the history of Boston's China Town in between food stops. It was a good amount of food. I wasn't bursting, but felt very full by the end. Would definitely recommend!
Hi Melissa, Thank you for sharing this! We love that you enjoyed soaking up some of Chinatown’s history in between tastings —it’s such a special neighborhood. It's great to hear that the pacing and portions and stories struck a good balance, and we so appreciate your recommendation. We hope to see you again on one of our other neighborhood food tours!
Great food and our tour guide was a real gem. Very knowledgeable and a lot of fun. We really enjoyed getting to know Chinatown, even though we’ve been going there for years. We learned new spots, and visited places we hadn’t been in a while. All of them were great!
Hi Rachel - thank you for the wonderful review! We love it when longtime Chinatown visitors join us—it’s always fun to surprise people with spots and stories they haven’t discovered yet. We’re so glad you enjoyed both the familiar favorites and the new finds, and that your guide made the day so much fun. We’ll be sure to pass along your kind words—I know Swetha will so happy to hear it!
Thanks to our wonderful tour guide Katie, we enjoyed not only amazing food but learned about the interesting history of Chinatown. Of note were places like Oxford St. and Ping On Alley that gave us a glimpse of how Chinatown once was. We visited 4 restaurants representing different styles of Asian cuisine. Samples were generous but not too much. Restaurants staff were welcoming. Great day!
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a great time exploring Chinatown with Katie — she's a delight and loves sharing the neighborhood’s rich history and hidden gems. And of course, we’re so glad you enjoyed the delicious variety of food and the warm hospitality from our restaurant partners. Thanks for joining us — we hope to see you on another tour soon!
