Center City Philadelphia Food Tour with Reading Market
Description
Come and taste why Philadelphia has become one of America's top foodie destinations on this delicious tour of Center City! Join your local expert guide as they escort you around this bustling neighborhood to try 5 bites that demonstrates Philly's culinary prowess. A portion of this tour will take place inside the amazing Reading Terminal Market, a wall to wall collection of vendors who offer foods from around the world. This tour will feature true local classics like the world-famous cheesesteak, the soft pretzel or the tomato pie, along with trendy and innovative bites like tahini-based shakes or gluten free cheese curds. We also highlight foods the reflect Philly's wonderful diversity. You may enjoy some Japanese inari or Georgian soup dumplings or Caribbean chicken patties. And if you have a sweet tooth, look no further! Your guide will know the best Amish whoopie pie or Italian cannoli, or perhaps will plan a stop at one of the best doughnut shops in town. Bring your appetite!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your local expert guide will meet you outside of the Masonic Temple of Philadelphia, in the shadow of our massive City Hall, to introduce themselves and the tour and to briefly talk about those two phenomenal pieces of architecture.
Hear about the exciting and delicious tour you’re about to enjoy. Learn about Philadelphia’s historic City Hall building and get an introduction to the City of Brotherly Love.
One of the newer foodie hotspots of the city, here, you’ll taste delicious food featuring locally-sourced ingredients.
Creamy, tahini-based vegan shakes offered in a variety of flavors
A locally-sourced restaurant serving up crispy fried chicken tenders
Tasty, traditional Afghan cuisine served in this trendy eatery
A popular cheese steak joint in the heart of the Rittenhouse neighborhood
Yummy cake-style donuts offered in a variety of fun and innovative flavors
Discover the innovative side of the Philly food scene, with a stop at a local coffee shop that prides itself on fair trade and environmental sustainability, a neighborhood eatery known for applying old-World recipes to innovative dishes, or a delicious, out-of-the-box beverage.
Led by your guide, you will eat your way through one of America’s oldest and largest daily indoor markets. Tap into the diverse cultural influence on Philly’s food scene by sampling the iconic Philly Cheesesteak, a Pennsylvania German handmade soft pretzel, Southern-inspired mac-n-cheese, Jewish-style pastrami on rye, or an Italian cannoli.
Scrumptious cheese steaks with home-made cheese sauces offered here
A wide variety of tasty treats, all 100% gluten free
A trendy take on traditional Georgian cuisine like Oxtail dumplings and cheese boats
Soft, warm, lightly buttered Amish-style pretzels
These doughy donuts, offered in fantastic flavors like Fruity Pebbles and Maple Bacon, are some of the best in Philly. Across the aisle at their bakery…the classic and delicious whoopie pie
Central American street food like pupusas and taquitos burst with flavor
Famous Italian bakery known for some of the best cannolis in town
Savory meat pies and jerk chicken offered up at this Jamaican eatery
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(1,031)
Great time and plenty of food, definitely don't eat before. Our guide James was friendly and knowledgeable. He even got my 22-year-old daughter talking.
The tour guide and the tour itself were great but the food options weren’t exactly what I expected. Started with a great pretzel then went down from there.
Rick was an amazing tour guide! Since we’re from the Philadelphia area, we loved that he shared so many fun local facts, hidden gems, and foods we had never heard of or tried before. He found the perfect balance between food and history while showing us around the city. We had such a great time and learned so much along the way. We highly recommend this tour!! ◡̈
We really enjoyed our Center City Philadelphia food tour with Barry. The actual experience didn’t follow the online itinerary very closely, but that was perfectly fine with us—in fact, it felt as though Barry was customizing the tour for our group as we went along, which made the experience more personal and spontaneous. Barry met us at the Masonic Temple with soft pretzels from Miller’s and bottles of water, which was a great way to start. As a native Philadelphian, he brought a genuine local perspective to the tour and shared not only information about the city, but also the opinions and observations of someone who has actually lived there. As we walked, he pointed out landmarks and talked about the architecture and history of Philadelphia. The food stops were varied and fun. At Insomnia Cookies, we were each able to choose whichever cookie we wanted. We also stopped at Mari Mari for sushi, had a classic Philly cheesesteak at By George in Reading Terminal Market, and finished with a scoop of Bassett’s ice cream. What stood out most was Barry himself. He was personable, flexible, and knowledgeable, and the tour never felt overly scripted. It felt more like exploring Philadelphia with a local who knew the city and was happy to share his perspective with us. Between the food, the walking, and Barry’s local insight, it was a very enjoyable way to experience Center City and Reading Terminal Market.
Nina was an incredible tour guide. She told us so many awesome facts about the city and the food we were eating, and she took us to some really good places. The food was delicious and the overall experience was fantastic!
This tour is a must do when visiting Philadelphia. Our guide, David, provided a historical narrative that made the city come to life. The food on this tour was excellent.
David was wonderful! Loved all the food and info covered during the tour 🙂
This tour was very informative and so enjoyable thanks to our guide, Brittni. She shared some little-known facts that really enhanced our experience, and despite the extremely hot temperatures she was super pleasant, patient, and a lot of fun. All of the food items we sampled were excellent, and starting the tour with a warm buttered pretzel from Miller's Twist was amazing! I greatly appreciate that Brittani made some accommodations with the food items because I am a vegetarian. Loved the root beer at McGilin's, and we had a fabulous time at the Reading Terminal Market. Everything was outstanding, and we couldn't have had a more enthusiastic and good-natured guide. Thank you, Brittani, for making our experience extra special!
This was a perfect way to learn a little about old city Philidelphia. Despite the heat our guide took us through shade and kept us informed and entertained. Loved the tour.
Our tour guide, Rick, was very knowledgeable not just of the food but the history and artictecture of the city. While on the tour he also pointed out the art along the way and the history of it which was very nice. The actual food of the tour was delicious and not only did we eat classic Philly food, he also picked some unique foods that I'd never heard of/had before so that was a big treat. Would definitely recommend this tour.
