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Downcity Providence Food Tour

Overview
Join this 3-hour small-group food tour to savor 6+ food tastings in one of America's top food cities with a professional guide. Sip on alcoholic beverages (if option selected) at select locations. Explore this historic capital city's architecture while listening to fascinating stories about the history and view the art and culture as you walk through the Downcity Arts District. Tour is limited to a maximum of 14 people to ensure personalized service and includes a map and guide offering recommendations for you to further explore on your own.

 
City: Providence
Tue 24 Dec
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You can choose the date already on the booking website
Starting at $89.00
Tue 24 Dec
Starting at $89.00
Make a reservation
What's Included
Local guide
Alcoholic drinks (if option selected)
Lunch
History, Art & Culture
Food tastings
Additional Info
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • Please arrive 15 minutes early for check in, departure starts promptly at 12pm
  • A moderate amount of walking is involved,1 slight incline, approx. 1.8mi (2.89km)
  • Please advise of any specific dietary requirements or allergies at time of booking
  • Vegetarian substitutions available, please advise at time of booking if required
  • Pescatarian diets can be accommodated at some locations, but not all, please advise at time of booking if required
  • Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival
  • Minimum drinking age is 21 years, if you choose the food and alcohol ticket upgrade
  • Children 8 and up must be accompanied by an adult, under 8 years old is not recommended
  • Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately for weather
  • Please advise all guests in your group to bring cash for guide gratuities, if you enjoy the tour.
  • Mask wearing inside all restaurants is required, unless eating.
  • Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
  • Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
  • Guides required to regularly wash hands
  • Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
  • Face masks required in all restaurants.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Traveler Photos
Reviews (109)
Karen K
Jul 2019
But I was really delighted! It was a lot of delicious fun! We ate great food in many varied and innovative eateries that were all new to me. Our guide, Diandra, was terrific, friendly, engaging and quite knowledgeable about all aspects of the tour including the history of Providence as well as the food and restaurant culture of the city. Our group members were all very friendly and it was cool to chat with them as we walked through the city from site to site and then sample some great food and drink. Both my husband and I both enjoyed ourselves immensely and felt it was a great introduction to Providence! I would highly recommend this as an interesting and fun experience.
morganexplorer
Jul 2019
Meant to write this review a while ago, but was just reminiscing on my Downcity Providence Food Tour as I was sharing with friends about it. For me, food is the best way to explore a city. The tour guide, Jenny, was clearly so passionate about the city and the food. Had such a blast - would definitely recommend!
Erin G
Jul 2019
Apart from our great tour guide, Katy, my family's experience on this tour was very disappointing. My father has celiac disease, which I indicated twice on the ticket form, and this has never been an issue on previous food tours we've done with him. I know not all restaurants always have gluten free options, but on previous tours they've gone above and beyond to ensure his experience is as enjoyable as everyone else on the tour by providing adequate food substitutes. This wasn't the case with Downcity. After being told by our guide there would be gluten free pasta at our third stop, Sarto, we arrived to nothing being prepared for my dad. Our guide immediately told us there was miscommunication and the restaurant forgot to plate his food, but ensured us gluten free pasta was still being prepared for him. Guess this was another miscommunication, since pasta was never delivered but rather the smallest portion of salad instead. Needless to say, my dad was underwhelmed. When I spoke with the owner of Downcity, Paula, and voiced how unacceptable it was for Sarto to forget to plate my dad's food, she immediately blamed our tour guide, the restaurant, chaos of the day, and even me for the misunderstanding rather than take full accountability on behalf of her company. She dismissed my concern as the only complaint she’s ever received and failed to acknowledge any wrongdoing on her company for how the situation at Sarto was handled. She said I bore responsibility for this mishap since her company states they can't guarantee food allergies, even though this issue isn't with the food we received but with the food we didn't. Her company failed to properly inform Sarto, so her blaming me for this miscommunication was unprofessional and unacceptable. Her complete lack of accountability for this situation was unnerving, so if you have a food allergy I would stay clear of this company.
Response from Host
Jul 2019
To begin, I would like to thank Erin and her family for participating in our tour and for reviewing us. I truly regret that her father’s experience on our tour was not optimal. Unfortunately, a confluence of circumstances contributed to a change of a tasting substitution for a gluten-free food allergy that Erin’s father found disappointing.We have moved to rectify this with the tasting location in the future by providing a comparable gluten-free option. Just to reiterate, our policy clearly states on our website and within the ticketing process prior to purchase., as stated, “PLEASE NOTE: Although we do our best, we cannot always make gluten free, seafood or other specific diet substitutions at all locations. With special dietary restrictions, the best possible substitutions are provided, though there may be stops that no tastings are available depending on your specific restriction. Our tour tastings have been chosen purposely and the food experience is best enjoyed with as many of these as possible.” We work very hard and are committed to setting customer expectations up front. We are not in the business of disappointing people. When we do encounter a problem, we always strive to gather all the information we can in order to resolve the matter in an effort to not only allay the frustration of the customer, but also to minimize the chances of the problem occurring again. Resolution is our goal and our hope is that it is also a goal of the disappointed customer. We attempted to resolve this by phone, but after leaving a message, we never received a return call, only a hostile email. It is unfortunate that we failed at resolving this outside of a public forum. We are all human and we all make mistakes, despite the fact that everybody is making their best effort. Considering that out of seven tasting locations on this tour, and that this was the only aspect that Erin pointed to negatively, I assume the rest of her experience was positive, so a one-star rating seems rather extreme and perhaps punitive. Small businesses strive to maintain a good reputation online and we all need to use this platform in a responsible manner. We feel that the hundreds of positive reviews we have received on this platform are more representative of the customer experience on our tours. We at Rhode Island Red Food Tours are committed to providing the most enjoyable experience for our customers; be it the food tastings, the historic and cultural information we impart, or the social interactions of the collective participants. We promise to always do our best!

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