Santa Barbara Funk Zone Food and Photo Tour in Santa Barbara booking from $135.00

Santa Barbara Funk Zone Food and Photo Tour

Overview

Eat your way through the Funk Zone - Santa Barbara's hip, new 'hood - while learning about local culture and how to take great food photos.

This food & photo tour starts on lower State Street and will walk you through the Funk Zone neighborhood where you will taste what Santa Barbara is known for with bites of fresh seafood, gastropub creations, Mexican food, artisan beer, and locally grown wines several different locations. Along the way, you’ll get immersed in the local culture and hear interesting stories about each place you’ll visit.

You’ll also learn easy-to-shoot photo tips from your pro tour guide and take your food photo skills to the next level using your smartphone’s camera app. By the end of your 3 hour tour, you’ll be eating like a local and shooting like a pro!
(Please note: we cannot accommodate shellfish allergies, vegan or celiac restrictions at this time. However, we only have one shellfish/seafood tasting on the tour.)

City: Santa Barbara

Tue 24 Dec

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $135.00

Make a reservation

Tue 24 Dec

Starting at $135.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Local guide

Wine tasting

Beverages

Food tasting

Additional Info

Wheelchair accessible
Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Infant meals not included
Minimum drinking age is 21 years
Not recommended for vegan or celiac dietary restrictions. Shellfish allergies cannot be accommodated, but will only miss out partially on one tasting.
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Regular temperature checks for staff
Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
We are still adhering to all current guidelines for Santa Barbara County. Please do a quick online search for "mask mandate Santa Barbara County" so you can stay in-the-know for your trip! We will also be updating all our guests on any COVID guideline changes as is needed.

What To Expect

Funk Zone

Begin your 3-hour Santa Barbara walking food tour at a central location in the Funk Zone, located near lower State Street. This region once housing warehouses and scuba shops — now revitalized into a bustling neighborhood of hip eateries, wine-tasting rooms, and artist studios — is where you’ll meet your guide for an afternoon food tasting and photo tour. Set out on foot at a moderate pace as your guide shares insights into Santa Barbara’s history and burgeoning art culture. Keep your smartphone ready so you can practice the helpful photo tips your guide offers along the way. You'll have many opportunities to take food photos and colorful portraits in the lively Funk Zone. Along the way, your guide stops for food & drink tastings (all included) at restaurants, a wine bar/bakery, & one microbrewery. Learn how to properly position your food for the best photos as you sample local fare. After your tour you can continue to explore and capture this fun & funky neighborhood on your own.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (93)

adsgee21

Jan 2021

Booking was easy and the information in the email we received was complete. We met up at a restaurant and was greeted by our tour guide, Jocelyn who was in training along with the coworker training her. With covid restrictions, our tour was basically a take-out food tour and we were the only two people in the tour which felt like a vip tour. We were given a goodie bag which contained a bottle of whiskey and popcorn from a restaurant. As we walked around, Jocelyn talked about the history of Santa Barbara and the funk zone such as on how it got its name. They helped us take pictures on each food stop and made sure we're comfortable throughout the tour. It was fun socializing with our tour guides while we eat. We got food from different restaurants which includes ceviche, taco, pizza, sourdough bread with jam, ice cream, and fresh chocolates! We were stuffed in the end of the tour and had a big bag full of food Togo. Overall, it's a great tour to those who wants to find out about some history and try different food specialties in that city. We got to try a variety of great and delicious restaurants within a few hours. I'd gladly try it again at a different city. Thank you for the amazing time!

Response from Host

Jan 2021

Thank you so much for the wonderful review! SO glad you enjoyed the takeout edition of our regular seated food tour :) It means the world to us that you took the time to leave a glowing review! I hope the rest of your time in Santa Barbara was enjoyable and we hope to see you on our Solvang Food Tour soon!

angeeleeta

Nov 2020

Oh what a day! Myself + 3 friends joined Kimmie on a Friday afternoon for a fast paced tour of the best eats & drinks in the Funk Zone. Did you know it's named the Funk Zone because it's where the fist market used to be and it smelled FuNkY? I didn't either but I know now! You can learn more fun facts like these while laughing and nibbling all the great eats. We had 2 non drinking guests, and a disabled dog in a stroller and all were happily accommodated. Food tours are THE BEST way to see a city and learn, 10/10 recommend this tour. Thank you for the fun!

Response from Host

Nov 2020

Thank you for the kind review, Angee! So glad you enjoyed your time with Kimmie!

jktran212

Oct 2020

Save your money. If you want a food tour, this isn’t it. It was 3 hours long. For a”funk zone” food tour, you would expect more food and more alcohol. We spent 45min at the first place “the project” where we each had one sweet potato taco. It was good, but we were there so long, and there was nothing interesting about the place. The second place was the Santa Barbara fish house. We had to wait for a table, we were seated separately and the tour guide didn’t even know that there was a shell fish allergy in my party, even though it was clearly stated when we made the reservation. 3rd place was the Figueroa mountain brewing company where we each had a shot glass of beer. In order to stop being so pissed at the experience, we ordered an additional 4 flights of beer to just cheer us up. Add another $20 to an already $220 experience. By this time, we were starving. We thought we were going to get to eat on this food tour. But instead, we went on a little history lesson to the train station and to visit a big tree. Cool stuff, but If I wanted a walking history tour, I would have signed up for one. I wanted to eat and drink. After that detour, we had pizza at the lucky penny, where we had to buy our own beer. That probably was the only place that made me feel like I was on a food tour. Next was two wine tastings, and two pieces of chocolate. For over $100pp, I feel totally gypped. The guide was not knowledgeable. She was disheveled and not well spoken. She didn’t explain anything while we walked through the city. I would expect that a food tour of the funk zone would have included more food and drink in the funk zone itself. Instead, we stopped at several places where she told us how amazing the food and drink was, but then we kept walking. I’m writing this review from a restaurant that we immediately went to, because we were starving after this so called “food tour.” I’m so confused by all of the great reviews. Personally, I would never recommend this tour to anyone. Look elsewhere for something to do when you are in SB.

Response from Host

Oct 2020

I am very sorry to hear your time with us was not enjoyable. We take all feedback very seriously and are always striving to be the best at what we do. While we have recently done additional training with our staff to make sure our tours are meeting all guest expectations during this crazy time it sounds like this may have fallen short for you. Our tour stops are not full meals, but rather tastings that should eventually add up to a full meal. Also, part of the tour is to recommend other places as we go. We visit a total of 7-8 places on each tour. And while we would like to visit more, there simply isn't time or in this case some of our favorite places just aren't staffed enough yet to have us back at this time. And I apologize that some of our restaurants required a little wait time. They are still getting their feet under them again since reopening. As for seating, we are still adhering to state guidelines about distancing and seating guests separately who did not travel together. Sorry if that was confusing to you, but we are simply trying to follow state guidelines so that we can keep our business open and also keep our guest's health and safety as a top priority. In any case, I hope the rest of your time in Santa Barbara was enjoyable and we hope that you will visit our city again.

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Santa Barbara Funk Zone Food and Photo Tour

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