I've lived 30 miles away from Downtown L.A. for 20+ years but rarely go there because of the horrible traffic. So when Group-on offered a discounted Sidewalk Food Tour of Los Angeles, I thought, "why not?" I signed up a week ahead of time for the 11am- 2:00p.m. tour on 8/25, a Thursday. Parking: Pershing Square Parking Square Garage had a "parking lot full" sign at 10:30a.m. However, there was a small parking lot on Spring St between 5th St & 4th St. that charged $13. for all day parking. There are quite a few more parking lots in that area on Spring St. but I didn't really checked them out.
Before you sign up for this tour, keep in mind that this is Downtown L.A. Like any other major city, it has its own "city problems."
Our tour guide was Tierra. I would have given her 5 stars for a great job... friendly, knowledgeable, fun! There were 8 people in our group.
We started the food tour with delicious almond croissants (yummmy) at a bakery on Olive St. She gave us a whirlwind history of L.A. before we started walking. She took us on a historic tour of several buildings, (Biltmore Hotel, Bradbury Building, etc.). She also recommended a few other restaurants & buildings to visit that we didn't tour on the way. In between, we stopped by for BBQ brisket (yummmm), grilled cheese with pickles (yummm), falafel, tacos (yummmm) and lastly macaroons! I loved the variety of food, but really nothing exceptional as far as the food itself (hence, the 4 stars). Everyone gets a small portion to try and everything felt like a full meal by the end of the tour. Food tasting is included with the tour price but you'll need to buy your own drinks.
Overall, it was a fun, informative and stomach- filling tour of Downtown L. A.'s historic area. My husband and I drove away out of Downtown L.A. with a different perspective of what the area used to be and could possibly be.
Recommendations: sunblock, sunglasses, comfortable walking shoes and an empty stomach!