Decided to take this tour on a weekend visit to Memphis. It exceeded my expectations! This would be great for a couple's weekend getaway, if you are staying downtown and want to explore, or if you are foodie and want to find out about the city's food culture from a local expert.
We met in the early afternoon to do the Taste of Downtown Memphis Tour (I think there is also a Memphis BBQ tour) and was met by our guide, a former chef from Louisiana and current instructor at one of the local universities. She took us to six different restaurants in the Beale St. and Main St. area, where we got to sample a variety of southern -- especially Memphian dishes.
Among the foods we sampled were shrimp with grits and greens (outstanding), BBQ nachos, regional tamales, burgers and fries from Dyers (ask a Memphian about the secret to those burgers, or the guide will tell you), macaroni with truffle oil, some surprises from the kitchen staff, and I haven't even gotten to the dessert...I think they mix it up. I think you can tell them in advance if you have food allergies or that sort of thing.
What I liked best was our guide was so passionate and really knew about the food culture of Memphis. You could tell she really loved Memphis and talking about it with people. I couldn't really say there was anything I didn't like, but I would recommend that you NOT EAT if you don't have to before this tour! I would put this experience right up there with the Memphis Back Beat Tour, where you learn about Memphis through miusic -- I loved that also. You can learn so much about a local culture through its food, and this was a great way to learn about Memphis's history.