Before I dive in, I should disclose I am a food tour guide in another city, an avid food tour taker, and food history/stories are of highest interest to me. I also notice what other travelers don't as I understand the mechanics of a tour operator and what is involved in training a guide.
We decided to book this tour after calling Bulldog Tours to find out which tour would be better for first timers to take as there was no itinerary of possible stops on their website. After many questions, and answers that weren't super helpful, I was told Savor the Flavors of Charleston Downtown Walking Food Tour would be better for first timers as this would give a decent intro to the Charleston food scene and the area. The website tells you it's 3-4 stops, however, each stop serves multiple things: the 1st stop provided 3 tastings ( a deviled egg which the guide kept calling hard boiled egg with lots of mustard; a yummy fried chicken slider, which I could have had 3 more of; and banana pudding. the 2nd stop at the spice store was interesting and we had a few samples there, too. The 3rd stop we had 2 things- a pulled pork slider,collard greens, and cornbread- of which the pulled pork was fridge cold and dry. The cornbread was ok. The 4th stop was the most disappointing and super TGIFridays-esque. We got a plate of Brussels sprouts and some cheese dip that was ok. None these tastings gave me a clear idea of what Charleston cuisine is or celebrated the culture behind it, which was the most frustrating thing about all of this! This specific tour is a missed opportunity to showcase the iconic foods every travel & food blog tells you is a must that a first timer is potentially looking for: things like fried green tomatoes, grits, biscuits, she-crab soup, Frogmore soup, etc. Is what we sampled iconic, classic Charleston? I wouldn't know because we were never told why we were sampling them or why these particular locations. Is it enough food to leave you full? Sure, it can be. We had 2 teen and pre-teen boys in our group who wanted to eat more at the end; personally, I didn't leave full but I wasn't hungry either.
The tour guide, Thomas, was a lovely man. His pace was good, he gave some good historical info, and even gave personal anecdotes. From a personal stand point, he gets 5 stars for his lovely personality. The group however did most of the work at engaging ourselves in conversation as best as we could, with periods of silence when the conversation ran out... to which our guide didn't work to fill (as you can imagine, as a guide myself, this is a huge no no for me). This tour was an additional time slot Bulldog Tours added as their 3pm tour had already sold out. So, we were the 2nd 3pm tour and it felt like we got the "plan B" selections. For being the top tour company in Charleston, I had very high expectations from this food tour, none of which were met on this food tour. I will add we took a ghost tour with this company as well and it was a completely opposite experience and I highly recommend that. Sadly, we took this food tour as the 1st thing we did upon arriving and it didn't leave much to be desired. We weren't excited going into our 2nd tour (ghost & graveyard tour) with them, as you can imagine, but luckily that one exceeded our expectations!