Walking Food Tours in Uptown

Come hungry and take at stroll through Uptown with Food Tours of America.

On a warm Saturday afternoon, I journeyed through Uptown with Food Tours of America. The company’s founder, Jodi Philippson, was our tour guide for the day. She told the group that while she was vacationing in another city, she saw Food Tours on Trip Advisor and wondered why Dallas doesn’t have one?  From there, Food Tours of America was born. So she started the company with ambitions to not only conquer Food tours in Dallas but someday the whole world. The Food Tour allows a small, intimate group, of no more than 16 people gather to explore Uptown and learn more about Dallas during each session.

We started the afternoon at Primo’s Uptown and noshed on BBQ Brisket Nachos, Chicken stuffed Jalapeno and a mini chimichanga served with queso and sour cream.

The hand stuffed chicken and cheese jalapeno was my favorite because of the great spice. Along with our meal, we sipped on a skinny margarita that could knock your socks off. We had a surprise visit from the Owner of Primos. He graced our presence and thanked us graciously for coming in. Throughout the day, Jodi and her sidekick would give of fun information about Dallas that most people don’t know.

Did you know the First Margarita was invented in Dallas?

Once we finished at Primo’s we hopped on the Mckinney Avenue Transit and took a short trip down the street to a local favorite, Sfuzzis. We sampled portobello mushroom fries along with a flight of popular drinks that bar serves. The flight of drinks included Frozen Red Bull Vodka, Frozen Blueberry Mojito and the original Sfuzzi.

The drinks were a hit. We were also served a small piece of Organic Veggie Pizza and a piece of Eggs and Bacon Pizza. Have you ever had Eggs and Bacon pizza before? If not, this is a MUST TRY.

Did you know Sfuzzi was founded in 1987?

After our trip to Sfuzzi, we stepped outside to listen to more fun facts about Dallas from Jodi. It was about 1:15pm and as you could guess, it was getting hot. The last thing I wanted to do was be outside AND walking but Jodi had exactly what we needed… hand held water misters.

While she talked, we misted. Most of us had more fun than you could imagine playing with the misters. The misters worked out perfectly as we walked to our next destination, Bailey’s Uptown Inn.

Bailey’s Uptown Inn is a family owned Bed and Breakfast in the prominent State Thomas neighborhood. We were served sweet tea (or coffee, if you chose), which was exactly what we needed to quench our thirst after our short walk. Usually during this time of the tour we would be at The Stand formerly Rock N Taco. The Stand is an indoor food truck with food inspired by the State Fair of Texas. There food varies from Fried Twinkies to The Mac Daddy dog which is what we sampled on the tour. The Mac Daddy Dog is a Jumbo Nathan’s dog wrapped in bacon and lightly fried with mac n’ cheese then topped with chili, cheese and a tearjerker onion ring.

The whole tour was impressed by this hot dog. Many loved the fact that is was a Nathan’s hot dog since you can’t get those in any restaurants in the area.  The last thing to try was The Stand Brownie. Sure, it sounds like any other brownie but this one was different. It is made from pork and beans and topped with a sour cream icing. Despite the name brownie, there is NO chocolate in it and it tasted more like a carrot cake than a brownie.

Did you know The Stand Brownie is made out of Pork and Beans then topped with Sour Cream icing?

We moseyed through State Thomas and stopped by the Greenwood Cemetery and learned some fun facts about prominent Dallasites who were buried there.  We strolled up the street to Kitchen Dog Theater and learned the tour goers get to stop by there and can catch a glimpse inside when productions are being staged. Our next stop, one of my favorites, was at the McKinney Avenue Trolley car barn where the trolleys are stored and maintained.

Did you know the Mckinney Avenue Trolley operating expenses are underwritten by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority, and the Uptown and Downtown Public Improvement Districts?

To end our tour, we stopped by the ever so popular Breadwinners Cafe. They were so busy that we couldn’t all fit so we opted to go next door to their sister property, Quarter Bar. Every one who participated on the tour was given a cake ball from Breadwinners to either eat then or take home with us. I was so stuffed from all of the other food that we had eaten that I couldn’t bare thinking about eating anything else.

After the tour is complete, Food Tours of America urge you to ride the Mckinney Avenue Trolley around Mckinney Avenue or hang out and eat more in West Village. The staff is very knowledgeable about the area and you can tell they have done their research about Dallas.

The tour that I went on was for media and wasn’t the FULL tour. If you decide to go on an Uptown Walking Food Tour with Food Tours of America, you will likely do everything I mentioned above plus more (and I heard you get more food!). Tours have already started and they only cost $45 plus tax. The tour is for ages 12 and up only, sorry no children but I think it’s probably better this way. All food, drinks and tourist attractions are included in your cost so you don’t have to worry about paying extra for anything. I did valet at Primo’s when I went on my tour and it cost $5 – just something to think about.  Although the tour is approximately 2.5 hours, you are only walking outside about 30 minutes. This isn’t a long time at all but I do recommend wearing comfortable clothes AND shoes so you aren’t miserable walking around.

Purchase Tickets to the Uptown Food  Tour here 

Buy your tickets in advance the next few tours are already sold out!