Santa Barbara

Downtown SB Walking Food & Drink Tour

Badge of ExcellenceSanta Barbara, USA

3 to 4 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Spend an unforgettable half a day enjoying beautiful Santa Barbara with your friends or family. Live like a local for a day, on a lively, engaging tour of the town. Fill up on delicious food from 5 to 6 eateries. Sample the region's best wine with up to two tastings in between jaunts that will take you past the town's many theaters and plazas.

Central meeting point with great accessibility
Sample delicious food on this tour
Enjoy included alcoholic beverages
Take photos with loved ones next to Santa Barbara's noted buildings and landmarks

Sample Menu

Starter

Wine Tasting + Grazing Box

We have a lot of wine and love to start our tours with a local wine tasting of 3-4 wines and a grazing box (shared only with your group).

Starter

Taco

We love & work with a lot of local taquerias and rotate them depending on the day and availability.

Starter

Asian Tasting

We love & work with a some amazing local asian cuisine and rotate them depending on the day and availability.

Starter

Italian

Tastings rotate and are either an italian tasting plate or delicious pizza. A glass of wine or beer is included with this tasting.

Starter

Olive Oil Tasting - Time Permitting

WHEN WE HAVE TIME: we like to drop in for oil & vinegar tastings

Dessert

We love dessert!

Dessert rotates between local ice cream, italian ice, turkish delight or french macarons. Dessert is sometimes served mid tour.

What's Included

Local taxes
Beverages (water and one non alcoholic drink)
Food and wine tasting
Additional alcohol tasting (including wine or beer)
Local guide
Guaranteed to mostly skip the long lines

Gratuities for your guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

814 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA
Please plan to meet your guide in front of the stores 33 jewels and Bryant & Sons. They are on the State Street side of El Paseo Shopping Center across from the mall.

Start time

12:00 PM

End point

Santa Barbara Downtown, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
We rotate the end of the tour. It will end within 6 blocks of the start location.

What To Expect

El Paseo Building

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Casa de la Guerra (Pass By)

Arlington Theatre

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Granada Theatre

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Historic La Arcada Courtyard

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park (Pass By)

Santa Barbara (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Please note that restaurants and tastings are subject to change

Walking is involved
Most restaurants are wheelchair accessible
Food Allergies/Aversions: We can accommodate a lot, please alert us ahead of time. We cannot guarantee there won't be cross contamination.
Tours do not start and end at the same location
Tours run about 3.5 hours
We love Kids and you know your kids best, if you think they will enjoy, please bring them. We do ask if they are screaming to take them outside. (The owner has 2 small kids and does not bring them on tours because she gets annoyed haha)
Animals: we love them AND it's best to not bring them on tours. If for some reason you have to bring a gurry friend, please let us know and be prepared to stay outside with them. Please also refrain from trying to feed them anything at any restaurant tables.
There is enough food for lunch to carry you over to dinner for most people.
If anyone in group has any health or mobility issues, please consider a private tour experience to best accommodate you
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Jim_K

We were pleasantly surprised by the variety and amount of delicious food and drink that came with the tour. Nancy provided us with amazing local sights and history. She was pleasant, knowledgeable and fun.

Reviews

5.0

514 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 514 reviews

Lots of food, lots of fun and a great way to see the City of Santa Barbara

dsanfili, Apr 2024

Very memorable . Great deal for the price Nancy was a great guide and host. Taylor and Courtney made the excursion even more fun!

Great experience in SB

Jim_K, Mar 2024

Fantastic Experience

Daria_B, Dec 2023

Maddy was amazing! She was delightful. She took her time & made sure that we understood from both an historical & geographical perspective. This was pur second trip to Santa Barbara & was the most memorable. From the wine tasting at Grissini’s to Los Arroyos with the absolute best food at secret bao & Ca Dario’s delicious homemade pasta « Yummy « ravioli in sage brown butter sauce to a fantastic bolognese finishing the day with scrumptious italian ice @ Magiones. The history & architecture from the 1925 esrthquake & beyond. The courthouse was truly beautiful ! It was a beautiful day. Every stop was delicious! Maddy was amazing!

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Thank you thank you thank you!! We love our Maddy! Can’t wait to see you again soon!!! Xxoo

Big appetites Small world

Kathy_P, Nov 2023

Fantastic way to sample SB hidden gems history architecture and culture! Our fellow “tour foodies” elevated the experience beyond our expectations reminding us that the sharing of food is an unspoken international language that has the power to truly change the world!

Come with an appetite and have fun

Jolene_J, Oct 2023

Nancy was so engaging, informative. And there was soooooo much great food. Heed the suggestion to come hungry. We started with a wine and cheese tasting. Then we really got started on sampling foods at several other charming and delicious restaurants. I highly recommend this tour. And ask for Nancy as your guude.

Variety of food and drink and a great tour guide

Pat_B, Sep 2023

Nancy was wonderful! We had a great wine tasting to start the day. Had unique Mexican and Asian food which was delicious. In fact the Asian restaurant was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dive. And finished with Italian that was beyond delicious. We even got to taste 2 sweets from Turkey. We had so much fun. A must do!!!

Such a fabulous time!

saraamos, Aug 2023

Our guide, Maddy, was so knowledgeable of the history of Santa Barbara. The tour she gave with the history behind the various stops we made was so informative. The food was delicious as were the venues of each stop. I’d highly recommend!

Great time!

Kathleen_M, Aug 2023

The tour, food and host were wonderful. It was especially fun since it coincided with Fiesta which made for a colorful time!

Overpriced, not enough food

Annie_C, Jun 2023

This is a food tour but there was barely any food. For $300 we were starving at the end of the tour. The first stop is wine and cheese/crackers, 2nd stop is 1 taco, yes exactly 1 veggie taco, 3rd stop a salad, 4th stop we finally got some food, 2 ravioli and a small size of pasta with meat, 5th stop was 5 pieces of a minuscule size Turkish dessert that you could hold in your thumb and index finger, which had to be shared by 2 people. Like I get half a bite and you get half a bite. The time at each stop was not enough, though with so little food you don't need much time at each stop. You can take your $300 and get a few hearty meals on your own, this is not a food tour. This is an overpriced walking tour. What we enjoyed was the actual scenery, and walking around the area, they should make this a walking tour instead of a food tour and decrease the price substantially. Our tour guide was nice, friendly but not overbearing, but I'm not convinced that she is just the tour guide and not the owner -.- She asked and we responded at the end that this was not nearly enough food. The other people on this tour also felt the same way. On my own in Santa Barbara I had brunch, 2 wine tastings, dinner w/ wine, went to an ice cream shop, got souvenirs and rented bikes all under $200. If you want to spend $300 on snacks and start your day with wine on an empty stomach, then this is the tour for you.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Thank you for your feedback Annie. We strive to do our best and take feedback very seriously. We very rarely hear that there is not enough food and I will look into that particular day and see if there was something weird. If you ever want to do a tour again, please reach out to me personally and I will gladly offer you a discount on your next experience. Linda is not the owner of the tour company, she is a guide. :)

Well worth it.

Ronald_A, Apr 2023

Nancy was a great tour guide. She was knowledgeable on Santa Barbara history and the uniqueness of each restaurant. The food selection was outstanding. The pace was relaxing. Highly recommend it. It was great to spend time with the other guests.

Well planned foodie tour!

Shirley_C, Apr 2023

Maddy was a great tour guide. Turned out we were the only ones on tour with her this particular day, so it was a private tour! Well worth the price as we stopped at 4 or 5 food places plus wine tasting. And we learned a lot about the history & architecture of Santa Barbara. It was a well planned tour and fit perfectly in the time we had ashore during our cruise ship stop at this beautiful city.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thank you so much for your lovely review! We hope you had an awesome rest of your trip! See you again soon!

Best food tour/guide!

Laura_I, Mar 2023

Fabulous tour! History of city shared while walking to each restaurant, stopped at court house for a quick tour, food was w excellent! Nancy, our guide, is a gem. Highly recommend!

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thank you so much Laura for the review. We can't wait to see you again soon!

Fantastic!

Rachael_L, Feb 2023

This was so much fun. Nancy was the best tour guide. Every stop was very relaxing and accommodating to every guest. Our group was so fun too. The food was amazing at each location and Nancy was great about talking about the city as we went along. Would definitely do again!!

All the foods were good...

Joanne_S, Feb 2023

All the foods were good but the taco tasting was bland. Nancy was excellent. We appreciated her texting us a day in advance to make sure we knew the details. She was knowledge and we enjoyed the historical explanations. The Indonesian, Italian, and first wine flight were our favorites.

Good food; good wine; great host.

Steve_D, Feb 2023

We loved this tour! Not only did we sample great food with great people we learned a lot about Santa Barbara. Linda, our host, led us to (despite having a foot in a boot) to the following locations -- Frequency Wines Los Arroyos Empty Bowl (Public Market) Ca'Dario Ristorante Mangione's Italian Ice We enjoyed all of the them -- great food and wine. Cheers!

Great experience!

Kimberly_C, Feb 2023

Nancy is the best! Super knowledgeable and attentive to details. My mom has a food allergy and she did an amazing job accommodating it. 10/10 would recommend!

Great foodie tour

Bob_H, Nov 2022

Great foodie experience and nice history tour and food almost too much!! As far as quantity. Better food than similar LA tour.

Response from Host, Jan 2023

Thank you so much Bob. See you again soon.

Great Tour

Dan_S, Oct 2022

Santa Barbara courthouse was a pleasant surprise. Great way to explore Santa Barbara, a city with much to explore

Our SB Food Tour

Jason_S, Aug 2022

Nancy was an amazing guide. She was very knowledgeable and brought the right energy to the experience. I highly recommend it!

Great Tour

Carol_H, Jul 2022

I loved that this tour had the perfect mixture of walking, local historical sites and delicious food. Plenty of shade to keep you out of the sun most of the time even in July. Our guide Ken was friendly and very knowledgeable of the area.

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