I was very excited to attend one of the Saratoga Springs Food Tours this past weekend. I brought along my two toughest critics; my husband Jude and our almost two-year-old daughter Angie. We really enjoyed the experience and I’m excited to share our comments and photos!
What are Saratoga Springs Food Tours?
Saratoga Springs Food Tours combine history, culture, and of course food into a unique 2.5 hour walking tour. Our tour met on Saturday at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market at 12:30pm. Our tour guide Joe was accommodating, friendly, passionate about food, history and Saratoga, and extremely likable. I could tell immediately that this was not only going to be informative, but fun!
Our first order of business was to stop and visit with a few vendors at the Saratoga Farmers Market. Solively Tapenade, Argyle Cheese Farmer, Saratoga Peanut Butter Company, and a chat with THE Anna Mae from Anna Mae’s Homemade Jams. The neat thing was that Joe knew all the vendors well, and they each provided us both delicious samples, and an insider look at their products.
Jude was wild for the peanut butter, Angie and I couldn’t get enough of the greek yogurt at Argyle Cheese, we all devoured the chips and tapinade, and the quince jam from Anna Mae was sweet and delicious.
Next stop, a little history at the mineral springs, then up the stairs to the Olde Bryan Inn where we were seated and enjoyed steak bruschetta.
We love Olde Bryan Inn anyway, so this stop was very familiar, although we had never ordered the bruschetta. Jude commented that he’d go back anytime and just get two orders of that bruschetta, it was that good!
A walk up to broadway, a little more history, then off to Saratoga Olive Oil Co.! While I’ve been in there before, the nice thing about the Saratoga Food Tour is that the owners took the time to chat with us about the store, the products, and showed us around. I was more informed, thereby enjoying each bread dipped in the oil even more! 
Same thing at Saratoga Salsa and Spice Company, where we chatted with John, one of the owners and a true food enthusiast. Jude sampled some of their very own Ghost Sauce and several other hot sauces that made him sweat. Thankfully, our finally stop cooled us down.
At Eugenio’s Cafe Gelato, we we learned about what makes gelato so ridiculously yummy and of course had a large serving of three flavors each! A happy ending to a wonderful food tour.
What to know before you go on the Saratoga Food Tours
- Wear comfortable shoes – there’s a fair bit of walking and large set of stairs (stroller mama’s – you’ve been warned!)
- Bring your camera and perhaps a notebook if you want to take some notes on what you see
- You’ll be introduced to items that you’ll probably want to buy, so bring cash and a bag to hold them!
- If you’re bringing a baby, you may want to use a sling versus a stroller. We chose to carry Angie in a Beco baby carrier and it worked out well…at least for my husband
- Bring your appetite, an open mind, a willingness to learn and explore and you’ll have a blast!
Go! Saratoga Springs Food Tours
saratogafoodtours@gmail.com
To purchase tickets by phone, call 518-803-4181
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