The ORIGINAL Downtown Santa Barbara Walking Food & Drink Tour
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Santa Barbara, USA
- 3 to 4 hours (approx.)
- 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 several local eateries and sample the region's best wine or beer with tastings in between strolls that take you past the town's many theaters and plazas.
- Uncover the food scene of Santa Barbara with the insider knowledge of a local guide
- Check off multiple attractions on a walking tour
- Enjoy the relaxed pace and laidback atmosphere of a small-group tour
- Ask your guide for tips and recommendations for after the tour ends
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.
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.
Operating hours.12:00 pm
Itinerary
1
El Paseo Building
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Casa de la Guerra (Pass By)
2
Arlington Theatre
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
4
The Granada Theatre
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
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
- Monday tours have slightly less food
- Not recommend for travelers who are not mobile
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Melissa_U
We loved our Downtown Santa Barbara tour with our guide, Kirk. The food and wines were great, but Kirk was the best part of the experience. He has an incredible knowledge of Santa Barbara’s history, and presented it with fun stories, instead of a boring “list of facts.” He’s very involved in the Santa Barbara community and you can feel his love for the city in the way he talks about it. Definitely recommend this tour!
Reviews
4.9
based on 550 reviews
Kim_C, Jan 2026
There was plenty of food and drink with a good variety. The pace was good and Kirk was an excellent host. Do not eat before as you will be full
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Kim, this made our day—thank you! 🙌
We love hearing that you enjoyed the variety (and yes… we fully support the “don’t eat before” strategy 😄).
Thanks again, and we hope to see you on another tour soon!!
Glenn_R, Jan 2026
The guide was extremely knowledgeable. Food was not up to what I have had on every other food tour I have been on.(6) Shared portions instead of individual servings. Food was bland, except for Italian ice. Pours on wine were less than I have previously experienced.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Glenn, thanks so much for your honest feedback—we really appreciate it.
We’re glad you enjoyed your guide! Taste can definitely be subjective, but your notes on the food, portions, and pours are something we take seriously and share with our partners.
Thanks again for joining us—we hope to welcome you back for an even better experience next time.
Jason_M, Sep 2025
Captain Kirk was awesome ! He was extremely charismatic and presented us with a lot of interesting history regarding Santa Barbara’s past. The 5 food stops were also tasty and we will be back with more friends and family.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Jason, thank you so much for the awesome review!
We’re thrilled you had such a great time with Captain Kirk—he had a blast with you too!
We love mixing history with tasty bites, so it’s great to know it hit the mark. Can’t wait to have you back with friends and family next time! 🍷🌮
LuAnn_B, Aug 2025
Loved loved loved this tour.
Kirk, our guide, was excellent!
We loved the food and the history shared by Kirk
Response from Host, Mar 2026
LuAnn, thank you so much—this made us smile! 😊
So glad you loved the tour and had such a great time. Thank you again, and hope to see you back for another round soon! 🍷🌮
maryann_m, Aug 2025
This was both an educational and a food tour. Learned a lot about Santa Barbara that I did not know. Started the tour off with a fabulous wine tasting. Absolutely beautiful Bordeaux wines were tasted. The food on the tour was delicious especially the goat taco. Well, maybe the noodles were a little bland but can be easily spiced up.
Captain Kirk was a lively guide who truly enjoys what he’s doing. He loves Santa Barbara and it shows in all his stories about this the charming town.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much for the thoughtful review! 😊
We’re so glad you enjoyed the mix of history, wine, and delicious bites (especially the taco!). Agreed—sometimes a little extra spice makes things even better 😉
Captain Kirk loved hearing your kind words. Hope to see you again on another tour very soon! 🍷🌮
samuel_p, Aug 2025
the guide Kirk (captain) was extremely knowlegable and accomodating. had done this tour before but Kirk would make me and my wife do it a third time.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Samuel, thank you so much for the great review!
We’re thrilled you came back for another tour—and even more excited that Kirk made it worth a third! He loved hearing (reading) that.
Hope to see you again next time you’re in town! 🍷🌮
Karen_B, Jul 2025
Tour includes generous food sampling, interesting historical facts about the local area, and easy walking pace.
Randi_N, Apr 2025
Absolutely the best food tour in Santa Barbara. I recommend to my friends all the time when they are in the area.
Melissa_U, Apr 2025
We loved our Downtown Santa Barbara tour with our guide, Kirk. The food and wines were great, but Kirk was the best part of the experience. He has an incredible knowledge of Santa Barbara’s history, and presented it with fun stories, instead of a boring “list of facts.” He’s very involved in the Santa Barbara community and you can feel his love for the city in the way he talks about it. Definitely recommend this tour!
Joseph_F, Mar 2025
Just right amount of walking, history, humor and different tasty treats. Kirk was great and this tour was well done.
Marcus_M, Mar 2025
Easy walking tour. Very well organized. Come with an empty stomach. We were almost too full at the end of the tour.
Terry_M, Mar 2025
For the money, this tour was the worst one we have been on. It's not Maggie's fault, the power went out on state street and the best food we had was in a Food Hall, and that was not that great. I expected to taste food from santa barbara, but obviously it does not have a great food scene. The start at the wine and cheese place was okay, but my wife did not like cab wines and they didnt even offer something else. The best part of the tour had nothing to do with food and that was the tour of the courthouse. Most expensive food tour we have ever paid for and not worth it.
Tracy_C, Mar 2025
We had a tremendous tour with our guide, Kirk Martin. A longtime resident active in the community, his breadth of knowledge was great and he answered all of our questions, sometimes before we had a chance to ask them. He made good restaurant choices, but the best part of all was the understanding of the rich history and cultural life of Santa Barbara that we left with!
Ken_W, Mar 2025
This rates as one of the best food tours we’ve ever been on. Kirk interwove the history of Santa Barbara with great food and wine stops. The four hours passed quickly as Kirk told such interesting stories about how Santa Barbara became such a beautiful city. The food on the tour was delicious and plentiful. Kirk made our whole experience something we will always remember.
Dianne_D, Jan 2025
Historical and delicious! Our guide Maddy was so fun and knowledgeable and we had an amazing day with so many varied and delicious food stops and great people!
Josh_D, Dec 2024
Highly recommend this tour. Kirk was a knowledgeable, light-hearted, and kind host. We felt his passion for history and love for Santa Barbara. The variety of food on the tour was wonderful. We started off with wine tasting (with charcuterie), had pizza, salads, noodles, and excellent birria tacos. We discovered so much of Santa Barbara that we wouldn’t have thought to look up or research apart from this tour. Thanks Santa Barbara food tours!
Maria_T, Dec 2024
My friends and I had such a great time on the tour. We learned so much history of Santa Barbara, the food and wine selections were such a treat. The time flew by so fast. I would do it again, if I come back to Santa Barbara and request Kirk our tour guide, he was the best!
Patricia_K, Sep 2024
We all thoroughly enjoyed the history, the landmarks visits , the food . However, at the top of the list was our tour Guide Maddy! She pulled it all together and made the entire experience memorable!
Vicki_S, Jun 2024
Our guide Kirk was extremely knowledgeable about Santa Barbara. He answered all our questions and told us tons of interesting stories. All the food was delicious, and we went to restaurants we never would have found on our own. It was a wonderful afternoon! Highly recommend!
Grace_R, Jun 2024
This was an excellent tour. Our guide Kirk was informative and funny. We learned so much about Santa Barbara and all the food/wine was delicious. Highly recommended!
Kelly_R, May 2024
Kirk was our guide and he did an excellent job! He knew so much of the history of Santa Barbara which made it interesting, topped off by delicious food, wine and a margarita! I don’t know that we would’ve found any of these places to eat on our own, but now that we have eaten there, we will certainly go back. Thanks to Kirk for making this such a memorable trip!
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!
Jim_K, Mar 2024
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.
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
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!
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.
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!!!
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!
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!
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. :)
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