Santa Barbara Funk Zone Food and Photo Tour

Recommended by 97% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Santa Barbara, USA

3 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Indulge your passions for tasty bites, drinks, and photography on this small-group food and photo tour in Santa Barbara. Follow your guide to several local eateries, a microbrewery, a wine bar, and more, all in the city’s artsy Funk Zone. As you snack and sip, get helpful tips for capturing high-quality food photography using anything from a smartphone to a high-end digital SLR.

Explore Santa Barbara's Funk Zone area on a two-in-one walking tour
All bites and drinks are included in the tour cost for your ease
Small-group tour is limited to no more than eight guests
Great way to improve your photo skills while sampling drinks and snacks

What's Included

Food tasting
Beverages
Wine tasting
Local guide

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Transportation to/from attractions

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

119 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA
Look for your guide wearing a denim shirt with the Eat This Shoot That logo on front. They will be standing in front of Santo Mezcal at 119 State Street.

End point

McConnell's Fine Ice Creams
120 State St suite b, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA

Operating hours
.11:15 am

Itinerary

Start your tour in the late morning at a meeting point in the Funk Zone, a neighborhood within walking distance of the Santa Barbara port. This newly hip area once housed warehouses and is slowly being converted into trendy eateries, top-notch wine-tasting spots, and cool art galleries.

Travel on foot through this happening ‘hood, learning about Santa Barbara’s growing arts scene and city history as you walk. When you stumble upon an eye-catching mural or beautiful photo opportunity, listen to your guide as they share a few helpful photo-taking tips.

As you walk and snap, take a break to enjoy a small sampling of the Funk Zone’s range of tasty foods and drinks. Hit three restaurants, a brewery, a wine bar, and more enjoying a mix of the best gastronomic delights Santa Barbara has to offer. Best of all, benefit from your guide’s useful food photo tips.

After several hours of exploring, the tour wraps up at McConnell's Fine Ice Creams.

Funk Zone

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Infant meals not included
Minimum drinking age is 21 years
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Not recommended for vegan or celiac dietary restrictions. Shellfish allergies cannot be accommodated, but will only miss out partially on one tasting.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 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

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Pamela_S

The tour was amazing! Each stop had its own vibe and reasons to want to stay longer. The food was amazing and I tried multiple dishes I would have never tried and I was happy to go outside of my comfort zone. We learned interesting things about Santa Barbara and the history of the Funk Zone. The folks on the tour were great. Our tour guide was one of the best parts of the tour. She made sure we had a fantastic experience! I would highly recommend this tour!

Reviews

4.9

based on 106 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Get Your Funk On

Elena_S, Mar 2026

The Funk Zone is an artsy neighborhood within Santa Barbara, located near the ocean. Our guide provided us with background information on the area as well as how the Funk Zone got its name. We explored the Funk Zone, eating and drinking along the way. Be prepared to eat & drink!

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thanks for leaving us a review, Elena! So glad you enjoyed your time in the Funk Zone with Vanessa. We hope to see you on our Solvang food tour someday!

This was a nice balance...

sarah_d, Nov 2025

This was a nice balance of food, we went on a Friday which we learned was more food than alcohol heavy. Vanessa was a fun guide

Response from Host, Dec 2025

Thanks for taking the time to leave us a review! So glad you enjoyed your time with us on the Funk Zone. We hope to see you on our Solvang Food Tour someday soon (which is a bit more alcohol heavy-especially during the holidays ;)

Highly recommend.

Kristen_K, Feb 2023

Nadia was awesome!! Super knowledgeable. Great tour!! Great food! Lots of different stops and food to try.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you for leaving us a review! We think Nadia is awesome, too! So glad you enjoyed your time with her. We hope to see you on our Solvang Food Tour someday!

Wonderful Tour!

Jenny_E, Jan 2023

The tour guide was lots of fun! She immediately got people in the group talking with each other. In addition, she made sure that people with food allergies were able to eat. I highly recommend this tour!

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you for your review! We hope to see you on our Solvang Food Tour someday!

The RodSquad loved this tour!

Geri_R, Dec 2022

We had so much fun and our guide, Christina was fantastic! The funk zone was so cool and we definitely would not have found some of these great spots!

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you for your kind review! We hope to see you on our Solvang Food Tour someday!

Best Food Tour Ever

Thomas_D, Aug 2022

This was with no doubt the bast food tour we have ever done, Christine was great and the food/area was amazing.

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Awesome! So glad you had a good time with us in the Funk Zone! We hope to see you on our Solvang Food Tour someday.

Delicious, informative and a whole lot of fun!!

Pamela_S, Jan 2022

QUALITY FOODS

Guido_J, May 2021

The trip offered a nice variety of quality foods and wines. We went to places we probably would have not seen. The food was plentiful. I wasn't too excited about sharing chips with strangers so individual portions would have been better but for the most part of the tour the foods were all individually served. Overall a good value for the money and the photo tips were also valuable.

Response from Host, May 2021

Thank you for your review, Guido! It was a pleasure having you and your wife on our tour!

Not worth it

Jeanette_A, Oct 2020

The guided tour in Funk Zone was not worth what we paid for. The trip started off with confusion, we attempted to meet our guide in the designated meeting area provided to us via email. After 10 mins past our meeting time and still not spotting our guide, she (guide) eventually called us and let us know she was at a different location but had a hard time articulating where she wanted us to meet her. She kept saying by the train tracks without giving us names of the street? She was real bad at giving us directions so we could make our way. The tour started 25 min late. The tour guide seemed like she didn’t know what she was doing, and worst of all we felt we didn’t go to all the places described in this food tour when booked. For example, we never went to a distillery? Also, we didn’t get very many picture tips? At times it seemed as though we were just zig zagging down the same street hitting different eating places but walking up to a spot then back down to a different spot then back up....on the same street. We really got to know that one street :) The tour gets one star for giving us the opportunity to know where to go if we want good drinks and food and another star just because Santa Barbara is truly beautiful and we enjoyed the historical facts portion of the tour. Overall, I wouldn’t book this tour just go to Funk town on your own and google historical facts and food pics tips, you’ll get more for your buck that way!

Response from Host, Oct 2020

Thank you for your honest feedback. We take all comments and feedback seriously as we are always looking for ways to improve. I'm sorry to hear the tour did not live up to your expectations and we apologize for the late start. With all the changes we've had to accommodate with our restaurants and other places we visit, some of the details have had to change quite a bit and often last minute. Just know that we, too, are sad that some of our places have not been allowed to reopen or didn't make it through the shut down. We are doing our best to keep all sites updated with the latest info, but with all the constant changes we seem to fall a day behind here and there. Again, our apologies for that. We truly are grateful for your coming out and supporting small businesses like ours and many others while we navigate these uncertain times. I hope the rest of your stay in Santa Barbara was enjoyable.

Funk Zone fun

Sal_A, Feb 2020

Our guide, Christy, a friendly person and became a friend to us. Her knowledge of area made walking the zone much more enjoyable to entire group. She brought group together by having a go around with each person doing intro and little info on them selfs.

Response from Host, Jun 2020

Thank you for your review! Glad you had a good time with us!

A nice time in the funk zone

Josephine_G, Jun 2019

We had a good time. Sampled lots of delicious food and we were stuffed st the end. We learned so much too. We had a nice tour guide as well that was full of energy.

Response from Host, Jun 2019

Thanks for your review, Josie! So glad you had a good time with us!

Graham was a great guide! He knew...

Niels E, Apr 2016

Graham was a great guide! He knew his Santa Barbara history and ensured everyone had a great time by interacting with each person. He is very friendly and is happy to share thoughts about Santa Barbara. I definitely recommend this tour, especially with Graham at the helm.

I treated my husband and a girlfriend...

sun k, May 2015

I treated my husband and a girlfriend and they both enjoyed the tour.

We had a great time on our Eat This...

Virginia S, Jan 2015

We had a great time on our Eat This, Shoot That tour! The food was awesome, the photo tips were awesome and the history of Santa Barbara from our tour guide Tara was awesome! We highly recommend this tour!

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