Forktown Food Tours

Ana was great! We did the Mississippi Ave tour which was wonderful. Food and drinks were so delicious and Ana was very knowledgable about the history of Portland and that area. Highly recommend!

There was once a time when I would scoff at the idea of taking any sort of tour to get to know a city and poked fun at the groups of gawking tourists exploring unknown territory. Forktown totally changed my perception on the matter and I can’t sing their praises enough.
My friend and I (both Portland locals) opted for the N. Mississippi tour, led by Heidi. She was absolutely terrific — it was obvious that she has a true passion for this wonderful city and she delivered the perfect blend of amazing food alongside bits about our rich city history. Being residents of the city, we both left with information previously unknown to both of us… and experiences from some venues we hadn’t set foot in yet.
Come to this tour hungry! These are not tiny nibbles or tastings you’ll be getting, but a few hours of ample-​sized portions (complete with beer and cocktails for those of you who wish to imbibe). While I will eat just about anything you put in front of me, my friend has a limited diet as a gluten free pescatarian… Heidi called ahead to each restaurant to ensure his diet needs would be met and he wouldn’t be watching the rest of us enjoy our gluten-​filled meaty goodness.
I *highly* recommend this tour to anyone wanting a unique way to experience Portland!

We have been on five (5) food tours with Forktown now! It is always so much fun and we learn so much. We just moved here and it is a great way to get to know Portland! We have fun sampling the food and drink, learning about Portland history and culture, and generally have a great time. The owner, Heidi, ensures that high quality standards and information are given, with attention to each individual and each detail. Kelsey led us on our first tour through the Alphabet District. Through the past year, we have moved here and even taken our out of town (and in town) guests with us on the other food tours– Mississippi St, Pearl District, Farmers Market and soon the new Southeast Divison St tour. Arielle is fantastic as a tourguide, and promoting client involvement with the restaurants, each other and answering all sorts of questions. Thanks to Heidi, Kelsey and Arielle! See you soon! Highly highly recommend to anyone from out of town or even in town!

What a great way to experience all of Portland’s fantastic food.
The tour guide was outstanding. Ahna was incredibly knowledgeable, not only about the food but Portland history and the current ongoings in the town. She was also charming and funny.
We started out at a Thai restaurant which was great, then made our way to a «chainlette» burger joint, had cocktails, visited a good food truck, ate chocolate and finally had ice cream (I feeling like I’m leaving something out). It was definitely worth it, what a great day it was (and it was raining too!).
Also, ask Ahna for some other great restaurant spots!

My husband and I really enjoyed the Mississippi Avenue food tour. We have been living in Portland for about eight months, but we hadn’t tried any restaurants on Mississippi yet. The tour was a great way for us to experience the neighborhood and learn about the history, sustainability, and locally sourced ingredients from each of our stops. Ahna, our tour guide, was great — friendly and very knowledgeable. We look forward to coming back to each of the stops we made along the tour. If you are a visitor, local, or newcomer and you’re thinking about trying a Forktown Food Tour, do it! You won’t be disappointed.

I thought the whole experience was really nice! The tour guide was really nice and informative. There isn’t a whole lot not to like about going to place to place and eating. I think that it is a tad expensive for what we eat though. Just a tad.

Great tour! We’ve never been on a food tour and it exceeded expectations. Anna was a great hostess and the food and drink were amazing, would definitely recommend. They provided more than just tastes, tummy full and satisfied (can’t waste food or drink)!

Great tour. 4 parts food to one part history. Did the the Downtown/​Pearl District Tours and had a great time. Food selections were great which included the Picnic House for beet salad, Savor Soup House for a cold zucchini soup, Verde Cocina for a pork enchilada mole, Lardo for a Bahn Mi, Cacao for their drinking chocolate and lastly Petunia’s Pies and Pastries for Gluten Free desert bars. Wine and an margarita were also served to round out the fare. Tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable and willing to help suggest other Portland sites worth seeing. Well worth the time and as you can tell from the list, we left quite full.

Great food tour of Mississippi! Ana was a fantastic tour guide with plenty of colorful commentary about the food as well as a great knowledge of the history of the neighborhood. All the places we visited were delicious and the owners were friendly. A very tasty way to explore a slice of Portland.

We had a great time on our food tour of North Mississippi Avenue! Ahna was simply fantastic. She was very personable, knowledgeable, and extremely friendly! All of the places we stopped at were absolutely perfect. My husband and I had wanted to try at least 3 of them before we knew we’d even be trying them on this tour so we were really excited! All of the food was flat out unbelievably delicious and so were the drinks. I still have dreams about the Thai salad and the ice cream sandwich (we actually went back to both places the next day) and we left the tour needing a nap from being so, so full. We highly recommend this trip to anyone looking to eat some delicious food and explore a corner of Portland!

Such a great tour! Portland has so many food choices that it can be a bit over whelming. Kelsey and the Forktown Food Tours not only showed us some of the best food in town, but had the knowledge to back up their recommendations.
I strongly suggest any one spending some time in Portland go on this tour. It’s about 2 hours long with 5 stops. A must do.

Great way to explore the Portland neighborhoods, experiencing it one dish at a time.
Kelsey was our guide and she was very knowledgeable about the food and it’s sources as well as passionate about sustainability.
I would love to do another tour with Forktown if I’m ever back in Portland!

Another great tour from Forktown Food Tours. After the first tour of N. Mississippi Ave. with my daughter in February I wanted to experience more of what Forktown and Portland has to offer with my husband.
We parked at the waterfront and walked our way through Portland’s Saturday Market up the 9 blocks to meet at the first location. We first enjoyed a seasonal salad with local wine. The tour took us to a food cart sampling authentic fare from the country of Georgia, then a restaurant for a vegetarian mole dish with a mint margarita, Italian meatball sandwich with Willamette Beer at another location, Chocolate samples and, oh, the drinking chocolate that my husband still talked about 5 hours later. We finished our tour at a bakery featuring gluten free/​egg free treats.
Experiencing the N. Mississippi Ave. tour across the river, I had to compare the two. Mississippi Ave is all with in a 4 block area. It is more ‘residential’ then the ‘Big City Scene’. The amount of food is comparable but in the Pearl you cover a larger walking area. Mississippi Ave we were stuffed and did not have much ‘walk it off ’ opportunity between locations.
Food is subjective of course. I personally preferred the choices on the Mississippi Ave tour. If I was to go back on my own to revisit any of the eateries, I would head to the ones across the river in a heartbeat. N. Mississippi Ave food choices are the winners over the Pearl District in my book.
Forktown has very knowledgeable guides. Not only about the area that the tour is located but the Portland foodie scene in general. From local history, restaurants, food carts, owners, and chefs, they paint you a picture of Portland answering your who, what, where questions and how it all came to be.
I really enjoyed meeting the owner of Forktown. She was our guide in the Pearl. Friendly, personable with a ‘world’ of knowledge. Yes, literally a ‘world’ of knowledge and experience.
Even though I enjoyed the food more on Mississippi Ave then the Pearl District, 5 stars is still in order due to the information you come away with. My husband, who I had to convince to go, really enjoyed himself and said he would be happy to do another tour.

I’ll keep this nice and simple… it was awesome!
This was a great way to spend the afternoon. You get to sample some delicious foods around Portland that you might not otherwise get to since there are SO many options. The tour also provides you with some tidbits on the restaurant and the areas. Give it a try… I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

What a fun way to experience Portland! Kelsey was a fantastic tour guide and we had a BLAST walking around Portland and sampling a variety of food.
Their website is really informative and gives sample menus from each of the stops. We used this to help decide which of the foods were more appealing to us and signed up for the Farmer’s Market tour.
This was a great tour as it enabled us to get a real feel for the city and the region at the market but also afforded us delicious food samples! Each item was carefully selected for our tour and our guide explained why that item was chosen and how it fit into the city.
The guide was accommodating for slow walkers, bathroom breaks and it was nice that at the Farmers Market stop we were able to do some exploring on our own. Great tour — I felt like we saw a side of the city we wouldn’t have seen otherwise and learning more about the city’s history along the way was an unexpected but added bonus!
If I visit Portland again I would definitely sign up for this tour again!

This is a fantastic way to grab a sampling of some of Portland’s food.
We went to Mee Sen for Thai, (which is odd since there is a Thai joint on every corner, and you wouldn’t think it to be «unique»,) then to Gabagool for a street cart sammich, then Little Big Burger, Sidecar 11, (hipster drinks. Pfff,) Koi Fusion for «tacos», and ended at the Meadow for what was called a «lesson on finishing salts» and had ice cream sammiches from Ruby Jewel.
I have to say, Marissa was an excellent tour guide, and some of the food was delicious, but it’s nothing you wouldn’t have found eventually on your own and had the pleasure of «discovering» for yourself.
Speaking of which, if I had discovered the Meadow, I’d have turned and walked out and not stood around listening to someone talk about three different salts, yes, SALTS –extolling the virtues of each. Whatever.
The chocolate was good, but really… When is chocolate NOT good?
I’d have skipped that.
DO go on this tour if you have a scant afternoon to try and eat a wide variety of Portland’s culinary treats.
DON’T go in this tour if you want o pop around Portland and find a good burger or cold noodles on your own.
As far as food tours go, this was worth it.

On a recent trip to Portland, I decided to treat my daughter (and 1 year old granddaughter) to an afternoon of walking and eating.
The tour didn’t disappoint!
Great information was given to us about the city, & since this was my first time there, I really liked that. Farmer’s Market, several restaurants, and food carts were the highlight. They even asked our dietary preferences when I booked the tour… daughter is a vegetarian, I’m sugar free no carbs etc. they were totally accommodating.
Our concern was —would the baby be able to handle the tour, without annoying everyone. Due to the fact that we were walking, sitting and eating, then touring the Farmers market, there was enough time for baby to sleep in the stroller, play on the grass etc. It is really a great kid friendly tour!
This is so worth the $$$, & I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone visiting Portland!

I was given this gift of a food tour and absolutely loved it. Kelsey was our food your guide and she was awesome! Not only was she enthusiastic and knowledgable about food and Portland, but she was also very knowledgable about culture, landmarks and other good info. here. She was casual and easy to talk to, and overall just made the whole tour really fun for everyone. I would highly recommend this tour and especially Kelsey as the guide!

As an enthusiastic eater interested in local food economies, I expected to enjoy myself on my Forktown Food Tour during my visit to Portland. What could be better than three hours of wandering around a funky city neighborhood, being guided to the best tastes?
But I was truly surprised and impressed by the excellence of our tour. Our friendly and funny guide, Kelsey, led us to seven fantastic food spots around Mississippi Avenue in NE Portland. She gave us a flavor of the history of the city and told us about the current happenings in the neighborhood as we walked and ate. There were only 8 people on my tour, which made it comfortable and personal, with plenty of time to ask questions. Everything was well-​organized and ran smoothly and on time. They happily accommodated me as a vegetarian (I noted my dietary preferences when I registered).
And, let me tell you, they are not joking when they say this is an eating tour, not a tasting tour. I had to pocket my veggie burger from Little Big Burger for later so that I would have stomach space for the second half of the tour! All of the food was delicious and different – a well-​crafted variety of stops.
I only wish I lived closer to Portland so that I could sign up for the other tours! I am confident that any tour Forktown offers would be a hit with tourists and locals alike.

Some of you might roll your eyes at the thought of a city food tour. After all, how hard could it be to find some good food in a big city?
Well, if you’re in a foodie city like Portland, it can be pretty daunting — not because there is a lack of good food around, but because there’s too many to choose from. So what does a food tour offer? If you go with Forktown Food Tours, then it’s about circling the globe in 3 hours, sampling foods from several continents, all while in the company of an informative, energetic guide.
The Pearl District food tour allowed me to experience a couple things: see some up and coming brick & mortar restaurants, try Georgian food (Not the ATL Georgia… think Eastern Europe), and eat the best taco I’ve had in the US so far.
Here’s a breakdown of the places we visited during the Pearl District Food Tour (the list of restaurants visited during any given tour changes):
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Brasserie Montmarte: Lobster bisque, pinot noir from OR
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El Taco Yucateo: As mentioned the best taco I’ve had in North America. Shredded pork, pickled onions, black beans in a lightly fried corn tortilla
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Kargi Gogo: Georgian cuisine that included beef filled dumplings and hazlenut-​filled eggplant
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Oven & Shaker: Modern, chic restaurant with rock fired pizza and skilled bartenders
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Lardo: Pig specialists that serve a mean IPA
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Cacao: Read my review. Chocolate wizards.
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Petunia’s: Larger, reconstituted oreos with peanut butter filling. Bring a wheelchair so you can be helped out after eating some of their desserts
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If you’re lucky enough to score the guide we did (Kelsey was her name) then you’ll get more than just a food tour. You’ll experience some of Portland’s history, have some great conversation, and feel like you got your money’s worth. Bravo, Forktown Food Tours.