When Do We Get to Eat It?

Sliders (apparently, mini-hamburgers of higher quality than Krystal or White Castle)

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Sorry for not posting much lately, but I wanted to tell everyone about one of the highlights of my week.

A friend of mine just started a food tour business here in Athens and I had an opportunity to be a part of one of the first tours this past Sunday. Athens Food Tours currently runs several different tours (downtown, Five Points, and Boulevard) and if they all go as well as Sunday's Five Points Tour, I have little doubt the new venture will be a success.

First of all, I think it is important to explain what a food tour is (owner and tour guide Mary Charles Jordan had to explain it to me too). Basically, your guide sets up a three-hour tour of about six or eight restaurants in the area of your choice and takes you to each at a relaxing pace, educating you (along with the restaurant owners and employees) about the process and history behind each.

More important to me than the pace or the educational aspect is the food. I love good food and lots of it. So, I was very interested to see how much food there would be and how good it was. With stops ranging from casual ethnic to elite Zagat-rated restaurants, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.

Tours may vary, but my tour included Five and Ten, Kelly's Jamaican, Cali and Tito's, YourPie, The Royal Peasant, and Jittery Joe's. Every bit of food was delicious and our tour of ten people left food on the table at every stop. There was way more than enough on Sunday's Five Points tour and I understand the downtown tour Saturday was the same. Also worth noting is that some restaurants provided beer and wine samples. You also had time to purchase your own beverages at each stop if you desired.

I'd also emphasize that the entire experience was as unique and enjoyable as anything I've done in this town in a long time. Even though I have eaten at all of the restaurants on my tour before, I had an opportunity to try things at each restaurant that I probably would have never ordered on my own. In three hours, I ate a cookie, bleu cheese bacon chips, one and a half sliders, french fries, pumpkin seed chili chocolate, sea salt chocolate, a couple pieces of different specialty pizzas, jerk pork, jerk chicken, insanely sweet cornbread, spicy squash, a Jamaican beef patty, a chicken patty, salmon, beef empanadas, vegetable empanadas, sweet plantains, fried plantains, tuna tartare, and a little lobster bisque. I also tried a few different coffees and a banana shake.

I know I probably left off an item of food or three and didn't do any of them justice, but suffice it to say that I was stuffed and had a blast. What better way to spend a spring afternoon than learning about local restaurants, trying new food, and meeting new people? I had a few friends on the tour, but I also enjoyed meeting others that shared my passion for gorging oneself on awesome food. Mary Charles also did an impressive job balancing roles as tour guide and social coordinator. In all honesty, when the tour was over, I only wished I had more room to keep eating with old and new friends.

Visit the website at http://www.athensfoodtours.com/ and check out their three main tours and specialty tours. Get a friend or two on board for something different and schedule a tour for yourself today. Well worth it.