We had been looking for a food tour but this was so much more! The Essential Street Food Tour is a brilliant way to orientate yourself to the city of Quito. Our guide Santiago collected us from our hotel (extra). He was enthusiastic about his city and its history. We spent four fascinating hours learning about the cuisine of Ecuador. This was interspersed with culture, history and street art! We walked through different neighbourhoods, street markets and backstreet food outlets where we tasted such a variety of wonderful local dishes and fresh produce, ending up with Equadorian coffee and chocolate. We learned so much and you won't believe quite how much you eat and drink, it was wonderful! Highly recommended.

After our tour of Galapagos we had a full day the next day, before our late flight out back home. We selected this excursion based on the list experiences and the excellent reviews. Reviews are not overstated. This was fantastic! Over and beyond what we believed we would get. And fantastic for the money if we expected. Ernest was our guide, and not only information about the food of equity plus what we were actually eating is very informative. The variety, quality, and quantity we received was amazing. For anyone in Quito for a day or but those of you looking for something to do before you fly out in the evening back home after Galapagos, we highly recommend this.

We joined the street food tour (10h00-14h00) and absolutely loved it. Our guide was highly reflected, extraordinarily knowledgeable about Quito, Ecuador, South America; its history, politics and especially culture and arts. The perfectly selected food stops (full tastings rather than stops) were a great part of this tour - but the tour was so much more than that. We’ve discovered many diverse neighbourhoods of Quito, walked a total of 6km (although the guide is able to shorten and adapt to the customers’ wishes). We were ‚lucky‘ enough to be alone, hence having a private tour. The tour price was more than justified. It was the best food tour we’ve joined up to today. What an amazing way of exploring Quito.

This tour exceeded all expectations. Arrived at meeting place 15minutes early and Santiago was already there waiting for us. Visited places and eating spots you would probably not even know about even after living in the city for months. The variety of food we tried was excellent and we both kept commenting on how healthy and fresh everything was. Santiago’s knowledge of his city was amazing. What an amazing way to explore Quito on our first day.

Santiago was our guide. Very friendly and warm. He has such a passion for Ecuador. We covered a lot of ground so be sure to wear comfortable shoes. Every stop was another experience. We were introduced to so many fruits that we’ve never had before. We were so full by the end of our tour we decided to walk back to our hotel for a siesta. Highly recommend

This was a superb experience. We easily found Natalia at the agreed meeting point and she took us to some fantastic places to eat like a local. You would never find these spots by yourself. Everything we tried was delicious and very different from the standard international stuff in hotels. You certainly won't go hungry with 4 eating spots plus market stalls, juice bars and coffee. Natalia's passion for her city and its food shone through and she really brought the city, its culture and its cuisine to life.

Ernesto did an amazing job with this tour, bringing together street food, street art, and history. He talked about the contributions from each region, and the food was incredible and very diverse. Definitely a great way to experience Quito!

We really loved our guide, Santiago, who was knowledgeable and open about art, politics, culture, and food. However, this particular tour was not worth it (almost $250 for two people including taxes and hotel pickup/dropoff). There were limited food choices, as it seems many vendors operate more during the day. We also weren’t really offered a variety of food and almost everything we had was fried. Would probably recommend another food tour during the day. The last stop was a cool bar with a great vibe, but we were rushed to finish and would have rather had the option to hang out. They advertise 3-4 hours but we were done in about 2:45.

So far, I have been all over the world and this was one of my favorite food tours ever. (It helped that I got a private tour with Natalia because no one else was signed up on the same day) I got to try a large variety of delicious foods, did lots of walking which was necessary to keep up the appetite, got to see a lot of the city, and heard lots of good info about the history and culture of Quito and its going ons. I particularly liked this tour because almost everything that was eaten was truly authentic Ecuadorian food which I wouldn’t have otherwise tried or known about without this tour, nor would I have known the best restaurants to go to. Natalia was a phenomenal tour guide with native-like English fluency and so genuine in personality. I definitely would recommend this tour to anyone looking for a delicious adventure.

A tour really of the beaten track, and we saw places I never would have discovered on my own. Food was good and the guide was nice and very patient. We saw a lot of cool street art and got the explanation behind it.

Overall good tour. Was worried as I was only person on tour it would be awkward but Natalia was great. She’s warm, friendly, and knowledgeable. You will leave full and feeling like you got your money’s worth both in food and culture. Only recommendation would maybe add a sweet treat of some sort, but not having doesn’t detract from overall tour.

Santi was a fabulous guide. We started with a sampling of fresh juices. Then we had fritada which is a tasty pork dish. Next we had ceviche ocho which is made with a bean instead of seafood. Then we had my favorite, empanadas made from plantains. We then went through a beautiful park and had a seafood dish which was rice and fish in a peanut coconut sauce. Then when I thought I could eat no more we had another pork dish with yet a different fruit juice. We ended our tour with a coffee and chocolate tasting. What a great way to see Quito and taste the local favorites. Santi also showed us some beautiful local art.

Santiago was great! We tried all different juices, fruits, and local cuisine. We also stopped at a local artists building, saw up and coming artists, beautiful art work and murals. It was an unexpected surprise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The tour ended with a gourmet coffee, bean roasting place. Great coffee and chocolates! Highly recommended!

Santiago was an excelllent tour guide. Not only did he take me to sample the wonderful cuisine, but we went to a cultural center where I learned about the vibrant art scene in Quito. He also explained many interesting things about Ecuadorean culture and the history of Quito. Highy recommended!! Thank you Santi! Oh and much luck with your music!

We've been on many food tours and this one tops the list. Highly recommend! You will experience street foods from different regions of Ecuador really off the beaten path. There is almost no other way to find these places then to have guides like these tour curators. Overall, much more delicious than the food we've had in local restaurants. Fun, informative, creative, and culturally eye opening. Ernesto our guide is a culturally and politically aware person who loves Ecuador and food as cultural expression. He had a lot of interesting insights about how Ecuador's food and culture fit into the larger Latin American landscape, and we especially also loved seeing some additional mural street art/graffiti and learning about Ecuador's street art scene. A++.