Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage & Walking Food Tour

Oakland, United States

4.9

12 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 510-604-6546
Website:
www.rockridgefoodtour.com
Address:
Serving Oakland and surrounding area
Oakland Hills
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Description

Specialties

Everyone’s abuzz with the excitement coming from Northern California’s underdog — Oakland!

The Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage & Walking Food Tour is a three-​hour, three-​mile guided walking tour that takes locals and visitors through Oakland’s best kept secret — the neighborhood of Rockridge, recently voted Oakland Magazine’s Best Shopping District.

Guests of the tour will:

— Enjoy six local tasting spots with food samples, demonstrations and tons of local yumminess, including the:

— Official birthplace of the Rocky Road ice cream flavor

— Bay Area’s first European-​style specialty foods marketplace

— World’s top-​rated extra virgin olive oils named the 2014 Best in Class by the New York International Olive Oil Competition

— Traditional and new French delicacies

— Four of Oakland Magazine’s Best including cheese, pizza, local meats and bakery goods

— Discover the area’s rich history all the way from the 1849 Gold Rush to the expansion of the Key and BART transit systems as well as an amazing local woman who transformed the Bay Area and who is considered America’s first female architect

— Spend time with an area local and seasoned food tour guide who loves the neighborhood of Rockridge

— Receive an exclusive guide with map and discounted offers

History

Established in 2014.

Started in 2014, the Rockridge Food Tour is brought to you by a local who wants to share the food and cultural urban village experience that only the neighborhood of Rockridge has to offer. From a top-​rated morning bun to the first flavor to revolutionize the ice cream world to the most authentic example of Chicago stuffed pizza outside of the Windy City, the Rockridge Food Tour brings you a sample of foods that would make up any East Bay foodie’s perfect eating day.

And while you enjoy samples of Rockridge’s growing culinary scene, guests should know that their experience will also go to help our neighbors in need. The Rockridge Food Tour will donate $ 1 from every ticket purchased will be donated to the Alameda Community Food Bank.

Our goal is for everyone, both locals and guests, to be able to better enjoy one of the Bay Area’s best kept secrets.

Let Rockridge Food Tour help you discover your local yummy!

Meet the Business Owner

Lauren H.

Business Owner

Lauren Herpich is the owner of the Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage & Walking Food Tour. She is a professional tour guide and entrepreneur with over six years of experience leading groups in Chicago with Chicago Food Planet food tours and in Tucson, Arizona with Arizona Ambassadors.

She and her husband Chris moved to Rockridge in January 2013 and immediately fell in love with the neighborhood. They can frequently be seen along College Avenue picking up ingredients for dinner or taking a lunch break at one of Rockridge’s amazing eateries.

Lauren has a masters degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University and bachelors degrees in Journalism and Media Arts from the University of Arizona.

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12 reviews of Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage & Walking Food Tour

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
A friend and I had a wonderful afternoon with Lauren on the food tour. Even though I have lived in Rockridge for many years, Lauren added much to my knowledge of the area and the restaurants. The tour was well paced, the tastings delicious, talking to chefs and owners great fun. This tour has my highest recommendation, both for natives and for guests.
Place rating: 5
Emeryville, CA
Lauren is a wonderful tour guide and her upbeat personality made the three hours fly by. Although my wife and I had frequented many of the tour stops before, Lauren’s knowledge of the places and the people who created them helped bring them to life for us. So even locals can learn something new about the neighborhood. We especially loved hearing from the artisans who worked at A16 and the cheeses purveyor at Market Hall.
Place rating: 5
Novi, MI
i can’t say enough wonderful things about Lauren and the fabulous Rockridge food tour!!! Learned a great deal at each food establishment and enjoyed all the food immensely! I could go on and on with positive comments, but they have all been written in previous reviews. I would highly recommend this food tour to all!
Place rating: 5
Hayward, CA
We’ve taken several food tours in San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle and this tour was one of the best! Lauren really knows her Rockridge neighborhood history and shares her knowledge in a fun and casual way, making you feel as welcome as a close friend visiting for the weekend. We loved it!
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
I appreciated Lauren’s enthusiasm and knowledge of Rockridge. I never knew there was so much history and interesting facts to the neighborhood. I really enjoyed the first stop at A16 where we received first-​hand instructions to pizza making straight from the executive chef. We then got to sample his pizza. It was one margarita pizza that was split among 13 people. It was at least another 1 ½ hours until we had more than a bite of food. Thankfully, the last two stops at Zachary’s and Dreyer’s Ice Cream we received a large slice of pizza and a child-​size scoop of ice cream. Had it not been for the last two stops we would have left starving. I have done several food tours and always felt that the portions provided were more than generous. Which is the main reason I am giving this tour four stars instead of five. My husband and myself both left the tour still hungry, and immediately left searching out a place to have dinner. Perhaps, had we known we would have known beforehand we would have ate more than a pastry prior to starting the tour. Overall, the tour was a lot of fun, and we would still recommend it. I would just advise eating a proper meal prior to the start of the tour.
Place rating: 5
Oakley, CA
Lauren is a great tour guide! She has lots of neat and fun information about the Rockridge neighborhood. She points out other places of interest along the tour so she doesn’t limit the information to the actual restaurants we visit.
Place rating: 5
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
Lauren is engaging, intelligent and insightful, and provides lots of historical anecdotes many of the long-​term residents don’t even know about. She has great relationships with the businesses on the tour, thus providing us with really great insights into how they operate. Despite the previous weeks of rain, it was a beautiful day, and I felt the walking was a nice way to stimulate my appetite and burn off all the delicious food.
Speaking of food, Lauren had delicious morning buns waiting for us upon our arrival from La Farine, a bakery that follows strict French baking traditions with no preservatives or artificial crap; plus bottled water and wonderful samples from each food stop.
I had a great time, enjoyed visiting with the other participants, and highly recommend this tour.
Place rating: 5
Foster City, CA
AMAZING Sunday! Weather GORGEOUS Tour Guide AWESOME! Food DELICIOUS! Historial Insight TREMENDOUS!
The Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage & Walking Food Tour is a great way to spend three hours. It is as good as it gets in every way! I worked in the area for 3 years and never knew all the historical antedotes of the neighborhood or all the foodie places! Truly hidden gems!
I highly recommend taking this tour with Lauren! Very very fun!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Rockridge has Stolen My Heart!
The way to my heart is definitely through my stomach and Lauren’s tour has shown me the light– to FOOD! I learned a lot, I ate a lot. There is nothing quite as awesome as being greeted by pastries at checkin!
The fast facts and trivia I learned about the area was a nice addition to the consumption of oils, cheeses (Toma, my new favorite!), pizza, ice cream etc! I highly recommend this tour to both those familiar and unfamiliar with the area since it certainly has something for everyone.
Lauren’s tour style is laid back, approachable and super cheerful. She obviously likes what she does and her enthusiasm for all things Rockridge is infectious! I might just move there!
Place rating: 5
Financial District, San Francisco, CA
Just took a tour yesterday and was impressed with ALL the great food we were able to try, but also the personal attention our tour received from the employees at the stops we made. We met the Head Chef at Ver Brugge who served us an AMAZING chicken dish, learned all about what to look for in olive oils at Amphora Nueva, learned about the art of cheese making at Market Hall, and how can you say no to Zachery’s Pizza, Dreyer’s ice cream (can’t tell the secret about what flavor was invented in Rockridge), and was greeted with a Morning Bun from a true French style bakery!
I have lived in Rockridge for nearly two years, but did not know all the history surrounding the great area! You will learn a lot!
Highly recommended for out of towers and locals alike!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
A great three-​hour tour of the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. Our tour guide was peppy and informative, and introduced us to some great eats. My gf and I are always looking for fun ways to learn more about Oakland, and this was a great way to enjoy the day, and sample some tasty stuff. Recommend!
Place rating: 5
Arlington, VA
Just took a tour today! Previously, I’ve only taken food tours in S.F. and was pleasantly surprised to discover one in the East Bay in my neck of the woods. Our guide was really informative and friendly, and I loved tasting the very first rocky road ice cream (invented in Oakland)! We also had amazing pizza, cheese, pastries and more, but my favorite part was the unexpected olive oil tasting at the beginning of the tour. Phenomenal. Definitely recommend — you get to see a lot of the neighborhood and learn its history, which is a cool bonus. Great for locals and out-​of-​towners.