Explore San Francisco

Four of us went on the Mission Dessert Tour.
Loved David. Got confirmation email as well as a personal call from David the day before. Recommendation for parking was easy. Greeted with treats for us to take home. All of the food was tasty. David is very easy to talk too and fluid with conversations within our group. (two moms and to 12 year old girls). He did follow up with sending pictures of us and the itinerary of where we went.
Our favorites were Sixth Course and Craftsman and Wolves. The owners of Sixth Course gave us a look into their latest creation of Artesian Chocolate filled eggs for Easter. We each chose gelato desserts. Each was unique and true in its flavors. Mine was an ale gelato. Wow, frozen beer dipped in chocolate. We came back later in the day to purchase a few eggs for Easter. All of the chocolate, even the dark had a smooth silk texture. Craftsman and Wolves was the perfect ending as we were at the end of our sweet buds and were able to satisfy our savory as well as get another unique tasting of sweet. They had a layered dessert with Earl Gray biscuit with Lychee foam and Hibiscus jelly that was light, complex, and wonderful balance in texture. Great fun to eat.
Xanath Gelato was our first stop. We would have like to heard from the owner/​background of the business more. They had a display of a variety of vanilla spices/​beans for retail but without background it was just a display. Could have played well in the unique qualities of the place. Good gelato not great tour quality.
Samovar Tea Bar was very lovely. For inlanders who have not had much in «real spice» Chai to me was a treat. If you are a Starbucks fan this is overly spicy and not sweet. Nice that the owner was there and the man who made our tea came over to talk a bit about the tea/​place. The chocolate tort was fantastic. With future tours I would want to have a couple classic teas too. This was ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ with our group as two were 12 years old and it was «too spicy» for them. From a parent view I liked they were expanding their horizons.
Dandelion Chocolate to me was fantastic as I’m a lover of dark chocolate. Not much in options for the milk chocolate lover. The toffee was a perfect brittle, not hard on your teeth crunch. The Bar we split was out of this world. It had a brown butter cookie bottom with a soft camel center and a smooth chocolate ganache on top.
There was more to the food that this but then this becomes a novel.
Super cool to go down one of the mural allies of the Mission district. It is a bit sobering to feel to power of the murals. They represent just a glimpse of the daily life/​struggles within the area as well as some of the results of political muscle on the neighborhood. A must. Nice history and background by David. If you are looking for in depth history this is not this tour. Lots of nice tidbits on the walk around the neighborhood.
I will book again for our next visit.

Michael and David took us on a great tour across Mission. We have visited this area many many times, and still, every place they took us was totally new to us. An excellent selection of restaurants with their history, each told by their passionate owners or managers.

I helped plan our corporate holiday party event and Michael helped us set up with the Chinatown/​North Beach tour for 34 people!
I was a little nervous after reading the Unilocal reviews, but the problems seemed to be mostly Travelzoo related … and I had a similar problem booking a craft beer tour through Living Social.
I’m absolutely thrilled we went with Explore SF. We had a wonderful time!
Michael and 2 other guides led us through everything from a tea tasting and dim sum in Chinatown to pasta in North Beach and a really special culinary surprise at the end. They incorporated our ideas for holiday games and made the day really special.
(I went to college in SF and lived there for years… and they managed to impress me.)
Michael and I spoke via email for a long time before the event. I think that my only minor issue is that as they grow as a company it would serve them well to have someone designated to handle the administrative tasks.
No matter. They delivered on everything they promised… in fact, we got way more than I expected! I hesitantly went with a couple of Michael’s suggested stops and I’m so glad I did.
The tour itself and the tour guides were all fantastic. I would recommend them in a heartbeat and I would definitely use their services again.
Thank you so much for giving us a wonderful holiday party! I love the pictures you posted of our day!

I have dealt with Explore SF two times.
The first experience was amazing. Dan Chew (fantastic) took us on an amazing tour of China Town and North Beach… just perfect.
The second and most recent experience was the exact opposite. Frankly, I gave them over 10 opportunities to prevent me from writing this poor review, but they basically failed every time… so here goes.
I purchased vouchers for a tour on travelzoo. I then purchased even more for the same tour directly from their website. So we had a group of 6 people ready for a killer tour, many from out of town, and we were psyched. Then Explore SF calls me, the night before the tour, and says that the tour is cancelled because the guide had a family emergency. Huh? You have only one guide that can lead the tour? Seems like poor planning to me. However, I gave them the benefit of the doubt based on past experience. Super bummed, yes, but… I roll with it. So they send an email to confirm that the tour is cancelled and ask if I want to reschedule or a refund. I immediately reply «refund» since all parties will have left the area by the time a rescheduled tour could be had. I get no reply. I reply again a week later asking for a refund. I get no reply. I call and leave a message. I get no reply. I call again a few days later and leave a message for a different person. I get no reply. Finally, a couple of weeks later, I’m finally able to reach someone who says, via email, that they have already processed my refund and I should be seeing it soon. Wait… wait…wait…no refund after a week or so. I go through the same process over the next few weeks of call, leave message, email, call, call, email… and finally I actually get a live person to answer a phone and they state that the refund is now the responsibility of my credit card company since they «processed it» already. Now, mind you, I have had refunds back to my card before… usually takes about 24 hours. So… I call my credit card company. «No…they have never contacted us and there is no refund in process» the card company states. So… I contact Explore SFAGAIN…“sorry…nothing we can do… just wait longer”. I dutifully wait the full 30 days that Explore SF says it can take for the refund to process… nothing. And so, after all of the time I’ve spent trying simply to get the refund they offered, I file a dispute with both Travelzoo and with my card company and as of today, have all of my money back.
But really? Does a reputable company operate like this? I love the Bay, and I love small businesses, but this one is really run by the seat of the pants. When it’s «on», it’s great! But when anything goes awry, they just don’t have the professional systems in place to address the customer service side in a measurable way.

I purchased a tour via Travel Zoo to take my mother on a food tour in SF. I called a few weeks in advance to make sure everything was in order. The first issue was when I called, their phone was having issues and they told me they would call back in a few minutes. Two hours later, I called again. The guy took down my name and number and said he would call me back. Two days later, I had to call again. Not a good start. Finally (after I emailed), they got back to me and set up a tour for the Ferry Building. We got there on time but when the tour guide showed up, he clearly had not set up the tour with the vendors and looked panicked and kept making various phone calls. Finally, after consulting with my mother, we said if he wasn’t ready that I would simply call later and reschedule the tour. The guide looked relieved, apologized profusely and left.
A few months later, I emailed to reschedule the tour. The website still had the Ferry Building so I asked for that tour. The email I received was short and curt saying that they didn’t do those tours anymore (why is it on your website then?). When I asked about another tour, all I got was that everything was sold out on the weekend I was looking at. At this point, I was so done with this group, I just stopped trying. Thanks Explore SF, I just wasted $ 100 on trying to reserve a tour but ending up with an expired voucher!

Took the North Beach tour with leader Dan. He knows the neighborhood and runs a great tour. The tour lasted 3.5 hours he customized the stops based on our preferences and had answers to all of our questions.
Highly recommend it. We have taken several food tours and the tour guide was wonderful, the food superb, and the history and knowledge of the area was fabulous.

The North Beach Food Tour was wonderful. Dan was so knowledgeable and friendly it felt like I was out with friends. He asked if we had any food allergies or preferences before we began, and then accommodated it. The food was delicious. We didn’t get the small tastes that were expected, but large portions — half of a deli sandwich, whole slice of pizza, pasta, desserts. I definitely took food home and didn’t eat dinner.

What a great time we had this last weekend.
We took the Chinatown tour with Dan Chew.
He was awesome with lots of great knowledge and all of are group having fun along the way. This is a bucket list tour that should not be missed!
Would like to thank Dan again for the great time.
Dan and Lori

Company is very hard to communicate with. Took 4 weeks to get a refund for a tour that was cancelled one hour before it started.

Took the Chinatown tour with leader Dan who was born and raised in Chinatown. It shows. He knows the neighborhood and runs a great tour (we were a group of 12).
he kept up the pace for 3 hours (one much needed rest stop at the tea house for tasting). Started and ended on time. He customized the stops based on our questions and had answers to all of our questions.
Highly recommend it. Only suggestion would be to move up the tea tasting so you get a break earlier in the tour.

We took a tour of Mission District of San Francisco. Very interesting, colorful and rich character place. Our guide Michael new little streets and interesting houses, funky stores and restaurants to look at.

Our group had a great experience with the vegetarian food tour of the Mission. Dan Chew was a terrific host, and his knowledge of and passion for both food and his native city are remarkable. Two of the four in our group weren’t vegetarians — even they were impressed by the food, but blown away by Dan!

We took the Chinatown tour, and I’ll be brief, since others already seem to be raving about it. :) My boyfriend and I went on the Chinatown food tour as my birthday gift to him. (I obviously know how to buy presents because I benefited from this one, too!)
Dan was an awesome guide. In the beginning, he took the time to ask about what foods we liked, the kinds of sights we were interested in, and how adventurous we were feeling. The restaurants he took us to were great. As far as food is concerned, we did soup at Far East, Dim Sum at some hole in the wall with a name I can’t quite remember, Egg Custard Tarts at the Golden Gate Bakery (which were awesome, by the way — coming from a guy who is usually «meh» about egg tarts), got some nice crispy roast duck and pork at another hole in the wall, (I guess I should’ve taken notes) and finished up with a Tea Tasting at Vital Tea Leaf.
In addition to the food, his knowledge of the neighborhood and city was super interesting. We saw the home of Dr. Sun Yat-​Sen, took a walk through gambler’s alley, went into the Tin How Temple (the oldest in San Francisco), sampled a cookie at the fortune cookie factory, took a look inside a few markets, discussed historic architecture, and had an all around good time. Highly recommended. It was a fun, personal, and friendly tour.
As far as logistics were concerned, the company was super easy to deal with. We actually booked last minute (2 days in advance) and they were accommodating and called to verify that everything was good to go.
(So much for brief. I tried.)

Dan Chew was our guide, and did a fantastic job! He showed us many features of Chinatown that the average tourist would never discover on our own. In addition, the food tour left us stuffed, although each stop was paced so that we had time to digest a bit before the next one. When my daughter’s 2-​year old girl started crying, Dan pulled out a small toy dragon and gave it to her, which quieted her.
This tour company has obviously made excellent contacts within the community, and we were treated well at every stop. Dan himself has a pleasant, easy-​going personality, and passed along a lot of very interesting cultural and architectural information as we strolled through this colorful part of San Francisco. I was particularly fascinated to see the temporary home of Dr. Sun Yat-​Sen while he was in exile.
Highly recommended!

We were given explore SF yours by our children for Christmas last year. We had no problem scheduling the tour of our choice for the day we wanted — Mission South. We met our guide Helga Pons and had such a fun day. We popped in and out if several very good restaurants: Mission Pies, Pig and Pie, an amazing taco place, some really fresh sushi — I think we went to 6 places and a finished off with a marvelous gelato. The whole time Helga told us about the history of The Mission and showed us some beautiful and historic wall murals on Balmy. We would never have found this on our own, nor would we have understood the meanings depicted.
This was a really good tour and Helga was terrific.

My mom and I signed up for the Chinatown walking tour with Dan Chew, not really knowing what to expect. It turned out to be the most memorable experience of our whole week in San Francisco!
We were the only two on this tour (I highly recommend doing this during the winter months, or at least on a weekday) so it was such a personal experience. Dan is such a fun guy, with so many great stories and cool insights, that the 3 hour scheduled tour turned into more like 4! We also signed up for it on Chinese New Year’s Eve (not realizing the good fortune we had stumbled upon), so Dan took us through all the markets, showed us all the tasty treats, and explained the traditions that he grew up with/​still practices in Chinatown.
Dan grew up in Chinatown and still lives there, so he knows ALL of the good spots.
To recap a few of what we saw:
–Tin How Temple (Oldest Buddhist temple in SF)
–Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company (fresh made daily, plenty o’ scraps for tasting.)
–Vital Leaf Tea (gotta talk to Kenny, he’s the man!)
–Golden Gate Bakery (get there egg custard tarts!!)
Dan’s level of knowledge goes way beyond just the facts; he lives, breaths, EATS Chinatown. Somebody give this man a raise!

Highly recommended. Bought a Groupon last minute just prior to my SF trip. Explore SF honored it for the Thursday morning Chinatown walking tour even though they had no other people participating. Instead of rebooking me for Saturday, my tour guide Dan decided to give me a solo tour.
I couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide. Instead of rattling down historical facts or following some kind of script, it felt like I was walking and chatting with a friend. While we spent some time on Grant Street, the main strip, under the red lanterns and by the touristy shops, we ventured into the side streets and parks as well. A nice balance of history, culture and local flavor.
We visited Tin How temple, burned some incense and said a prayer. We stopped at a bakery for moon cakes, another one for sesame balls. We saw a local butcher shop selling cured meats, including whole ducks and duck «bacon». That stuff looked so good it made me wish just for a second I was a meat eater.
We stopped for a free tea tasting and picked up some green tea. Mind you, this was not the food tour, it just turned out that Dan writes a food blog, so we share food and all things related as a common passion. He pointed out Hang Ah Tea Room, the oldest restaurant in Chinatown and some non-​touristy restaurants I should (and would) check out.
We grazed the local markets where we saw an array of dried goods (scallops, shrimp, root vegetables), live frogs, fish, chicken feet, herbs and fresh produce. Ever wondered what half of the stuff is they sell at your local Asian market? Well here is your chance to get educated. Don’t be offended if you get shoved, they’re just trying to move along and go on about their business.
The pace of the walking tour is totally comfortable, since Chinatown is confined within a few blocks. Definitely doable and customizable, depending on the other people in your group. I am so glad I did this and will definitely use them again next time I am in town, especially now that I know they do vegan food tours.

A-​M-​A-​Z-​I-​N-​G food tour!!!
First off, huge thanks to Michael who was able to squeeze in a last minute reservation for me, after I experienced a booking fiasco with another food tour company, using a Groupon. Needless to say, I did get a refund from Groupon and gave my business to Explore, instead…
So my husband and I attended the North Beach tour on Friday at 3:30pm and the Chinatown tour on Saturday at 11am. Our tour guide, Dan, was just absolutely awesome… scratch that… MORE than awesome! Dan is very personable, knowledgable, and as one Unilocal reviewer mentioned, «he feels like a friend!»
During the North Beach food tour, we ate quite a bit and saw some pretty interesting sites! We ate pizza, pasta, sandwiches and dessert. I was soooo full once the tour concluded, and that is a good thing! Prior to this tour beginning, I was afraid I would still be hungry at the end. I loved the fact that in between visiting various sites, we stopped and ate a little. Dan did great with not allowing us to get too full at any one place, with whatever he ordered.
My husband’s favorite part of the North Beach tour was Molinari’s Deli. My favorite parts were dining in a unique Italian restaurant, and eating Tiramisu and a Cannoli at the very end. :-) One of the interesting places we visited was the Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi. I certainly wouldn’t have discovered that place, unless I researched places to see on my own.
So onto the Chinatown tour… that was also pretty awesome! Since Dan grew up in Chinatown, his knowledge of the area was quite remarkable! I certainly won’t view Chinatown in the same manner, after attending this tour! The food was great as well!!! My favorite parts of the tour were visiting the fortune cookie factory and the tea tasting. They both were very unique stops on the tour! After visiting the Vital Tea Leaf, I won’t dare purchase another box of Lipton teabags again. ;-)
Once again, Dan is truly awesome and really helped to completely my sightseeing vacation to San Francisco. I certainly look forward to booking and taking another tour, whenever I’m back in town! I very much highly recommend booking a tour via Explore San Francisco. This company is amazing and really cares about the satisfaction of its customers. If your tour is scheduled with Dan, that’s a BONUS! ;-) Enjoy!!!

I did a double date for the North Beach food tour. Like others have said, it’s fun to play tourist in your own city and hopefully learn a few things that we may have taken for granted because we grew up here.
The overall experience was «A-​OK», it met my expectations and I’m glad the tour guide chose the places that she did. Molinari’s sandwiches were delish, the pasta at Café Macaroni was delish, and Golden Boy Pizza was delish (having always been on our list of drunken late night sop up spots). The free olive oil and balsamic stop was a great choice and I enjoyed the tasting. We ended with gelato and canolli’s, both very pleasant.
I minused two stars because 1). While the tour guide was VERY nice and I’m sure very knowledgeable, she was a bit awkward. When we were eating, she would stand in front of us like she wanted to perform something but instead blurted out random facts. I felt bad for her so I laughed at her jokes and smiled all the time. We still tipped her well. 2). There were some difficulties in communication when booking the tours. Lots of back and forth and too many people involved. I called one number, was then given another number, and then given a couple of email addresses, etc. Maybe an online system might be helpful if they don’t have one already?
Overall, I think I can manage to find my own way around the city (with the help of trusty Unilocal).

I recently took the North Beach Food Tour from Explore San Francisco. This was a great experience. Our guide was fun and she very knowledgeable. We got information on food history in North Beach plus some overall history of the neighborhood.
Food choices were great. Five stops plus a tasting. Time was given in between stops so we weren’t too full.
One of the highlights of the tour was our ending spot. We went to the top of a parking garage in North Beach. Best view of North Beach and the Bay.
Loved this tour and plan on doing another Explore San Francisco Tour.