This past Saturday was an awesome day for Fiancé and I – not only did we partake in our very first tequila flight, but before that we went on the Northern Liberties City Food Tour.
If you have been reading the blog for a while, you might know that I LOVE Food Tours! I think they are a great way to get to know the city you are in and the perfect opportunity to try out lots of restaurants in a short amount of time.
I have had the chance to go on a few amazing food tours since I have been blogging – The Foods of New York Greenwich Tour, The Near North Chicago Food Planet Tour and most recently the Philadelphia Chocolate Tour! All of these tours have been equally amazing and fun.
When I learned that I would have the chance to go on the Northern Liberties Food Tour with City Food Tours, I was beyond excited because the Northern Liberties is a place I always want to spend more time in, but haven’t been able to get down there as much as I would like. This was the perfect opportunity to check out the area (and it’s eats!) with fiancé!
We started out at the Piazza at Schmidts which is a brand new development full of apartments, restaurants and shops. It used to be the home of Schmidt’s Brewing Company – they did a a beautiful job with the renovation of the area!
The middle of the Piazza showcases a 40 foot LED flat screen which shows sports and movies 24/7! Must be a great spot to hang out in the summer.
Our guide, Jamie, started off the tour by giving us a little history of the area.
Schmidt’s Brewing Company used to be the hub of Northern Liberties, providing jobs for the entire surrounding community. When the brewery closed its doors the Northern Liberties area closed down too but in recent years it has been transformed into a very desirable district in Center City Philadelphia.
After our little history lesson we headed around the corner to Euphoria Cafe.
Here we got to try some bubble tea, something which I had never had before!
We all enjoyed the Honey Dew bubble tea which is a sweetly flavored tea beverage from Taiwan. At the bottom of every bubble tea are pearls which are tapioca balls. These had the consistency of gummy bears!
Fiancé and I enjoyed getting our bubble tea on!
The pearls were a bit surprising, but tasted good.
Bubbleiscious!
It was a really cute cafe – I want to come back and try other flavors!
After enjoying our tea for a bit we took a little walk to our next stop.
We headed down Liberties Walk and passed some cute restaurants and shops
Our next eating adventure was going to be at A Full Plate where we were promised some real soul food.
Here we got a big plate full of awesomeness! We got to try some mac and cheese, a hush puppy and a fried green tomato with a side salad.
Oh dear me – everything here was to die for.
And any place that serves beverages in mason jars is good in my book.
I am not a fan of tomatoes AT ALL, but I was adventurous on this tour and I am glad I was! This fried green tomato was incredible!
Our guide, Jamie, asked questions and gave trivia throughout the tour. Whenever he asked a question, if you got the answer right or gave a funny answer, you got a candy! I loved this!
After enjoying a full plate at A Full Plate we went on a little walk through one of the Northern Liberties parks. It was a gorgeous day for a stroll.
Love that Fall foliate.
Fiancé pointed out this sign. Obviously, I loved it!
“You, and your little dog too!” Haha! LOVE!
After our stroll in the park we stopped to get another little history lesson about the area and land we were standing on specifically about the Cohocksink Creek which flows under various streets in Northern Liberties and connected the Delaware River.
Side Note- I love the bird houses in this mural! Cool, right?
Fiancé loved learning about the area. He is my little history buff!
I just liked the pretty pictures on the wall! 🙂
But I do appreciate the history and the story of the area – Yay for history! 🙂
Wondering where America’s first larger beer was brewed?
Well it was right here, in the Northern Liberties area of Philadelphia.
I was starting to love our little strolls around the neighborhood. The 10-15 minute walks between eateries were the perfect time to get me hungry again between stops!
Next on the agenda was North Bowl.
Here we did a little beer tasting of the local brews – Yards & Kensinger
90% of our tour was a younger crowd and the entire tour was made up of couples so everyone enjoyed kicking back and sipping on some beer on a lovely Saturday afternoon.
North Bowl had some good beers on tap. I love places that keep the local stuff on draft!
With our beers we also got to try some crab tots
They were pretty awesome.
Must come back and bowl (and drink!) here soon!
Are you full yet? Because I am not!
Next up might have been my favorite stop on the tour – Apollinare Italian Restaurant.
Here we got to see a foccacia and pasta making demonstration.
Everything here is made in house, fresh and with local ingredients. This is my kind of place!
Here we got to see a handmade pasta & rosemary-studded foccacia being made from start to finish.
We watched it cook in the oven
and come out fresh and smelling fabulous!
Can I eat this every day for the rest of my life? Please and Thank You.
Next we got to watch the head chef make fresh pasta.
It was crazy how it went from flour and eggs to dough to pasta in seconds!
We even got to taste the fresh pasta he just made.
No, wait. Can I have THIS everyday for the rest of my life?
If you haven’t had fresh pasta like this, you haven’t lived. So apparently I just started living on Saturday. It was amazing.
It was also Fiancé approved!
It tasted amazing uncooked, I can’t even tell you how amazing it was cook with their fresh pasta sauce. This was a dream meal.
I feel like you can see the freshness oozing out of this picture.
So good.
Are there free refills??
Must come back here and eat a full meal ASAP!
Next was our last stop on the tour – Darling’s Diner for dessert!
Fiancé was pumped for dessert! (So was I!)
Here we were treated to a slice of bananas foster cheesecake.
Clearly, I take my dessert eating very seriously. Look at that concentration.
The cake, like everything else on the tour, did not disappoint!
Fiancé and I had an amazingly fun time on this food tour of the Northern Liberties. We learned a lot, we ate a lot and we had lots of fun.
Thank you to City Food Tours for letting us tag along!
And then I found $5!
(Anyone else use that saying?)
No, seriously – I found $5 on the ground outside!
Pretty sweet right?!
What do you think about the Northern Liberties Food Tour?
Where is the one place you would most like to go on a Food Tour?
12 Comments
Holy cow I kept thinking the tour was over and then you would post another meal! So that was clearly not the health food tour!? 🙂 You only live once! Looks amazing and sounds like such a fun way to meet new people!
when it gets warmer out we can go pick up beer at the foodery and hang out at liberties land park! you can legally drink there which is awesome!
That looks like it was a blast!!! Seriously, NoLibs is going to be on my places to cehck out in the spring. Phillies game on the big screen – yes please! 🙂
and clearly I can't spell – sorry!
Oh my gosh, what a mouth-watering post. Yum! Must. Try. Crab Tots.
I would loveee to go on a food tour of SF!!!!
I would loveee to go on a food tour of SF!!!!
what an AWESOME tour. i need to hear about these things. what's not to love about a tour that revolves around food? holllla.
also, congrats on the marathon, lady!
anddd…congrats on finding 5 bucks! that's always exciting.
Brave girl, doing this before Thanksgiving, lol. Fantastic pics, the tator tots are up there on my list. What a fun time!
Looks like an awesome tour!! I love North Bowl, but I have never tried their crab tots…must change that asap! 🙂
Wow, you had lots of great food to try – what a fabulous tour! Wish I was there to tag along That pasta looked amazing – so fresh! LOVE those Food Tours!
Hey! LOVE the and your little dog, too sign. That's so funny and interesting that it's so like your blog name. Also, funny, did you notice everyone at the North Bowl bar has their hand on the chins….it's like it was a plan. Love your blog!!