A New Kind of Star Tour: Hollywood Sites and Bites

A new kind of “star” tour, Hollywood Sites and Bites is a great way to satisfy the foodie, tourist, and historian in LA locals and out of town guests.

Presented by TOURific Escapes, the four hour tour serves up six tastings at some of Hollywood’s popular restaurants and a few hidden gems.  Along with the tastes, the tour includes an insiders view of Hollywood landmarks that many tourists will never see.

In December, I was invited by Trish and Matt — the proprietors of TOURific Escapes — to join them for a sample of their Hollywood Sites and Bites tour.

The tour started in the heart of Hollywood at the historic Roosevelt Hotel.  At the Roosevelt, Trish — who serves as the tour guide and possesses a wealth of history on the Roosevelt and other Hollywood landmarks — acquainted me with the group I joined that day: a family visiting Los Angeles on vacation from Australia.

My "adoptive" family poses with Shrek outside Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum

From there we made the short walk over to the Hollywood and Highland complex for more sites and our first bite.  Obligatory stops were made at Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Grumman’s Chinese Theater, and the Kodak Theater — each with fun facts and historic commentary provided by Trish.

Inspired by the old saying “Eat Dessert First”, out first bite was at Crumbs Bake Shop for coffe and a cupcake sampler.

After satisfying our collective sweet tooth, we followed Trish through the Hollywood and Highland complex to a point providing an unprecedented view of the Hollywood Sign.  Most folks would never see the well known sight from this secret but publicly accessible location.

An unobstructed -- and secluded -- view of the Hollywood Sign.

After snapping some pictures, we boarded the TOURific Escapes van for a comfortable ride to the rest of the stops on the tour.

Our chariot awaits! The comfy TOURific Escapes tour bus.

The remaining stops — which I’m purposefully not revealing in this review — were just as pleasing as the first ones.  The history and facts shared by Trish were new to me and kept my attention.  The samples were completely satisfying and included savory dishes, beverages, and sweets.

Overall, the tour was very much like a fun and interesting history lesson spread out over a four hour progressive dinner.

But please don’t take my word for it.  Check out their reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp.  At the time I am writing this, they are sporting 5 stars on both services with 43 review on Trip Advisor and 9 reviews on Yelp.

At $99 for adults and $70 for kids, I will admit that the trip may seem expensive.  At the moment, there is a special running for %15 off all tours presented by TOURifc.  Either way, if you take the tour, you may very well consider the experience to be priceless.

TOURific Escapes
(424) 248-8687
tourificescapes.com