Melting Pot Food Tours

I just went on my first Melting Pot Food Tour at the Farmer’s Market with two girlfriends. Our guide was Andrew and he was the best! He gave us lots of wonderful information and we ate great food. Great tour and a great day!

We just had the most amazing tour of the Original LA Farmers Market! Our guide Andrew was very knowledgeable about the history and about the families that have been there for generations! The food was diverse and was truly a representation of the LA melting pot! This tour is a must try! Fun for locals trying to have an adventure or tourists looking to see the culture of LA. We will definitely be trying the other tours!

The LA Farmer’s Market Food Tour was such a delight! I didn’t have any expectations going in, but left 100% satisfied with the experience! I took an out-​of-​town guest, who I try to find interesting LA events to go to on her yearly visit. Sabrina was a delightful and knowledgable host — loved the back stories on the vendors where we sampled food items. There were many foods I would not have known to try, but will certainly go back for now! This would be a great event to take a large group to, as well. Great bang for your buck, too!

I did their LA Farmer’s Market tour which was a great tour! Andrew and his «intern» Armando were great! You start off with an overview of the history of the LA Farmers Market and then go into the Market and enjoy your choice of coffee; tea; ice tea or hot chocolate at Bob’s Donut along with a sampling of various donuts. As you sit and enjoy the first of many samples you get more information on the vendors and history. Armando’s family own a fruit stand in the Market and he added a lot of «flavor» to Andrew’s commentary. After you finish up the coffee you are onto the next location… I will not disclose everywhere we went as you should be surprised and they may change up the offerings but suffice it to say it is a lot of fun and you get to taste a variety of food and get a really good education about the area.
Armando did not stay with us throughout the whole tour (he had to go back to work) but we did see him at his family’s fruit/​veg space and he was very informative of the produce and even how best to eat! This young man has a great future in front of him and has a wonderful personality that will take him far!! Afterwards you are free to shop in the Farmer’s Market or go down the street to The Grove.

When Her Majesty and I travel to different cities, we enjoy taking food tours and trying some of the local fresh cuisine. We had good success with this in Seattle, Denver and San Juan so we decided that we would try it while we were in Los Angeles as well. Unbeknownst to me, Los Angeles has the oldest Farmers Market in the country and, when we found that out, we decided to book a guided tour with Melting Pot Food Tours and met Andrew.
I cannot say enough good things about Andrew. Knowledgeable, personable and entertaining, he did a marvelous job guiding us through a truly fascinating collection of mom and pop restaurants and stores where we had the opportunity to sample everything from donuts to peanut butter to tacos to ice cream. I was both full and immensely satisfied when we were done.
Kudos to both Andrew and Melting Pot as they are both highly recommended. Apparently Melting Pot has 3 other food tours in the city and we will definitely try one of those if we find ourselves in Los Angeles again.

Really enjoyed the East LA food tour. Living on the Westside of LA, we don’t get the chance to see this part of LA much. We were pleasantly surprised and treated to some great food as well as learned a little more about our City of Angels!

Our group was in the area for a California history tour and this was just the right tour group to share their knowledge with a group of teachers. Melting Pot Tours is very educated on the history of the farmers market. Not alone did we learn alot, we got to enjoy the food presented at the market. The ladies that run the tours are wonderful and very approachable throughout the tour. No question is left without an answer. We had a wonderful time learning about history of the market with wonderful people to show it to us. This is a MUST! Don’t miss this great tour.

We did the Pasadena food tour over the weekend and we ended up visiting a few places we have already been to. I don’t advise locals to do it; maybe it’s better for those out of state to. I wish we would have done the LA food market over the Pasadena one because we would have at least tried new places.

We did the East LA food tour, which explored a part of the city I had never been to. The food was delicious, and I’m definitely planning on going back and exploring more of East LA!

Loved our tour of the Farmer’s Market. I accompanied my 2 sons who are locals and we all thought the food, historical information and our guide were amazing. Weather you are local or from out of town everyone can take something away from this tour. All the tasting stops left us statisfied and full. The variety of the food gave us a great sampling of what the Farmer’s Market is all about. Highly recommend this tour for anyone that enjoys food!!!

We did the tour in Pasadena. It was really fun. I didn’t expect to enjoy myself, but it ended up exceeding my expectations. Come hungry because there is a lot of food. I was expecting very small samples but the samples were pretty decent sized. We tried food from different family owned restaurants. Most of the food was from different countries such as Venezuela, the Mediterranean and India. We also went tea tasting [that was actually one of my favorite things]. Our guide was very knowledgeable and really sweet, her name is Laura. Overall it was a good experience. I got to learn a lot about Pasadena that I didn’t know before and I got to try some pretty good food. The only thing I don’t really care for was the price. It’s a little bit pricey, but I think it was still fun.

First ever food tour with my fiancée and it was awesome! Lisa, our tour guide, is just the best! She is very approachable & knowledgeable of the history of the Farmers Market and answered questions from the group patiently. You can really tell that she loves what she’s doing. Food tasting was great too! great selections from different stalls. We loved it so much that it made us thought of experiencing another one. :) keep it up Melting Pot, you deserve a high rating review! :)

We took a group of friends on a Melting Pot Food Tour of LA Farmers Market and it was FANTASTIC! The information, stories and history of the market were great and the food, of course, was amazing! We highly recommend the tasting tour for locals and visitors.

I just did the food tour in Pasadena. It was amazing! Laura was our tour guide and she was great, very knowledgable and was a great guide. I’m new to Pasadena, so this was an excellent way to explore the area and all the local food. Laura also had a lot of recommendations that were not on the tour. And there were a lot of places we’ll definitely return to eat. My only critique is that $ 75 is a little much, ($ 50-​$ 60 might seem a little better), BUT this is not something we do every day and was definitely a fun experience. Would highly recommend!!!

We were in the L.A. area for a friend’s wedding and decided to make a vacation of it. We love local markets and we love good food, so this seemed like a great way to experience both. We went on the 9:30 AM tour on a Saturday and arrived early (because neither traffic nor parking were any problem, in part due to the detailed instructions provided by Melting Pot). The market was surprisingly quiet at that time, which was good for the tour.
Our guide Andrew had a wonderful sense of humor and was very knowledgable about the market and the individual vendors that we visited. We really enjoyed his jokes, learning about the history of the area and the market, and all of the food we got to try. (Donuts, tacos, fresh fruit, fine cheese, Brazilian meats and cheese bread, English toffee, and much more!)
Just FYI:
1. It’s a «walking tour,» but it’s very low-​effort. You walk from one vendor to another, sit and eat, then repeat.
2. It’s really more of a food market than a farmer’s market at this point, so don’t plan to do much grocery shopping. But do bring your appetite, because there are so many delicious stalls.
By the end of the tour, the market had gotten very busy, and we were quite full. The tour doesn’t have «wow» factor, but it’s a worthwhile experience for foodies who want to learn a bit and who appreciate variety.

AMAZING. Awesome food, awesome tour guide, wonderful experience. I live in Los Angeles, and never explored the LA Farmers Market. A food tour is the BEST way to get to know the market. I discovered places and food that I would have never walked by and now I will be a regular. Supporting local businesses AND leaving fully satisfied. Brazilian meats, warm donuts, falafel, French cheeses etc. DELICIOUS. So happy with the service and food. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The huz and I went on the Farmers Market food tour that we received as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed our morning. Andrew was the best guide! Nice guy, knowleagble and easy to talk with. Thank you Andrew! We are navtive Angelinos but knew very little about the history of the market as well as the surrounding area so that was cool to hear about… love to learn! Anyway, don’t hesitate to take this tour. Its a great way to spend the morning, meet some great people, learn a little and taste yummy foods. Do it!

What a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning! BF and I did the Original Farmers Market tour with Andrew and had a great time. He was a great guide, and everyone in our group was fun too.
We were able to try foods from:
Bob’s Coffee and Doughnuts (the apple fritter is a must!)
Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market (that charcuterie plate doe)
Magee’s in-​house churned peanut butter, with no added oil or sugar!
Loteria tacos (the 12 mini taco sampler sounds so good)
Pampas Grill (sausage and cheese bread, yes)
Fresh fruit bowl from the produce store (forget the name– but right in front by the clock tower)
Bennett’s ice cream (you get a scoop of any flavor in a cone or cup)
Quite a lot of food sampling, and we were actually somewhat full at the end. We weren’t hungry, but we could’ve eaten more, if that makes sense.
I thought it was a great way to sample many things from the market, but we also got the tickets for free from my sister. I don’t know if I would have been as satisfied had I purchased the tickets full price at $ 60/​person (which is why I’m giving 4 stars rather than 5 stars). The only places I would actually go back to, out of the ones we tried, are Monsieur Marcel and Loteria. The tour was interesting though, and it was fun to learn the history of the Farmers Market.

Superb food tour! My wife and I were ecstatic when we won an East L.A. Latin Flavors tour via a CicLAvia contest on Facebook. We booked the tour for the next month and it lived up to our expectations.
On a mild Saturday morning, we met at the Metro station in East L.A. Our guide Andrew showed up as did three other guests. It was great having only five of us there, since we could more easily chat with Andrew, who was a terrific guide — knowledgeable, approachable, and engaging. From the get-​go, you could tell that he had a real passion for food as well as an excellent understanding of the culture and history of the neighborhoods we were exploring. My wife and I both have friends that live near this area, but we’d never explored it like we did on the 3+ hour Melting Pot Food tour. We learned — and ate — a lot during our time here.
The tour was located on the border of East L.A. and Boyle Heights; it’s an older area, rich in cultural history. We walked for most of it and took a short ride on the Metro Gold Line to Mariachi Plaza for the final stops. We visited the first tortilla factory in Los Angeles, a 20-​year-​old panaderia, another well-​established restaurant specializing in tamales, and L.A.‘s first birrireria. My favorite food was the birria, while my favorite stop was the tri-​level mercado (Mexican-​style market), with its myriad of food and retail vendors.
I loved the fact that Andrew didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk: he shared recipes and stories about his experiences at each stop. After the tour was over, we walked back to the mercado for a mole that Andrew had recommended and we ran into him going back to one of the tour stops to order pozole for himself.
Two tips: 1. Don’t eat before going on this tour. By the time we got to the last stop, we were so full that we gave our share of pan dulce to one of our tour mates to take home. 2. Bring extra cash and/​or a bag for all of the goodies you’ll purchase along the way.
Highly recommended.

SUCH a worthwhile addition to our Cali coastal trip. MP folks are super accommodating. We were 6 Halal-​eaters which meant if meat wasn’t cut in a religious way, we are vegetarians. I could explain this further but it’s not about our dietary needs… it’s about how great Melting Pot Food Tours is!
Our tour guide was super sweet and passionate about Old Pasadena. We were so happy to be with him. He was calm and a breath of Cali air to our NY personalities (we’re really from Jersey, but I digress).
We stopped at a variety of different spots. All were a hit except for 1 (but that really depends on your own taste). It was about 3 – 3.5 hours but it FLEW.
It’s also a great way to meet some interesting folks from around the country!
Definitely, definitely sign yourself up for this. You won’t be disappointed.

FOOOOOOOOD!
Really, who doesn’t like food? Okay, childish zombie seeking food in me aside, this is absolutely one of the best activities I did while I was in L.A.
Diane (one of the owners) was being stand-​in tour guide for a day and I can’t say how lucky I felt to be lead around by such a knowledgeable person. And chef!
The tour was the Farmer’s Market tour I originally found in the Lonely Planet guide to L. A,
On the tour there were donuts, and fruit, and cheeses, and olives, and brazilian barbeque, and agua frescas, and my bad grammar of adding ‘and’ to everything! Indian food and Japanese food and the most delectable macaroon I’ve had in a long time!
Actually, the whole tour was so darn good I’m having a hard time writing about it. Food writer I shall never become! But — if you’re visiting L.A. or live in L.A. probably the best thing I can say is – go, go, go, go, go on the tour!
I’ll absolutely be trying another one out next time I’m back in town.