Everything You Need to Know About Leeds Food Tours

Apr 06, 2023

If you're looking for things to do in Leeds, a unique experience gift or even a team building day idea for work, you've come to the right place.

Eat your way around Leeds, stopping at the best independent food venues in the city, on a food tour! This blog post will tell you everything you need to know about Leeds Food Tours, and help you to decide whether a guided or self-guided food tour is for you.

Leeds Food Tours Guided Tour Group Outside the Chilli Shop: one of the best things to do in Leeds

Later on in the post, you'll also find out about private bookings (ideal for corporate groups or hen/stag do's) and read what customers think about the tours.

Whether you choose a guided or self-guided tour, you can expect:

visit six carefully selected, independent venues
food included at every stop (I can guarantee you'll be full at the end!)
a mixture of pubs, restaurants and street food
hear the stories behind the venues and meet some of the owners
learn some relevant foodie facts and Leeds history

Is Leeds Food Tours For You?

Both the self-guided and guided food tours of Leeds are perfect for locals and visitors. If you're just here for a day or two, it's a great way to see the city through the eyes of a local and see all the key landmarks between delicious food stops.

Local to Leeds? The majority of people who take a food tour are actually local, looking to discover new places to eat and find different things to do in Leeds on their weekend.

Guided Food Tour of Leeds, showing a tray of Samosa Chaat in Leeds Market

You'll visit lots of hidden gems, and feedback is always that guests have discovered new places, even if they already know the city really well! Take a look at the reviews later in this post to see!

Leeds Food Tours can also accommodate most dietary requirements including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and allergies. The self-guided tour in particular has incredible vegan options at every stop!

If booking a guided tour please reply to your booking confirmation with dietary requirements.

All About Guided Food Tours

Guided food tours run most Saturdays, starting at 11.45am and taking approximately four hours.

Leeds Food Tours Group Image Eat Your Greens, everyone is sat around a table enjoying delicious food and smiling at the camera

Book online and you'll be sent an email confirmation with the meeting point. On the day, the group will meet here - you'll spot your guide, Ellen, wearing a white, Leeds Food Tours branded t-shirt or hoodie.

You'll then visit six different venues ranging from the oldest pub in Leeds, to modern restaurants, to market stalls. Food is included at every stop, and it's more than enough to make sure you don't need a meal afterwards.

At each stop you'll hear the stories behind the venue, and learn some foodie facts (like the history of the Yorkshire pudding, or foods that were invented in Leeds) whilst you wait for your food to be served.

Then you'll tuck in! This could be an individual portion, a main course shared between two, or sharing platters/boards for the table.

An image of one of the dishes you might eat on a guided food tour with Leeds Food Tours. It's fried chicken on mash potato with white wine gravy.

Between stops I'll also pause a few times to point out landmarks and give you some relevant food-related history if you're interested.

Drinks aren't included in your ticket price, but can be purchased along the way. We usually spend around half an hour at each stop, so plenty of time for a drink if you wish.

A group on a food tour of Leeds sat around a table, raising a glass of wine and smiling at the camera

You can book a guided food tour or buy a gift voucher by clicking here.

All About Self-Guided Food Tours

Self-guided food tours are perfect if you want to do a food tour of Leeds at your own pace, at a time that suits you. Simply follow the map and hand over tokens at each stop for a choice of delicious street food dishes.

As with the guided tours, you will visit six stops, with food included at every stop.

You receive a physical pack for the self-guided food tour, which makes it a great experience gift.

Choose to have the pack sent to you in the post, receive a digital gift voucher, or collect it from the start point. If you're looking for last minute things to do in Leeds, pick the collection option and you can do it on the day you buy!

The contents of the self-guided food tour pack from Leeds Food Tours. Image shows instruction sheet, map, information cards and tokens.

Inside the pack you will find:

Instruction sheet
Map (with a QR code if you prefer digital)
Venue info cards
Foodie fact cards (learn the history of street food including the invention of the first food truck and what bao buns have in common with severed heads!)
Tokens, so that all food is included

Each pack is for two people, so you only need to buy one of them between two of you.

Gyozas on a self-guided tour, sat next to a venue information card and token

The tour can be done in one go or split across a few days, and it's available 7 days a week! There's no need to book in advance - once you have your pack you can go whenever you like.

Buy a self-guided food tour for yourself or as a gift!

Private Group Bookings

Ideal for hen parties, stag do's, baby showers and birthdays, as well as for corporate groups looking for team building activities or networking events in Leeds.

If you have a group of six or more people (minimum 12 people on a Saturday), I can arrange a private food tour for you. This could be one of the standard routes, or something completely bespoke.

Want drinks included? No problem. A specific type of cuisine that you love? Let's include it!

If you'd like to enquire about a private booking, please email hello@leedsfoodtours.com

What Customers Think About Leeds Food Tours

If you're looking for things to do in Leeds this weekend and considering a food tour, reading reviews is a good way to decide.

You can take a look at TripAdvisor reviews directly on their website, or read some of the Google Reviews below.

Review of leeds Food Tours: Ellen was really thoughtful on the plan of her tour, she took the time to explain all parts of Leeds to us and even living here we experienced even better food than we knew existed. She is a fantastic and engaging guide that has chosen amazing food spots

review of leeds food tours: We really enjoyed the Leeds Food tour. Nell was very friendly as well as an excellent host and guide. We enjoyed all of the food and will be booking again as well as buying vouchers for others as gifts.

review of leeds food tours: Loved it! I bought this as a gift for my sister and her husband but we joined too and all four of us had a great time. Such a great variety of restaurants and experiences, all were thoughtfully selected and Ellen was wonderful taking us around each place at a relaxed pace. It’s a great day out for people visiting leeds or even locals like us!

review of leeds food tours: I went on a guided tour today and it's been really great. Lots of fun. Ellen, the host, was really great. She is enthusiastic, friendly, and very knowledgeable about Leeds. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys dining out and meeting new people, whether you're visiting Yorkshire, or you're local and want to try some more new places you've not seen before.

Review of Leeds Food Tours: We had a brilliant food tour with Ellen yesterday which completed a university reunion visit. Communication with Ellen was quick, efficient and friendly from the outset. We met her at the Queen's Hotel at 3.30 on a Monday. As many venues are shut on Mondays Ellen tailored the tour to reflect this. All along the route she told us about the history , although there was just the right amount . She also told us about the venues history, how they use local ingredients and general histories of Yorkshire specialities. Our tour will vary from others, so I will just say that we did feel full by the end of the tour although we did walk in between stops. We went to 6 different places which each had a different "cuisine"/ speciality. There was a chance to buy drinks at some venues. It was lovely chatting to Ellen between stops and she had obviously done a lot of research, whilst keeping the tone light and entertaining. We were quite a merry band of food tourists. I think that even if you know Leeds you would find some new places to go with Ellen. We recommend this as a great way to spend an evening/ afternoon/ celebrate a special occasion like us. It's good for all ages and we know that Ellen can accommodate food allergies/ intolerances, vegetarians/ vegans etc. We give it 5 stars. Thanks to Ellen for an afternoon/ evening we will treasure for a long time. A fantastic tour!

Finally... The Leeds Food Tours E-Book

Do you like finding out all the best places to eat in Leeds?

The Leeds Food Tours e-book is packed full of recommendations in the form of a directory of independent restaurants in Leeds city centre - with my personal favourites marked out for you.

The e-book also includes recipes from some of the best restaurants in Leeds including Stuzzi, Whitelocks, The Tetley and Banh & Mee.

You can purchase it here for £15, or get a free copy emailed to you by joining the email list below.

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