Top pick
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans Food Tour & New Orleans Cooking Tour
Taste your way through Louisiana’s most iconic flavors with the perfect New Orleans Food Tour. Discover authentic gumbo, po-boys, beignets, Cajun favorites and hidden local gems while exploring the city’s legendary neighborhoods. Prefer getting hands-on? A New Orleans Cooking Tour brings Creole traditions to life. Compare top-rated experiences, find your perfect match and book an unforgettable taste of New Orleans today.
Where to start
The best New Orleans food tour depends on what you want to taste
New Orleans is a city best understood through its food. Creole and Cajun traditions, French and Spanish influences, West African roots and generations of Louisiana cooking have created a cuisine unlike anywhere else in America. A great food tour brings that history together through the dishes, neighborhoods and stories that shaped the city.
For a first experience, the French Quarter is the natural place to start. Walking food tours combine tastings of New Orleans staples with the streets, markets and historic landmarks of the city’s oldest neighborhood. Depending on the tour, you might encounter gumbo, po-boys, muffuletta, pralines or other local specialties while learning why these dishes became part of New Orleans culture.
But there is no single tour that suits every visitor. Some experiences put food and history at the center, while others pair local dishes with cocktails and drinks or venture beyond the French Quarter into neighborhoods with their own culinary character. Travelers who want to go beyond tasting can choose a New Orleans cooking class and learn the techniques behind classic Louisiana dishes themselves.
Compare
New Orleans food tours and cooking tours
We offer New Orleans food experiences for different tastes, plans and ways of exploring the city. Whether you want a classic introduction to New Orleans cuisine, a food-focused walk through the French Quarter, an evening of cocktails and local flavors, or a hands-on cooking experience, start with the style of experience you want — then choose the tour that delivers it.
Top pick
Top ratedNew Orleans: French Quarter Food History Walking Tour
Operated by Doctor Gumbo Tours
- Sample a wide range of Louisiana staples like Boudin, Po-boys and Gumbo
- Visit Creole restaurants, boutique candy shops and hole-in-the-wall joints
- Enjoy both of New Orleans' sandwiches: the Muffuletta and the Po-Boy
Top ratedNew Orleans: Cajun and Creole Cooking Class
Operated by New Orleans School of Cooking
- Learn how to make New Orleans cajun and creole dishes with a cooking class
- Sit back and watch the chef prepare authentic cajun and creole recipes
- Discover more about the rich culinary heritage and folklore of the region
Top rated
New Orleans: Garden District Food, Drinks & History Tour
Operated by Bon Moment LLC
- Fill your heart with local tastes, customs and traditions of New Orleans
- Explore the architecture and history of the Garden District on a guided walk
- Feast on a full meal of Cajun and Creole specialities at 3 stops
New Orleans: Magazine Street Foodie Tour
Operated by New Orleans Secrets tours
- Savor the flavors of New Orleans on a food tour of the Garden District
- Experience the city like a local and discover the best eateries on Magazine Street
- Enjoy a full meal with 7+ food items and a pint of local beer or soda
New Orleans: Culinary Bike Tour with Lots Of Food
Operated by A Street Tour Named Desire
- Enjoy some favorite dishes including boiled shrimp, crawfish pies, and gumbo.
- Hear about our 300 years of history and culture that shaped New Orleans' cuisine
- Cruise through our scenic and flat streets at the only seed we ride; languid.
More ways to taste New Orleans
- New Orleans Best of Bywater Food, Art & History Tour — from $98, ★ 5.0 (operated by Bon Moment LLC)
- New Orleans: Beyond the French Quarter Food Tour — from $189, ★ 5.0 (operated by New Orleans Secrets tours)
- New Orleans: The Best Beignets, Donuts & Sweet Treats Tour — from $70, ★ 4.6 (operated by Underground Donut Tour)
Why book through us
A Simpler Way to Book Your New Orleans Food Experience
Finding the right New Orleans food experience should be easy. We bring together carefully selected food tours, cooking classes and culinary experiences in one place, making it simple to compare your options, choose what fits your trip and book with confidence.
Handpicked Food Experiences
Tours Worth Your Time
Handpicked food experiences that showcase authentic New Orleans flavors, local stories and memorable culinary stops.
Highly Rated Experiences
Loved by Travelers
Highly rated food tours and culinary experiences chosen to help you discover the best of New Orleans.
Options for Every Budget
Find Your Perfect Match
Compare experiences for different tastes, budgets and occasions to find the New Orleans tour that suits you best.
Book with Flexibility
Plans Can Change
Choose from experiences with flexible booking options and free cancellation when available.
Four food stops. Five tastings. Twelve people.
The flagship French Quarter food tour keeps its group small enough to get inside the places that matter, and builds an hour into the French Market.
Plan your eating
Read before you book
Not sure which tour fits? Start with French Quarter food tours if this is your first visit — it is the densest neighbourhood and the shortest walk between stops. If you would rather cook than be fed, compare New Orleans cooking classes. For an evening that leans on cocktails as much as cooking, see food and drink tours.
And if you want to eat independently, our guide to the best food in the French Quarter runs through the nine dishes the city is built on, dish by dish.
French Quarter Food Tour
The classic first choice
Walk, taste New Orleans staples and discover the stories behind the French Quarter.
Explore Food ToursNew Orleans Cooking Class
Make the classics yourself
Learn Creole and Cajun cooking while getting hands-on with Louisiana’s culinary traditions.
Explore Cooking ClassesFood & Drink Tour
Taste New Orleans after dark
Pair local flavors with cocktails, neighborhood stories and the city’s legendary drinking culture.
Explore Food & DrinkBest Food in the French Quarter
Explore at your own pace
Discover the signature dishes worth trying and build your own French Quarter food itinerary.
See What to Eat
Traveller reviews
What visitors say about eating in New Orleans
See what travelers value most about New Orleans food experiences — from discovering the French Quarter and tasting local favorites to choosing the right tour, cooking class or culinary experience for their trip.
★★★★★
“Two days in the city and zero plan. This was the fix. A couple of hours in, I'd eaten better than I would have managed alone all weekend, and I left with a list of places to return to. We made it back to two.”
★★★★★
“Honestly expected a few samples and a walk. What I got was closer to a lesson — why the roux matters, how the market ended up where it is, which sandwich is which and why anyone cares. The food was very good. The context is what I've actually kept.”
★★★★★
“Four of us, and between the vegetarian, the one with a shellfish allergy and my brother who eats anything, I assumed someone would end up picking at bread. Nobody did. Each stop had a version that worked, handled quietly, without turning any of us into the table's special case. That mattered more than I expected it to.”
★★★★★
“Signed up for the cooking class on our last morning, mainly to kill time before a late flight. Ended up being the thing I talk about most. My roux caught twice. The chef didn't take the pan off me — she just stood there, told me to keep stirring and lower the heat, and let me fix it myself. Made it again at home last week.”
★★★★☆
“Food was excellent and our guide clearly loves this city — he had a story for every block, not just the stops. One thing to know: we did this in August, and the stretch between the last two places is longer than it sounds. My wife and I were flagging by the end. Go early in the day if you can. The gumbo alone justified the whole afternoon.”
★★★★★
“My husband's birthday, and I wanted something better than a restaurant booking. We ended the evening in a narrow bar off Bourbon Street where the bartender and our guide argued, very warmly, about who really invented the Sazerac. Neither of them settled it. I understood maybe half the history but all of the mood, and the food between stops was good rather than an afterthought. He has told that story to everyone.”
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Across the twenty-one experiences listed here, starting prices run from $39 for the Cajun and Creole cooking class to $189 for a progressive dinner beyond the French Quarter. Most French Quarter food walking tours start between $55 and $90 per person. All prices are the operator's own USD starting price as published on GetYourGuide.
In practice, nothing — visitors use both phrases for a guided walking tour with tastings, and search engines return the same results for each. A cooking class is genuinely different: you cook the food yourself and eat what you made. We keep those on a separate cooking classes page so the comparison is not misleading.
Yes. One tour on this site is fully vegan from start to finish. Two others — the French Quarter food history walking tour and the combined cocktail and food history tour — publish a vegetarian option that must be requested at checkout; both operators state there is no gluten-free, dairy-free or vegan alternative. The Cajun and Creole cooking class offers a single substitute meal for guests who are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan or allergic to seafood.
Every experience listed on this site can be cancelled up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, as published by the operator on GetYourGuide.
The French Quarter has the highest concentration of Creole restaurants and the shortest walking distances, which is why most visitors start there — see our French Quarter food tour comparison. The Garden District and Magazine Street trade density for a more residential pace, and the Bywater is the least touristed of the three. Tours for all of them are listed above.
Meeting points are set by each operator and are published on every tour. Common starting points among the tours listed here include Jackson Square, the corner of Washington Avenue and Coliseum Street in the Garden District, and named restaurants inside the French Quarter. The exact instructions appear on each tour's booking page.
Book the right New Orleans food tour
21 food experiences with flexible booking and free cancellation options.