Having never been on a walking food tour, I was excited to attend the Downtown Southern food walk hosted by Atlanta Foods Walks. This culinary tour of downtown Atlanta is just as much about the history of Atlanta and the evolution of its food scene as it is about sampling cuisine.

We received a program detailing all seven of the stops on our three and a half hour and two mile walking tour. Included in the program is a listing for each stop, its address and social media handles, a map, and coupons to entice us to return. This tour, which can accommodate special dietary needs, featured full sit down tastings, lite bites, drinks, and dessert. Our tour guide for the day was Alika McConnell, owner of Atlanta Foods Walks, and a travel food writer by trade.

We learned the story of Southern food and how it blends Native American, West African, and British/French cuisines together and is impacted by the history of the South from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement. I learned that Martin Luther King Jr. was originally named Michael and was a foodie himself. We walked through parts of downtown Atlanta I had never seen and admired the street art and historic buildings, like The Peacock where Aretha Franklin and other great African American musicians played back in the day.

Everything I ate was gluten free and dairy free and delicious. The food sampled at The Smoke Ring was my favorite and I will be going back soon. During the tour I dined on:

• Blacked eyed peas, green beans and chicken at Paschal’s
• Pulled pork, pork belly, greens, and Brussels sprouts at The Smoke Ring. We were also treated to flavored moonshine!
• Arden’s Garden let us sample their cheesy kale chips and veggie and fruit juices
• Handcrafted teas were sampled at Just Add Honey
• Shrimp and grits (my shrimp was over a vegetable medley) were brought out at Sweet Auburn Seafood
• Metro Deli in Sweet Auburn Market served up red beans and sweet potatoes
• Pralines from Miss D’s Pralines shop in Sweet Auburn Market were the last bite of the day

I liked the pacing of the tour, which broke down all of the walking into manageable segments. The flow of sampling from sit down to lite bites allowed enough time for digestion between stops. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would highly recommend taking this tour, so here is incentive in the form of a 10% discount. Enter or mention the code FOODIEFUN when purchasing tickets online or over the phone, either for regular tickets or for gift certificates.

Learning about Atlanta never tasted so good!

Disclosure: The ticket for the Downtown Southern Food Tour was provided as a result of a media invitation. I received no compensation for this review. In no way did this influence my opinions and views, which are derived from my personal experience on the tour.