Naperville Bites and Sites

I was a suburbanite long before I became the savvy city girl that I am today.  In the time of curfews and strict parental rules, downtown Naperville was the next best thing to hanging out in the city.  Yes, I understand, a distant second place!  

So, when I saw the Groupon for this tour, I had to seize the opportunity to reacquaint myself with a big part of my childhood.  First of all, Naperville has come a very long way from what I remember it to be like.  It's now a bustling suburban downtown with a wide variety of eateries both chain and local, shopping and service oriented establishments. It automatically made me very excited about what I was going to learn that day.

This tour has a great balance between history and food.  Mike, the tour guide is passionate about what he does and it's clear from his historical accounts about downtown Naperville.  The tour stars out at the old Kroehler Furniture factory which has long since been re-purposed as condos and retail space.  From here begins the leisurely two mile walk (comfortable shoes are a must for this tour) into the historic district of Naperville to feast on the beautiful architecture that has allowed it to acquired its historic status.

Food stops on our Sunday tour included:
1. Orazio's Pub, which started doing toasted subs long before Quizno's came around and a hearty bowl of peasant style potato soup.

2.  Quigley's Irish Pub, which is the actual pub from Dublin, Ireland! They dismantled it and brought it all the way here.  I fell in love with this place and can't wait to go back for the Reuben egg rolls.  They were AMAZING!!!

3.  LeChocolat du Bouchard, where we actually met Cathy Bouchard who gave a very interesting mini lecture on the history and health benefits of the super-food Cacao.  I loved it so much that I can't wait to attend a full seminar at her chocolaterie.  What stood out as much as her passionate lecture was the Mexican Hot Chocolate.  OH. MY. GOD.  It left me swooooooooooning!!!!!!!!!!!  That's reason enough to go back there.  It was a warm day when we took the tour and I still gulped down every last drop of my drink!

4.  Twisted Olive (even though this was only supposed to be a Saturday stop), where we sampled flavored olive oils I didn't even know existed.  We were pressed for time here, but I would love to go back and purchase the habenero and cilantro olive oils.  I really feel like they might take some basic recipes up a few notches!

5.  Cookie Dough Creations, to sample actual cookie dough ice cream and cake batter.  This was good, but a little too rich for my tastes.  I actually couldn't finish my tasting portions of the two items.

6.  Giordano's for a slice of heavenly stuffed cheese pizza.  From here, the tour ended and you could continue exploring on your own or do anything else you pleased.

The only negative comment I have about it is in the day and age of dietary restrictions, vegetarians and vegans, Mike should have really inquired if my friend and I had any restrictions he should be aware of because we were attending a food tour after all!  So, I was sad to not sample the subs or soup at Orazio's  because they were pork based, which I do not eat.  From what I could tell, everyone else really enjoyed both items because they were gone in a flash.

It was a great tour and I would recommend it to anyone who is in the area.  Even if you're not, it's worth the drive to Naperville to participate in it.

I was visiting Naperville this past weekend and my husband signed us up for this tour.  I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the history of Naperville and find some neat places to eat.  This is a great tour whether you've lived in Naperville or you're the new kid in town.  

Mike, our tour guide, led us through our expedition and would express tidbits of history along the way (he's very passionate about this!).  We had a very personalized tour and enjoyed each of the six locations we stopped at on our list of destinations.  We went back to two of them after the tour was over and even checked out another (Adagio teas) the following day.  Our only suggestion would be to select a more 'Ma & Pa' type Italian restaurant for the end of the tour.  

This turned into a fun and relaxing afternoon.  Please make sure you wear comfortable walking shoes and come with an empty stomach.  Cheers!