After discovering Feet On The Street Tours last year, I couldn’t wait to reunite with resident Detroit expert, Linda Yellin, and her crew for more adventures around the Motor City. So, when Cyber Monday deals for Feet On The Street Tours showed up in my email inbox last holiday season, I may have forwarded the details to Brad as a little hint. ;-)


We began our morning at Rocky Peanut Company, a large candy and nut store that I'd somehow never stepped inside of. This old-fashioned place was so cute and had tons of sweets and Michigan-made snacks to choose from! Upon check-in, we were given some free samples and enjoyed a few minutes of browsing the store while waiting for the tour to begin. After a brief introduction from our guides and an overview of the store's history, we were split into two groups and led to one of two locations: Shed 2 or Gabriel Import Co (both groups would later meet up and swap places).
Located just steps from Gabriel Import Co., DeVries & Company is a large specialty food store that's served Detroiters since 1887. This place was another mind-blowing surprise for me (how have all these huge markets been hiding in [my] plain sight?). Inside, we found a meat market, cheese, Michigan-made products, and a lovely, little cheese and vinegar pairing station. We passed around dishes like cheesy potatoes, cheese with raspberries and balsamic, and a lovely balsamic-walnut-blue-cheese combination (I don't even like blue cheese and this was phenomenal)! The imported Italian vinegars came in a variety of flavors—Green Apple, Blueberry, Chocolate, Pecan Praline, and Cherry Bordeaux to name a few—and after trying several, I started to wonder how I'd ever lived without at least a few of these in my pantry at all times.

I was totally expecting the tour to conclude after Supino, but surprise: we were only about halfway done! Our next stop was across the highway bridge at Gratiot Central Meat Market (I always thought this was an extension of the Eastern Market, but it's actually a separate entity). Inside, once I got over the shock of another huge building (the biggest place we'd visited yet!), I joined our group at Ronnie's Meats (butcher shop and food market). There, we listened to Ronnie's/Gratiot Central Market owner Tom Bedway tell the inspiring story of his dad, Ronnie, and how Ronnie's Meats started and evolved. We even got to meet Ronnie himself, who is challenged with Parkinson's but is still sharp as a tack and sweet as can be. Unfortunately, we were short on time and had to decline the free beverages Ronnie offered us, but I hope to be back soon to take him up on his generosity!

Our tour dismissed a little after 12:00 noon, about 2.5 hours after we'd officially started. Throughout the morning, our guides were respectfully aware of our time, and although we ran a little over, they gave us little heads-up reminders along the way in case we needed to cut out early. Since we didn't have immediate plans for the afternoon, Brad and I were fine with the slight time extension and even stayed a little longer to do some shopping and take a few mural photos. Overall, we found the amount of time spent on our tour to be a great value. After all, it was an entire morning's worth of entertainment, knowledge, and a full sit-down meal (on top of lots of snacking)!

Feet On The Street Tours: Details

- Cost: $29 per person
- Strolling Brunch Tour Length: Appx. 2.5 hours
-"Come Hungry, Leave Happy" is just one of many tours available from Feet On The Street Tours. Other options include mural tours, Detroit Riverfront Tours, and countless customizable Detroit experiences! Click here for more info.

Have you taken or are you interested in taking a Detroit tour? What would you want to learn more about?