2026 Viva Guadalajara Exploring Culinary Frontier In Mexico

Me and my husband went on this group tour on a pretty quiet Thursday afternoon, so it just ended up being us two and our guide Luis. The tour was paced perfectly in terms of food stop -walking-food stop. Our tour guide Luis was friendly, funny, engaging, and you could tell how proud he is to show off his city. I'd recommend this tour to anyone visiting Gudalajara that wants to get right down to having the best the city has to offer.

We just had the best time with Eliza. We loved every second of this tour. She had a wealth of knowledge about all things Guadalajara as a long time resident of the city. From amazing local coffee to local bites at a fonda, local chocolates, Jalisco grown fruits to Tortas Ahogadas & birría we covered so so much. We have taken a few Culinary Backstreets tours before (Oaxaca, Mexico & Porto, Portugal) and have very much loved the experiences and this was no different.

Eliza was a fun and personable guide! Lots of information and guided us through many yummy bites at places I wouldn’t have otherwise found. A nice slice of local history as well! A must do imo.

Our Culinary Backstreets tour in Guadalajara was one of the highlights of our trip. It was so much more than a food tour — it was a wonderful introduction to the people, neighborhoods, history, traditions and flavors that make Guadalajara such a fascinating city. What I love about Culinary Backstreets is that they take you beyond the obvious places and introduce you to the small restaurants, markets, cooks and family businesses that really tell the story of a city. Every stop seemed to have a story behind it, and the food became a way of understanding Guadalajara and the culture of Jalisco. And a huge part of what made this experience so special was our guide, Eliza. She was absolutely incredible. She brought such warmth, enthusiasm and curiosity to the day and had an amazing ability to make every stop feel personal. She was incredibly knowledgeable about Guadalajara — not just its food, but its history, neighborhoods, people and traditions — and she shared that knowledge in a way that was engaging, relaxed and fun. You could tell she genuinely loves the city and loves introducing people to it. The food, of course, was fantastic, but what stayed with us were the stories behind it — learning about the families who created these places, the traditions behind what we were eating, and how recipes and food customs have been passed from one generation to the next. Once again, Culinary Backstreets delivered exactly the kind of experience we love when we travel: authentic, personal, delicious and filled with a real sense of place. And Eliza was the perfect person to introduce us to Guadalajara. If you really want to understand this wonderful city — and eat incredibly well along the way — I can't recommend this tour, or Eliza, highly enough.

We had such a wonderful experience! Every stop we went to was the perfect way to experience the city. Eliza was incredible. She had real relationships with all of the proprietors and it made us feel like we were being welcomed into the community. The balance of history, culture and food made the tour an ideal way to spend a day in Guadalajara.

Luis was a perfect guide, knowledgable and very well informed on both the culinary traditions in GDL and the city itself. He was very personable and easily adapted to some of my specific preferences and interests within the context of the overall tour. It was a great day and experience overall and I would highly recommend this tour with Luis. Thank you Luis

Luis, our guide was excellent. Instead of taking us to the "popular tourist" spots, we ate at the well established places the locals and the police get their ahogadas, gorditas, birria...in short the REAL backstreet eating experience. And along the way we got a great historical and cultural understanding of Guadalajara as well. Plus I always felt safe especially in the stop at a cantina

We did the Culinary Backstreets tour in Guadalajara last week and it was one of the best things we did on our trip to Mexico. Through a stroke of luck we ended up with pretty much a private tour for the two of us, spending 5-6 hours walking around the city with Eliza. Eliza's knowledge of Guadalajara's history was fantastic — she has a deep, long-standing connection to the city and brought so much insight into how the different waves of people who've settled here over time have shaped the food. It gave real context to everything we ate, rather than just having dishes at random. The birria tacos and gorditas were particular highlights — genuinely some of the best Mexican food I've had, and dishes I'd never tried before. I'm already planning on trying to recreate them back home in the UK. The tour is well suited to both meat eaters and vegetarians. If you want an authentic, well-paced day that goes far beyond a typical food tour, this comes highly recommended. Eliza is a brilliant guide and we felt genuinely lucky to have her attention for pretty much the whole tour. Tour ends at an authentic Tequila bar after which Eliza sent us on our way to Mexican wrestling nearby!

We had the most fantastic time with Eliza learning with all about Guadalajara! We arrived a few minutes early but Eliza was already there waiting for us to start the day, though we did have to wait for the other guests who delayed us a bit. We experienced some of the most authentic, delicious food while walking through a culturally significant part of the city. Throughout the whole tour, Eliza brought her insights and knowledge as a long-time resident of Guadalajara that gave us such an inclusive view of the history and culture behind each place we visited. I learned so much that day and had such a wonderful time getting a new appreciation of the city from such a passionate and knowledgeable person. Eliza was also more than prepared for any need or question we had! If you want a fun, authentic, educational experience, I highly recommend this tour!

Our tour with Eliza in Guadalajara for Culinary Backstreets was wonderful in every way. Eliza knows an amazing amount about Guadalajara, and Mexico generally, a pleasure to hear so much fascinating and detailed information about the history and evolution of streets we were walking on and buildings we passed or entered on our tour. This was a food tour, as well. We experienced a broad variety of flavorful foods, with origins and histories that were often surprising, creating an extremely rich day of culinary enjoyment. This is a tour for everyone old enough to sample and enjoy learning about a new city and new types of food, from teenagers to retirees like me.

As a traveler one yearns to understand the soul of a place avoiding tourist spots to unlock a city's essence. Taking a tour led by Eliza we walked away w/ a deep appreciation of the people and place that is GDL thru the wonderful food we sampled on our tour. Hands down best food tour we have taken in our 30+ yrs of travel. Eliza starts with a history lesson that lays the groundwork for understanding the people from everywhere that choose to make GDL their home. Highlights of family owned local gems include coffee, artisanal chocolate, gorditas, and birria tacos. You will nit leave hungry. The people and places we saw will stay with us for a long long time. Eliza, many thanks for sharing with us the edginess qnd beauty that is GDL, we will be back!

Eliza took us on a lively, tasty, enjoyable, and informative food tour of Guadalajara. There were two couples and we got a lot of attention. She has wonderful energy, and she’s very good at tailoring the tour to the interests of the visitors. Highly recommended!

Would thoroughly recommend this tour. Had an amazing time and Eliza was lots of fun we well as a great guide to the food and sights of guadalajara