Saturday tours to highlight foodie options in MainStrasse Village


Riverside Food Tours will take guests on an edible, drinkable and historical trek through MainStrasse Village in Covington starting April 2. Mike and Laura Noyes came up with the idea after taking a trip in September to Newport, R.I., where they decided a food tour was the best way to see a new city while also sampling local cuisine.
 
“We tried a variety of foods and liked the experience of trying several restaurants in little spurts,” Laura says. “We found out the owner attended a course in Chicago to learn the food tour business, so three weeks later off to Chicago we went.”
 
Riverside Food Tours will be held every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., combining eating, sightseeing, a guided tour and a 1.25-mile walk in one. Six restaurants featured along the route will be ready when the tour arrives, and guests will get to sample a signature or new menu item.
 
The restaurants were chosen based on three criteria: They had to be nonsmoking, the food had to be exceptional and the owners had to be interested in supporting a new venture and showcasing their story.
 
“Restaurant patrons are interested in the backstory and want to know the behind-the-scenes parts of running a successful eatery,” Laura says. “So besides hearing interesting stories about the history of MainStrasse, a lot of the tour will be sharing the stories of the restaurants themselves.”
 
Stops along the tour will include Bean Haus Bakery and Cafe, Cock & Bull Public House, Goodfellas Pizzeria, Lisse Steakhaus, Main Bite and Piper’s Cafe. Tickets are $59, and include all food tastings, plus two beverages; they're available online here.
 
“We really hope Riverside Food Tours brings recognition of what MainStrasse has to offer,” Laura says. “It’s always been pretty with the wide Park Avenue feel of Sixth Street and the beautiful architecture from buildings built in the late 1890s, and it’s hard to find a neighborhood that isn’t cluttered with fast food chains. MainStrasse is very much like a time capsule.”
 
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Caitlin Koenig is a Cincinnati transplant and 2012 grad of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. She's the department editor for Soapbox Media and currently lives in Northside with her husband, Andrew, and their three furry children. Follow Caitlin on Twitter at @caite_13.