I'll have the Food Tour with a side of Mystery

I am sure everyone has heard of a food tour and has probably been on one at least once in their lives. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've been on many. Think 20+.  Some here in the US, while others in foreign countries that I've traveled to throughout the years. If you aren't familiar with the concept, they are usually tours offered based on a common food genre, concept, style or theme. Sometimes they include drinks and other times the food is the entire focus.

One company in Long Island has taken the idea of a food tour even further by combining it with a mystery to solve. Food Done It? is based in Patchogue and offers you the opportunity to solve a crime, while tasting sweet and savory food along the way. They provide you with a starting location and then you have to solve puzzles and riddles to reveal your next stops - all while gathering clues on who the culprit could be. These tours are self-guided via an app on your phone. They offer the opportunity to purchase drinks at some of the locations, and are tons of fun. We've done three of them. 

It was my mom who first read about the company in an article in Newsday and surprised me with a gift certificate for my birthday. She knew immediately it would be the perfect tour for Craig and I to do. Back in February 2018, the only Food Tours they offered were in Patchogue, so we signed up for that one along with our friends Matt, Alanna and Andrew.

The following year they expanded locations and opened up a tour in Rockville Centre. Rockville Centre is one of my favorite towns, so in November 2019 my mom and Craig got a group together and booked the experience as a surprise for another one of my birthdays. It was called "The Tour You Can't Refuse" and they were right, we absolutely could not refuse to sign up. We had a slightly bigger group for this occasion - our friends Matt, Alanna, and Andrew joined again, as well as our friends Jenna, Josh and Ben. I am pretty sure I ended this one a little more tipsy then I had for the other two tours. No shame in that!

Sadly the Covid pandemic hit shortly after that and Food Done It was put on pause. When things finally started opening up again, my brother and sister-in-law got me a gift certificate for a new tour. At that time, in November 2021, they had limited locations and tours available, so we ended up back in Patchogue. It was a different tour with a new crime and new restaurants, so we were not disappointed in the least to circle back there. Craig and I decided to do this one alone as a "date day", which was fun and forced us to do a lot more of the puzzles and riddles ourselves since we had no friends to rely on. 

For what it's worth, solving the crime is not really challenging -  but it makes for a fun addition and backdrop for the food tour. The mystery just adds a layer of intrigue and excitement to what would otherwise still be a very very tasty adventure. Plus, they give you really fun mustache glasses which I thoroughly enjoying forcing everyone to wear and take photos with.

While I was browsing the company website for this blog, I did notice that they have started tours in Huntington and Bay Shore again. In each town you end up stopping at about 5 locations, where select food is included (you can see the general menus for each tour on the website). The tours vary slightly in prices, but range from $73-79 per person depending on location - once you add in taxes and fees, they are closer to $90 though. I already have a text in to our friends to pick a date for the Huntington tour!

SPOILERS AHEAD!! 

If you don't want to know the stops and exact food that is offered, I would highly suggest that you stop reading this entry right now. I don't want to ruin the mystery - unless of course, you want it to be ruined.

February 2018 - Patchogue Food Done It

This was our first experience with Food Done It, so we didn't know what to expect. There was definitely a point near the middle of the tour where we started to get worried there wouldn't be enough food to eat and that we should start paying for additional items off the menus. However, we held out and it was the right call. The last two stops on this tour had a plethora of food and we could barely finish eating what was served to us. It was absolutely delicious though, so we managed to find room. 

I started off the tour ordering drinks at each restaurant, but at the second to last stop I got an email asking me to work later that day. That put a quick end to my drinking, but it did not in any way ruin the experience - the tour was just as great with a Diet Coke as it was with a margarita. If you are not a drinker, don't be discouraged from doing the tour at all. 

Below are the stops we hit and the food we tried - some of them might be out of order, but it was 5 years ago so cut me a little slack here!

• Del Fuego: Shared plate of Nachos. Excellent start to the tour.
  
• The Amazing Olive:  This stop did not include food, but you could try the different flavors of olive oil they sold. A bunch of us ended up buying some bottles to take home.
• Indigo Restaurant: Fried shrimp. This restaurant was not prepared for us to arrive and the portion provided was very small. It has since permanently closed.
• Berry Yogurt Cafe (?):  We think this is where we got our first dessert (a cup of ice cream), but we are a little fuzzy on the details. They have also since closed. 
• Bobbique:  Huge platter of all different types of BBQ food for us to share. They gave us a variety of meats and they were filling portions. Craig got to try cucumber beer here for the first time! It has quickly become a favorite amongst our friends.
  
• Flo's Luncheonette:  This was my favorite stop, but sadly this restaurant has also closed since we took the tour. They provided a plate of Poutine Fries, which were topped with pickled red cabbage, brisket, queso fresco and cilantro. They also gave each of us a crazy milkshake topped with cotton candy and sprinkles.

I definitely took photos during this tour, because Andrew's contact photo in my phone is from this event. However, I can't seem to find them anywhere so enjoy this tiny little circle shot from my address book, because "Photo or It Didn't Happen" 

 

November 2019 - Rockville Centre Food Done It

I've always loved going out in Rockville Centre, so I was extremely excited for this location. Jenna and Josh joined this time and they definitely came as much for the mystery as they did for the food. In fact, I think they did most of the puzzles while the rest of us drank. My friend Ben, on the other hand, definitely came for the food and drinks and, obviously, my great company. 

I remember less about this one than the other tours, but that's to be expected given the previous comments about the drinks. With the help of my friends, some photos and saved emails, I was able to piece together the below details of the day:

• The Bowery Bar & Fare: Rice Balls and Sausage & Pepper Sliders. This restaurant was carnival themed, which added to the fun. We were also the only people in there, so we didn't bother anyone as we hung out and ordered extra drinks. Unfortunately, this restaurant is also permanently closed. 
• Nick's Pizza: Pizza and Salad.
  
• Tazzetto: Gelato. This cafe has since closed its doors as well.
  
• Modern Terrarium Bar: This was the added stop that didn't include food. It was a very unique place (a plant store), but it didn't exactly fit the tour so well to be honest.
  
• Press 195: Italian Paninis and Belgium Fries. We've been to Press 195 many times before (mainly the Bayside location), so this was not a new experience for me. That being said, it never disappoints. During the tour we got half of a panini each (chosen from a small list), plus we shared their famous fries.
  
• Sugarberry: Cannolis, Rainbow Cookies and Tiramisu, plus coffee or tea. This was a nice ending to the tour and gave everyone the opportunity to just relax and hangout and have a small bite or two of dessert.
  

 

November 2021 - Patchogue Food Done it

We were circling back to Patchogue and we weren't sure how similar this tour would be to the one we did in 2018, so Craig and I decided we would sign up for this one alone. To our delight, this tour had both a different mystery and new restaurants for us to experience. We also had to rely on each other to get through the puzzles and riddles and solve the crime, but that just made it all the more interesting. We added in some drinks along the way and had a great time - an excellent date day for sure.

• Whiskey Neat: Beef Croquette and Mahi Taco. They also had all day happy hour, so we stayed for an extra round of drinks (Hard Ciders for me and Old Fashioned(s) for Craig)
  
• Paper Doll Curiosity Shop: This was the non-food stop and was a cute novelty store, which we enjoyed browsing
  
• Duchess Cookies: These are not your average cookie and definitely had some weight and intensity to them. We each a cookie so we picked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Brownie Fudge to share
  
• The Hero Joint: House-made potato chips, with seasonings of our choice
  
• The Cuban: Cuban sandwich, which I don't usually love but really enjoyed this one
  
• Local Burger Co: Cheeseburger, obviously!
  
• Cloud Nine Ice Cream & Cereal Bar: We didn't actually get our ice cream while we were on the tour because their store was not open when we arrived. Unfortunately this was not communicated to Food Done It or to us, so it was a little disappointing to show up and see it closed. We definitely ended the tour on a slightly disappointing note because of this. However, they did give us vouchers to return for our free Ice Cream in the future - which we took them up on a few days later after Craig realized he left his sunglasses at Local Burger. We were also able to scan what we needed (through the window) in order to finish the mystery and solve the crime. One quick thing to note - Google says they have permanently closed, while Instagram says they are closed for the Winter.