The Cali Street Food Tour

Duration: 2h
Languages: English
Quality Verified Registered on October 11, 2022

Hi! My name is Juan Camilo. I am a local to Cali, Colombia. I enjoy foreigners and showing my city around. I speak 3 languages and I lived in Argentina for 5 years. Countries I've been to: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Peru, USA, Uruguay. As of hobbies I enjoy playing the guitar and ukulele. I love music and languages.

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  • No minimum number of attendees
    No minimum number of attendees is required for the tour
  • Free booking and cancellation
    Free payment tour, no set price, booking and cancellation are free
  • Accepts electronic payment
    This tour allows payment by electronic means or credit card

Tour description

Come and taste Cali! Discover typical authentic food found on the streets!


I will take you through a list of food spots that I've personally chosen for their authenticity, price, and taste of course.
We will cover a good range of food & snacks: from hots to colds, solids to beverages, sweet to salty, stores & street vendors, national and local, fried to baked, fruits to meats, and everything in between.

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Our route will be the following.

STOP 1: Bakery
Good colombian bread. Local option: pandebono (corn, yuca and cheese bread). There are also options with guava sweet or milk caramel, coconut, cheese, sausage, and even coffee.
People spend on average here between: 2.000 - 10.000 pesos

BONUS intermmediate stop (only during weekdays): fried chip plantains, potato chips, and salchipapa. People spend on average here between: 5.000 - 15.000 pesos

STOP 2: salty fried goods + juices
Empanada: fried corn crust, meat and potato inside. (celiac)
Papa aborrajada: loaf of potato with a crusting.
Papa rellena: potato with rice and meat inside.
Marranita: sweet plantain with fried pork inside.
Aborrajado: sweet plantain with cheese inside (veggie)
Champús: beverage with corn, pineapple, lulo, bitter orange leaves and cinnamon sticks.
Lulada: beverage with lulo, ice and condensed milk.
Juices of assorted fruits.
People spend on average here between: 5.000 - 25.000 pesos

BONUS intermmediate stop (only during weekdays): chontaduro, fruit & juice. People spend on average here between: 2.000 - 10.000 pesos.

STOP 3: ice with fruits (everything veggie and gluten free!)
Raspado: scraped ice with blackberry syrup
Cholado: same as above + assortment of 10 fruits + ice cream
Cholado explosión cítrica: scraped ice with green mango syrup + assortment of acid and citric fruits.
Lulada: beverage with lulo, ice and condensed milk.
Maracuyada: beverage with passion fruit, ice and condensed milk.
Ensalada de frutas: assortment of 10 fruits, cheese, condensed milk.
People spend on average here between: 5.000 - 15.000 pesos
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All tasting options are snacks, not big dishes. But don't be fooled, some are not small.

Vegans welcome. Vegetarians welcome. Gluten-free people are welcome. Meat-lovers welcome as well! There are options for everybody.


The tour starts and ends in Bulevar del Rio, the city's favorite spot for its breeze and ambience. We will be walking and stopping at several food businesses and street vendors. I will guide you on what everything is and what each spot does best, and you'll let your eyes and mouth decide what you want to try.

We will have 3 stops over a short distance of 1.3 kilometers (less than a mile). We will go around the Bulevar, CAM, Plazoleta Jairo Varela, la gruta, and back to the bulevar. We will not enter the city center as we will focus on the nicer, safer side of town.
Try to bring an empty stomach if you want to try everything or most. We say "full belly, happy heart".

Extra information:
I recommend to bring $100.000 pesos (20 USD), which is usually more than enough to taste everything you want + to tip your guide, but usually people spend less than that.

I think that's all you should now. Any questions just let me know.

Foodies of the world, unite!


Follow me on Instagram @CaliCulturalTours

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Highlights

What will we visit on this tour?

  • Meeting point:
    Cl 8 #1-3, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Col...
    Cl 8 #1-3, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
    View on map

    On Google maps, locate the Subway sandwich store in the Bulevar del Rio (by Calle 8 crossing). There are brown public benches by the middle of the bulevar. We will only meet outside, this is not a food stop for the tour.

  • 1
    Outside visit
    Bakery / Panadería

    Our first stop is a traditional bakery with sweet and salty options.

  • 2
    Outside visit
    Plazoleta Jairo Varela

    We will check out the salsa plaza (trumpets plaza) and have our 2nd stop with three different options: fruit juices, modern empanadas and fritanga: a typical amount of dishes with different ingredients, all fried.

  • 3
    Outside visit
    Avianca square

    Here we will try chontaduro, a typical regional fruit said to be aphrodisiac, plus it has a lot of protein so it's great for vegans and vegetarians.

  • 4
    Outside visit
    Parque Simón Bolívar

    For our 3rd stop we will try the traditional 'cholado' and other preparations with ice + fruits.

  • 5
    Outside visit
    Puente Ortíz

    For our final food stop, Cholado! Some locals say, if you didn't have one you didn't come to Cali! It's ice with a lot of fruit! Plus some various options, all ice and fruit in different preparations. Great for a hot Cali afternoon!

  • 6
    Outside visit
    Churchill the Ermita

    Not a food stop, but we will visit the most famous church in town.

  • 7
    Outside visit
    River Boulevard

    We will finish our tour walking down one of my favorite places in town, where you can enjoy the afternoon breeze along the river.

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).

Tour opinions

81 ratings
5.0
By category
Professionalism
4.94
Fun
4.85
Expression
4.91
Quality
4.91
Route
4.84
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5 stars
79
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Vlad 29 Aug 2023
Tel Aviv-Yafo

Verified booking
Travelled in couple - Aug 2023
This tour was amazing! It was a really good mix between historical facts, great sites in the city and mostly really good street food that I would never try by myself. The guide was awesome with a fluent English and he even stayed extra time with us! We had the best walking tour thus far on this ‘Guru’ app. Thank you!
Pavel 22 Aug 2023
Saint Petersburg

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Aug 2023
Amazing tour that will leave you with tons of good memories, information and bellies full of good food :)
Julia 06 Aug 2023
London

Verified booking
Travelled in group - Aug 2023
We really enjoyed our tours. We had a coffee tour (that we asked to be a bit more “historical”) and street food tours, and both were absolutely amazing, engaging and informative!!!
Simon 30 Jul 2023
London

Verified booking
Travelled in couple - Jul 2023
We had a great food tour with Juan, he was very insightful and attentive as well as keeping the tour fun. We explored food from Cali which we would of never found ourselves. The tour also covered some history of Cali which was very interesting. I would 100% recommend to anyone in Cali to jump on this tour!
Veronica 21 Jul 2023
Toronto

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Jul 2023
Great tour! Would recommend taking a tour with Juan Camilo. Yummy food and very knowledgeable.
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Who is this tour for?

Accessibility
Suitable for people with reduced mobility.
Groups
Accepts reservations up to 25 people.
Pets
Suitable for carrying pets.

What should you know?

Minimum of attendees
There is no minimum number of people required for the tour.
Additional costs:
The tour requires the payment of entrance fees or additional expenses.
Free cancellation
If you will not be able to attend the tour, please cancel your booking, otherwise the guide will be waiting for you.
Payment methods
Electronic or credit card payment is accepted.
When do you want to go?
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