“I love barbecue,” says Cristina McCarter. “That’s so Memphis to say, but it’s true.”
McCarter (full disclosure: she’s a sales assistant at the Flyer) says she’s a foodie and a connoisseur of good food. And she’s taking that appetite to the streets with City Tasting Tours, starting this Saturday.
Each tour stops by five downtown restaurants, where participants will split one of the establishment’s signature dishes. That may mean barbecue nachos at Central BBQ (a McCarter favorite) or the peach cobbler at Ray’z or the Soul Burger at Earnestine & Hazel’s. Along the way, McCarter shares points of interest.
Tours are Saturday, 1:30 p.m., and start on South Main, go north, and end up on Beale Street. They take about 2 1/2 hours. The cost is $55.
City Tasting Tours is an offshoot of a tour that McCarter worked for back in 2010. “It was something to do every weekend,” McCarter says. “I got paid to eat.” Last fall, McCarter was contacted by the tour owner who suggested she take it and make it her own.
So far, she has 12 downtown restaurants signed up. She hopes to eventually expand to Midtown and Cooper-Young.
Participants should come hungry. “You’ll definitely get full from this,” McCarter says.
