Will be in San Francisco in Oct.. anyone done the Wok Wiz Tour with Dim Sum Lunch in Chinatown, about $40 pp? Or, should chubby hubby and me , just walk and explore on our own?

Collette, just pulled up for you another thread - Alcatraz or Chinatown - it has a Wok Wiz review in it.

thanks Faina, will check it out. Wondered if anyone had first hand info.

i've done the wok wiz with out of town guests. I don't know that much about Chinatown so this is a fun was to do it. Be aware that when you stop for dim sum it will be real dim sum not like egg rolls and potstickers. Shirley and her staff are very knowledeable and great fun. You'll meet people from all over the country on this tour. There's another called "I can't believe I at me way around Chinatown." wwww.wokwiz.com

We did this tour and I recommend it. You can get so much more info. on this tour than you would get going on your own. We had a 12 & 15 yr. old with us too and they enjoyed it.

Walking around and exploring on your own is fine, but you'll learn a lot from Shirley, or whoever leads your tour, that you'd never know otherwise, delivered with much more charm and enthusiasm than even a self-guided walking tour from a guide book. The dim-sum lunch is magnificent!

If you don't want to spend $40, you can take a free walking tour of Chinatown through the SF Public Library walking tour program. I haven't been on the Chinatown walking tour, but I've done a number of other tours they offer and have enjoyed them all. Website: http://www.sfcityguides.org/.

The walks, as I said, are free. Howevever, they do pass a donation envelope at the end of the tour and it's encouraged to put in at least $5 per person -- hey, it's a fundraiser for the public library, so you can feel good about doing it too.

There are so many restaurants in Chinatown that you can get good dim sum almost anywhere. Personally, for these reasons, I'd recommend doing the free walking tour plus wandering on your own. (Probably the tour guide would have suggestions on restaurants.)

Shirley or her staff can provide insight into growing up in Chinatown, history and folklore and will take you to a temple, will take you to artists and food shops and will explain all about them as well as the Fortune Cookie factory in SF. You should never feel pressured to buy anything on one of her tours. Shirley is a treat who is addicted to krispy kreme doughnuts and all other fun things in life. She is a Berkeley grad with a perpetually upbeat attitude who runs a cooking school and has written several books. A real joy (and I have nothing but a personal aquaintance with this woman because I organized a tour for my husband's business several years ago.)Since then I have taken a lot of out of towners on her tours because even though I live nearby, I'm not 1/4 as knowledgeable. There's another similar tour of North Beach, but I don't know who does it--history of the Italian immigration, food etc. www.sfvisitors.org should give results. Enjoy.