A thoughtful friend of mine purchased two tickets for us to take the Cupcake & Macaron Tour in Beverly Hills through Best Tours. This friend knows that I love dessert and thought that this would be fun for us to do together. While we was not impressed by the tour I always have a good time with my friends. If you are considering taking the tour let me encourage you to use the tips in this post to plan your own dessert tour of Beverly Hills.
If you’re a dessert lover like me you are probably thinking that this tour sounds amazing. I had never done a tour like this so I had no idea how they worked. For some reason I thought it would be a self guided tour where you walk to various locations and after showing your tour ticket could chose from various cupcakes and macarons. The way the tours actually work is that a tour guide takes a group of people to each location. Outside of every location you get the backstory of that company. You do not get to choose the flavor or item at any of the stops. Even though the name of the tour implies that you will only get cupcakes and macarons there is only one cupcake and at no point do you get a macaron.
The tour is not as efficient as it could be. The guide should speak to the employees inside first and while waiting for the desserts should share the information about the company. Instead the guide shares more information than you could ever need before asking for the dessert. There is a lot of downtime while you wait for the samples. Since the second stop has a restroom this is your chance to go without holding the group up.
Sprinkles Cupcakes
We met our tour guide outside of Sprinkles which is my favorite cupcake store. Upon meeting our guide she let my friend know that there was time to use the restroom and encouraged purchasing water. It would have been great if she would have mentioned that our second stop had a restroom. Instead she recommended going to Rite Aid. Within minutes of my friend leaving she became very annoyed and put pressure on me to have my friend come back so that the tour could start. Upon my friends return she told him, in front of everyone, how we had to wait too long for him. Before she even began speaking about Sprinkles she then let us know that tip was not included with the tickets and that $5 per person is customary. It blew my mind that she was speaking about being tipped before it even began.
As the guide was telling us about Sprinkles she mentioned that we would get a red velvet cupcake. We ended up getting a mini version of one of my favorite cupcakes the black and white. With the price of the tour you should not only get to have a choice in flavor and/or item but you should receive a regular size cupcake.
Helpful tip: if you go to the Sprinkles in Beverly Hills stop by the visitors center first and request a coupon book. Use the Sprinkles coupon to get two full size cupcakes for the price of one. Will you be visiting near your birthday? Enroll in the perks program to receive a free cupcake. This store is not exclusive to Beverly Hills as there are several locations throughout Southern California. I do highly recommend getting a cupcake from here but not on this tour. Even if the Beverly Hills Sprinkles location is closed when you arrive you can get a cupcake from their atm machine. Plus, the colorful wall makes for a great photo op!
Amorino
Our second stop was at Amorino, a gelato shop. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoy gelato. However, it was not something that I expected on a cupcake & macaron tour. This is the location that has the public restroom. The picture makes the portion we were given look much bigger than it really was. This is a place you will need to visit on your own in order to get the best experience. Everyone was given a salted caramel flavor since you don’t get to pick which one you want. I saw pictures of beautiful roses they make with the gelato. Our guide let us know that if we wanted the flower gelato we would have to come back on our own.
Helpful tip: come here on your own so that you can have the gelato in the rose design. The rose creations can have up to three different flavors. With the presentation of the gelato it is sure to be something that your family and friends will be talking about for days. If you need to use the restroom stop in here for some samples too.
Sugarfina
Sugarfina was the third stop on our tour and by far the most disappointing. The store itself is very interesting to look around though I cannot imagine that I would ever buy anything from here. The prices here will remind you that you are shopping in the 90210 zip code. Our treat here was a tiny gummy heart a little bigger than an individual M&M candy. My friend realized it is a sample that anyone who walks in the store can get.
Helpful tip: be sure to stop by to take pictures around the store because it does have a few great photo op spots.
Edelweiss
Our fourth stop is my favorite of all of the stops on the tour. Edelweiss is an incredible chocolate shop that has been a favorite among celebrities for years. Have you heard of Lucille Ball from I Love Lucy? She was a customer here and got the idea for the chocolate scene with the conveyer belt from the back of the store. The chocolate here is truly unlike anything else I have ever tasted. Not only is the taste phenomenal but the prices are very reasonable.
Helpful tip: if you are in Beverly Hills this place is a must visit. If you come M-F politely ask if you can see the back of the store to watch the workers in action and see the conveyer belt where Lucy got her idea. They might say no but asking never hurts. I highly recommend trying a chocolate marshmallow. Unlike Sprinkles & Sugarfina this store is exclusive to Beverly Hills so it is really something special to show your family & friends.
Le Mervetty
The fifth stop on the tour is at a french pastry shop Le Mervetty. We got excited when we saw that they had macarons. However, our guide handed us a Chocolate Merveilleux. It is a mix of meringue and cream. Not something that I would recommend at all. The store was cute but did not have the quality or charm of Edelweiss. This stop is such a disappointment. The macarons are right in front of you but somehow are not part of the cupcake and macaron tour.
Helpful tip: Only come here if you think it sounds good to you. There are way better places to check out in the area.
teuscher
The final stop on the tour is at the teuscher chocolate shop. At this stop everyone gets a champagne truffle. The gummy treat and this truffle tie for the worst tasting treat. This is one of the treats that you will want to drink water with. The shop looked cute but I think that picking out a treat yourself is key. I wish I had a helpful hint for you for this location but there isn’t very much to say about it.
Would I recommend the tour? Not at all. I would get it a .5 out of 5 stars. I was shocked to learn that the regular price for the tour is $50. Most people get tickets from Groupon or other sites for $25 which I still think is expensive for the quality of the tour and the treats. The name of the tour is very misleading as well.
Have you ever done a food tour? What were your thoughts? Would you recommend it? I’d love for you to share your stories and experiences in the comment section below.
