Referred to as “the Home of American golf, the Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen area is known for its luscious golf courses, relaxing vacation atmosphere and plenty of things for locals and visitors alike. Now, there is a tour specifically designed to introduce guests to the tastes of some of the area's best restaurants.
Foodie Tours, a guided exploration of the area’s restaurant scene is here to help you discover the drinks, tastes, foods and restaurant staples that help make Moore County more unique.
Launched in 2022, Foodie Tours Owner Victoria “Tori” Hypes has partnered with more than 20 restaurants across Southern Pines, Aberdeen and Pinehurst to provide both Walking and Trolley Tours to best showcase the area’s culinary scene to a new audience.
“I thought it would be a really heavy market with the vacationers that can play golf or you know, spouses of people that play golf and what I found starting the business is that, it’s 90 percent of locals that come on my tours, which is really incredible and even better for our local restaurants,” shared Hypes. “To tell them ‘Hey, these are locals that are coming and they've never eaten at your restaurant before and now they're getting a chance to try it, and come back one day because they love it so much.’”
With themed tours available including a “Pizza trolley”, “Feed your Soul” and “Taste of the Holidays” tour, there is bound to be something for everyone to try.
Guests pay a flat rate per person that includes all the food and drinks predetermined by the tour and advertised to fill a normal dinner appetite. Tours consist of 5-6 stops varying from different restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops, depending on the type of tour.
“We have partnerships with different restaurants that we'll go to, and we'll let them know that we're coming beforehand. Or sometimes, we have to switch it up and just pop in on places. You know, it's a small town so sometimes we'll walk up to a door and it says ‘We're closed’ and I'm like, ‘Okay, we're pivoting’. So, definitely a lot of thinking on your feet sometimes going with the flow,” said Hypes. “ With the Trolley Tours, each individual one is planned just because they're different themes. So, I will reach out to restaurants that I think would be appropriate for that tour and would like to participate. Back in July, we did Peach Week. So, I reached out to all the restaurants participating in Peach Week with the Visitors Bureau and basically, took the ones that got back to me. We had quite a few amazing ones that participated which was really fun.”
Tours are available on a first come, first serve basis with minimums for the amount of people per group. Currently Tours are not able to accommodate food allergies, but Hypes says that is something she would like to be able to cater to in the future.
You can learn more about Foodie tours online here.
Editor’s note: A longer feature version of this story will be available in our Moore County focused issue which debuts on Sept. 8.
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