Take A Walk On The Oceanside With Carla And Linda's Walking Food Tour

OCEANSIDE, CA — Welcome to our Foodie Friday Feature! This week we're taking a walk around Oceanside with Carla and Linda's Walking Food Tours.

We met up with Carla Werts and Linda Pina at Banana Dang to find out more about their tours and how they got started.

Let's start at the beginning, tell us about Carla and Linda’s Walking Food Tours.

We started six years ago in February while Linda was working as a notary. In fact, the weekend after Valentine's day is our anniversary. We were going to celebrate a big five-year extravaganza last year but the pandemic happened. Instead this year we're going to hit That Boy Good, Harney Sushi, Ty's Burger House and the Flying Pig. So we're very excited about that.

How did you go from being a notary to starting your own food tour business?

When we first moved here we'd get excited if a Chili's would open and stuff like that. We were just glad to have more places to eat. But we had to drive to San Diego for more craft foods. So when we started to see craft food in Oceanside, I got so excited and I would tell people you've got to try this place or that place and I made lists for them because we gotta support these places so they stay in business because we want more of that kind of thing.

Whenever a new restaurant opened we'd check it out. Friends would say, hey, what's going on in Oceanside? Why don't you show us around? Then pretty soon it was, Hey we have family visiting, why don't you take us on one of your little walkarounds and that really started the idea.

One day Carla said we should start a food tour so we can support these places. So we talked to the Barrel Republic not long after they opened. They were not sure of our concept, but they said your local, let's do it. Then, we started talking to other restaurants and it worked out.

Great so tell us about the tours?

Our tours take about 3 hours. We walk to our favorite restaurants and spend about half an hour so you feel like you've been to the restaurant and it takes the mystery out and you're more likely to come back. The tours add a sense of adventure and fun beyond going to just a single restaurant. We hang out as a group and talk about the neighborhood as we walk along to each of the four restaurants on the tour. I would say at least 60% of our tours are local people.

The tour is $59 and we visit four restaurants where you are served tastings of specially chosen items. All the food is on us. The drinks are on the customer because some people like to drink alcohol and some don't drink anything at all. We also offer a $10 coupon code for locals. It's Fun10. You can take $10 off and it makes it more affordable for the locals to be able to visit all the restaurants.

The restaurants are really stepping it up with what they provide for us, too. Like the Flying Pig is one of our chef's choice restaurants. The chefs like to try new things and quite a few times the food they've tried on us has made it to their menu. We've become friends with a lot of the chefs and they really treat us well on these tours.

Today we have a large group so we will go to places that can accommodate us. We'll be stopping at Pacific Coast Spirits, Flying Pig, Orfila and Blade 1936 will be our last stop for dessert.

It's one of our guest's birthdays and she's put together all of her friends, so it will be a pretty good-sized group. Our tours start here at Banana Dang.

Banana Dang

The group was offered a choice from two of Banana Dang's most popular drinks. The Dirty Nutty Dang is like a normal smoothie but they add a shot of espresso. Then the Blue Banana Belt is a superfood smoothie with coconut blue butterfly protein.

The Dirty Nutty Dang was yummy and rich with a nice balance between the espresso and banana. We left feeling refreshed and ready for an afternoon stroll down the Coast Hwy.

Linda led the group out to the sidewalk and Carla was the last one out to make sure they don't lose anybody. As we walked along Linda pointed out interesting facts that even many long-time locals didn't know. In no time at all, we arrived at the first restaurant of the day.

Pacific Coast Spirits

There were tables reserved for our group in a nice open-air spot next to the kitchen so we could watch the food being prepared. On the menu for our group were two of the specialty tacos.

The Blackened Mahi Mahi was as good as you'd expect it to be with Smashed Avocado, Cabbage, Pico De Gallo, PCS Tequila Lime Crema. It paired great with several of the Pacific Coast Spirits' in-house distilled Agave craft cocktails.

As Linda explained, their Agave is actually a tequila-type alcohol, but they can't call it tequila because it didn't come from Jalisco.

The real delightful surprise was the Masa Fried Califlower Taco with Smashed Avocado, Smoked Corn Relish, Cabbage Slaw, Vegan Cilantro LIME Crema. Even non-vegetarian's will enjoy this tasty taco with a smoky, rich flavor.

After eating Linda brought everyone over to the distilling area for a look at the equipment used to make the spirits offered at PCS.

Then we were back on the sidewalk, heading for our next restaurant. As we strolled Linda continued to point out fun facts on the way. We passed Dija Mara and while not on the tour Linda shared that Dija Mara, which means 'Where have you been', is an Indonesian-style restaurant with awesome food that recently got a Michelin star mention.

Next, we turned east on Mission for our second restaurant.

Flying Pig

Everyone was curious to find out what the 'Chef's Choice" would be when we arrived. No one was disappointed when Chef Harrison presented us with a beautiful, aromatic and delish salad that he described as a "smoked cold beet salad in a yogurt based green goddess dressing with fresh citrusy herbs from our owner's garden and a little arugula and goat cheese."

Next, we continued east a couple of blocks for a walk by Coomber Wines where we popped in for a quick look around. Then we headed north towards the Civic Center while our guides pointed out the Oceanside Museum of Art and other iconic spots along the way. We stopped in Artists Alley for a quick group photo.

We continued our journey west down Pier View Way towards the third stop on our restaurant tour.

Orfila Tasting Room & Kitchen

Shortly after arriving, Chef Luke Morganstern came out and greeted the group.

The Duck Confit Sliders were a favorite as were the Crispy Brussel Sprouts. The food paired wonderfully with their excellent wines. For the pescatarians in the group, there were specialty prepared dishes including oysters.

Carla shared a tip about the Orfila Wine Club with the group. For only three bottles per quarter, you also get 10 free wine tastes. She had me at free wine.

The group headed off to the fourth and final restaurant on our tour, Blade 1936. As we walked south we passed the newly opened The Lab Collaborative.

Linda gave it high praise "It only opened like two weeks ago and we've been there twice. The linguini is so good. Carla had the braised beef cheeks. They have all kinds of awesome food."

Blade 1936

Our last stop was at Blade 1936. Linda explained that it was named after Oceanside's first newspaper.

When they were redoing the building, they pulled all the stuff off the facade and found a perfectly good art deco front. So they named it the Blade 1936. They did find some of the original newspapers and they kept the small part on the floor that shows the original floor.

We walked through the restaurant into the banquet room and prepared for dessert. It was difficult to choose a favorite between the Tiramisu and the Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake as both we're soooo good!

The group ended the tour with rousing applause for our guides Carla and Linda. While not everyone could agree on the best thing they ate all day, we all agreed it was the most fun we've had walking and eating our way around the neighborhood.

Carla and Linda’s Walking Food Tour takes about 3 hours, and the walk won’t exceed a mile in total traveling distance. You’ll see some of Carla and Linda’s favorite restaurants and taste specially chosen items, and be given some history of the restaurant, the chef, and the surrounding area during the tour. Visit www.shoesandchews.com to book a tour, or call 760- 401-5968 or email info@shoesandchews.com.