DINING FEATURE
BY KAREN CHANEY
Lone Star Food Tours are limited to 10 guests.
COURTESY LONE STAR FOOD TOURS
When stopping at Heirloom Haul during a Lone Star Food Tour, guests can enjoy a breakfast charcuterie.
COURTESY LONE STAR FOOD TOURS
Lone Star Food Tours Traveling tours feature Dallas-area restaurants, retail, art S helly Francis, founder of
Shelly Francis is the founder and co-owner of Lone Star Food Tours.
downtown Plano. Six months later, after working with Visit Frisco, they added tours of The Star District in Frisco to their calendar. “I said, ‘I don’t feel like The Star needs us because they are always popping.’ [Visit Frisco’s Lisa Bethea] said, ‘We need you!’ Now, this is our most popular tour,” Francis said. Lone Star Food Tours formed relationships with five Star District restaurants: Heirloom Haul, Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen and Bar, Common Table, Wahlburgers and Tricky Fish. Each tour includes visits to three of these restaurants. The tour also stops at Lucchese, a boot maker, at The Star. “They learn the story of the boots,” Francis said. “That’s the
kind of retail shopping we do. We teach you what’s behind the product we’re looking at today.” The tour costs $119 per person, lasts two and a half hours and geared toward any fitness level. “We walk and talk about the neighborhood, how the apartments got their name, what order the buildings were built,” Francis said. She feels skills she honed as a former teacher, such as storytelling, have been beneficial. “I get to be their entertainment for a little bit and make them happy,” Francis said. “I’ve learned how important it is to just be kind to somebody, smile and make them feel part of the group. I get to do that every day; it’s amazing.”
KAREN CHANEY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Lone Star Food Tours, said she wasn’t looking for a new career when she took a food tour with her daughter in Dallas, but that is exactly what she found. “It was while on the tour I thought, ‘This is fun; I could do this,’” she said. Soon after the tour, Francis approached her longtime friend Stephanie Baldwin to see if she’d like to be her business partner. Bald- win was intrigued with the idea, and the duo started researching the concept by taking food tours. After adding a third partner and co-owner, Amy Irons, Lone Star Food Tours began operations in May 2022 with the first tour through
TOP REASONS TO GO ON A LONE STAR FOOD TOUR
Patrons get to try three restaurants in the time it would take to try one. Two cocktails are included. Patrons learn the backstories of the restaurants.
Lone Star Food Tours 972-876-7077 www.lonestarfoodtours.com Office hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tour times: Wed.-Sat. at 10:30 a.m. Other tour times are available upon request.
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FRISCO EDITION • JUNE 2023
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