Paris by Mouth
Paris by Mouth is a founder-owned Paris food tour and restaurant review company offering small-group (max 8 guests) walking tours and tasting classes across five neighborhoods, sold direct-to-consumer to international tourists and food enthusiasts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Paris by Mouth does
Paris by Mouth is a private, founder-owned Paris-based food tour operator and editorial restaurant review platform operating under Big Mouth, LLC. Founded in 2010 by Meg Zimbeck, the company runs small-group walking food and wine tours capped at 8 guests across five Paris neighborhoods (North Marais, South Marais, Left Bank, East Saint-Germain, West Saint-Germain), charging $150 per person for standard 3-hour neighborhood tours that visit five artisan shops (bakeries, fromageries, chocolatiers, charcuteries) with seated wine tastings. The product portfolio also includes two specialty classes — French Cheese Explosion ($150, 3 hours, ~10 cheeses) and French Wine Discovery ($115, 2 hours, 5 regional wines) — plus customizable Private Food Tours with a seasonal 25% winter discount.
The company monetizes exclusively through direct-to-consumer online ticket sales via its own website, with no third-party distribution, no intermediaries, and no hidden fees. It holds the #1 TripAdvisor ranking among Paris food tours for more than a decade, supported by 4,300+ five-star reviews and earned media coverage from The New York Times, BBC, Food & Wine, the Washington Post, LA Times, and Rick Steves. Complementary to tours, the company operates an editorial restaurant review platform (Paris Restaurant Guide) and a curated email newsletter led by Meg Zimbeck (Editor-in-Chief) and Alexander Lobrano (Consulting Features Editor).
Customer segments are international tourists to Paris and food/wine enthusiasts, with secondary segments including vegetarian travelers and private groups. The underlying competitive advantage rests on exclusive access to boutique artisan shops that physically cannot accommodate larger groups, deep relationships with Meilleur Ouvrier de France-affiliated producers, and credentialed culinary-professional guides rather than scripted tour operators. The company is highly exposed to Paris tourism cyclicality, seasonality, and weather, and has not raised external capital.
Paris by Mouth firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Paris by Mouth
- Legal name
- Big Mouth, LLC
- Website
- https://parisbymouth.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Paris by Mouth is a founder-owned Paris food tour and restaurant review company offering small-group (max 8 guests) walking tours and tasting classes across five neighborhoods, sold direct-to-consumer to international tourists and food enthusiasts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Paris by Mouth industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Culinary Tourism Services
- NAICS
- Tour Operators (561520)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Food, Market & Culinary Culture Tours (THAJAAAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Culinary Walking & Market Tours (THAJAGAA), Wine Tastings & Vineyard/Winery Tours (THAJAGAD)
Keywords
Where Paris by Mouth is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Paris by Mouth business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others
Revenue model
- Food Tour Bookings: Revenue generated from selling tickets to small-group food and wine walking tours in Paris. Customers pay per person to attend 3-hour neighborhood tours visiting artisan shops (bakeries, fromageries, chocolatiers, charcuteries) with seated wine tastings. One-time transaction per booking.
- Wine Tasting Classes: Revenue from specialized French Wine Discovery class - a 2-hour pre-dinner wine education experience tasting 5 wines from French regions, led by certified wine experts at $115 per person.
- Cheese Tasting Classes: Revenue from French Cheese Explosion - a 3-hour deep-dive cheese tasting workshop featuring approximately 10 carefully selected cheeses with wine pairings, priced at $150 per person.
- Private Tours: Revenue from exclusive private food tours offering personalized experiences with expert guides. Available at 25% discount during winter months. Customizable to highlight specific food interests.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Food Tour - $150/person |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | French Wine Discovery - $115/person |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | French Cheese Explosion - $150/person (€130) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Private Food Tours - Discounted Rate |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Paris by Mouth product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Paris by Mouth sells small-group (max 8 guests) guided walking food tours through Paris neighborhoods, with each 3-hour tour visiting approximately five artisan shops (bakeries, fromageries, chocolatiers, charcuteries) and concluding with a seated wine tasting. The company also runs two specialty tasting classes — French Wine Discovery and French Cheese Explosion — and offers customizable private tours and a curated Paris restaurant review platform and newsletter.
Product overview
Paris by Mouth is a food tour and restaurant review company offering small-group walking food tours (capped at 8 guests) in Paris's best food neighborhoods, including North Marais, South Marais, Left Bank, East Saint-Germain, and West Saint-Germain. The core product portfolio consists of neighborhood food tours priced at $150 per person featuring artisan bakeries, fromageries, chocolatiers, and charcutiers with seated wine tastings. Specialty tasting classes include French Cheese Explosion (cheese-focused, $150, 3 hours) and French Wine Discovery (wine education, $115, 2 hours). Private customizable tours are available as an add-on. The company also operates a restaurant review platform and newsletter covering Paris dining. All group tours include food & wine tastings, expert English-speaking guides, and run approximately 3 hours.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- North Marais Food Tour 3-hour small-group food tour in Paris's North Marais neighborhood featuring award-winning bakeries, world-class chocolates, aged cheeses, artisan charcuterie, and wine tastings led by food and wine experts. Capped at 8 guests, priced at $150 per person including all tastings.
- South Marais Food Tour 3-hour small-group food tour in Paris's historic South Marais featuring artisan cheese, wine, chocolate, and regional charcuterie with a seated tasting in one of Paris's oldest buildings. Capped at 8 guests, priced at $150 per person including food and wine tastings.
- Left Bank Food Tour 3-hour small-group food tour spanning Paris's Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain neighborhoods, tasting Paris's best croissant, expertly aged cheeses from a Meilleur Ouvrier de France fromager, prize-winning chocolates, and pâtisserie. Vegetarian-friendly. Capped at 8 guests, priced at $150 per person.
- East Saint-Germain Food Tour 3-hour small-group food tour through Saint-Germain featuring iconic breads from a world-famous bakery, perfectly aged cheeses from a MOF fromager, rich chocolate, and show-stopping pâtisserie. The original Saint-Germain food tour. Capped at 8 guests, priced at $150 per person including food and wine tastings. Vegetarian-friendly option excludes charcuterie.
- West Saint-Germain Food Tour 3-hour luxury gastronomy tour in Paris's most elegant neighborhood featuring world-class pâtisserie, artisan cheese, wine, and cult-favorite charcuterie, with a seated tasting at a traditional cave à vins. Capped at 8 guests, priced at $150 per person including food and wine tastings.
- French Cheese Explosion 3-hour deep-dive cheese tasting class featuring approximately 10 carefully selected French cheeses with expert guidance, including a visit to a premier Paris cheese shop and seated tasting with wine pairings in a historic building. Capped at 8 guests, priced at $150 per person (€130). Featured by LA Times and BBC.
- French Wine Discovery 2-hour pre-dinner wine tasting class tasting five distinctive wines from major French regions with a certified wine expert. Designed as a relaxed happy hour format to build wine list navigation confidence. Limited to 8 guests, priced at $115 per person including five wine tastings and light apéritif nibbles.
- Private Food Tours Customizable private food tours offering an exclusive expert guide, focus on preferred flavors, and the ability to skip unwanted items. Includes wine tastings at beautiful wine cellars in Marais or Saint-Germain. 25% winter discount available.
- Paris Restaurant Guide Editorial restaurant review and recommendation platform covering Paris restaurants across various neighborhoods, price ranges, and cuisines, with curated lists organized by location and occasion. Published by Paris by Mouth's editorial team led by Editor-in-Chief Meg Zimbeck.
Quantifiable outcome
- 4,300+ five-star reviews on TripAdvisor, maintaining #1 ranking for over a decade
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Paris by Mouth
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Paris by Mouth technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Paris by Mouth partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Paris by Mouth competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Context Travel: Expert-led small-group cultural and culinary walking tours in Paris and other major cities, with scholar/sommelier guides — competing for the same affluent, education-oriented traveler as Paris by Mouth.
- Eating Europe: Small-group food walking tours in European capitals including Paris, with similar artisan shop visits, local guide model, and TripAdvisor-driven discovery — direct overlap in product and channel.
- Devour Tours: Runs small-group food tours across European cities including Paris, targeting similar foodie travelers with neighborhood walking tours and local guide expertise — a near-direct competitor in Paris.
- Secret Food Tours: Operates small-group food walking tours in 60+ cities including Paris, directly competing for the same tourist and food-enthusiast segment with comparable 3-hour neighborhood formats and similar pricing.
- Culinary Backstreets: Neighborhood food walking tours in Paris and other global cities with a small-group, expert-guided model focused on artisan producers — strong product overlap with Paris by Mouth's format.
Emerging players
- Eatwith: Hosts in-home dining and culinary experiences in Paris and other cities; overlaps with Paris by Mouth's experiential food tourism angle but focuses on hosted meals rather than walking tours.
Broad incumbents
- Withlocals: Global marketplace for small-group and private tours including food experiences in Paris — comparable customer segment and direct-to-consumer booking model, though product breadth is much wider.
- Tours by Locals: Large multi-city private tour marketplace that includes Paris food and wine experiences — overlaps with Paris by Mouth's offering but operates as a broad platform rather than a curated culinary specialist.
Regional players
- La Cuisine Paris: Paris-based cooking school and food experience operator offering hands-on classes and market tours — competes for the same Paris tourist and foodie segment, particularly in the educational class vertical.
- Le Foodist: Paris cooking school and wine/cheese tasting experience operator — overlaps with Paris by Mouth's specialty classes (French Cheese Explosion, French Wine Discovery) and the same in-person Parisian foodie customer.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Paris by Mouth social profiles
Digital presenceParis by Mouth financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Paris by Mouth leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Paris by Mouth funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Paris by Mouth M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Paris by Mouth
What does Paris by Mouth do?
Paris by Mouth sells small-group (max 8 guests) guided walking food tours through Paris neighborhoods, with each 3-hour tour visiting approximately five artisan shops (bakeries, fromageries, chocolatiers, charcuteries) and concluding with a seated wine tasting. The company also runs two specialty tasting classes — French Wine Discovery and French Cheese Explosion — and offers customizable private tours and a curated Paris restaurant review platform and newsletter.
Is Paris by Mouth a public or private company?
Paris by Mouth is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Paris by Mouth founded?
Paris by Mouth was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Paris by Mouth based?
Paris by Mouth is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Paris by Mouth make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Food Tour Bookings are the primary driver. The others are wine Tasting Classes, cheese Tasting Classes and private Tours.
Who are Paris by Mouth's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Context Travel, Eating Europe, Devour Tours, Secret Food Tours and Culinary Backstreets. Eatwith is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Withlocals and Tours by Locals. Regional players are La Cuisine Paris and Le Foodist.
Does Paris by Mouth have an API?
No public API is recorded for Paris by Mouth.
What industry is Paris by Mouth in?
Paris by Mouth's product category is Culinary Tourism Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJAAAG, Food, Market & Culinary Culture Tours, with a secondary code of THAJAGAA, Culinary Walking & Market Tours. Its NAICS code is 561520 and its SIC code is 7900.