About Us
The Local Sauce Tours Story
My name is Justin, I’m the guy with the “tour guide hands” in the photo. I started Local Sauce Tours back in 2018 after escaping a corporate law career. I realised that I was working around a lot of unhappy people and I thought, “I want to work in a more enjoyable industry – let’s try tourism!”
From starting with one walking tour on a Saturday morning offered on Airbnb Experiences, we’ve grown to offer a wide range of unique tours and experiences, led by a team of amazing hosts.
In 2022 and 2023, we were awarded Gold in the NSW Tourism Awards for Cultural Tourism. We’re also ranked #1 for all Tours & Activities in Sydney on TripAdvisor, so you’re making a great decision to explore Sydney with us.
What our tours are like
Our tours focus on showing guests around Sydney with an expert local, weaving in entertaining stories about the area while visiting excellent, independently-owned bars, restaurants and cafes.
We limit our group sizes on all of our tours to 12 people, as we’ve found this is the magic number for guests to meet each other, bond and have a fun time. If you’re visiting Sydney or travelling solo, you’ll probably meet people on the tour to hang out with while you’re here!
You’ll quickly discover that a tour with us is a little bit different to a regular one, as we focus on making it feel like you’re just in a group of new friends hanging out and enjoying themselves, with your host keeping everything flowing and telling you stories.
Our promise
We love having each and every guest along on our tours. Whether you’re visiting Sydney or a local looking for something new to do, we know that you can choose from a million other activities – but you chose to join one of our tours and hang out with us!
We take that commitment from you seriously and will do everything we can to give you an amazing experience and the best possible introduction to Sydney. We guarantee you’re going to love the Sydney that we show you so much, you’ll be asking “when’s the next tour?” and booking again with us!
Since we started, we’ve received thousands of 5-star reviews on Airbnb, Google, TripAdvisor and Facebook. Check some recent ones out below.
We’ve received over 2,500 five-star reviews
All Reviews 5.0
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Google 4.9
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TripAdvisor 5.0
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Airbnb 5.0
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GetYourGuide 5.0
- Gareth21/01/2026Loved this tour. Was great to meet new people in some great bars. Small group, no one is asked to introduce themselves so it isn’t confronting for people that are shy. Though no one is shy after a few drinks. Highly recommended!!read moreread less
Storm Bate21/01/2026Fabulous tour, extremely informative!read moreread less
Inge Maya van Brakel21/01/2026We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Matt! It was extensive, interesting and very varied. Absolutely recommend!read moreread less - Jo Tysoe19/01/2026Great service and great experience visiting Darlinghurst with the gorgeous Kiama Blowhole!read moreread lessIrit Alony19/01/2026Great experience! We’ve been to Chinatown so many times but learned a lot in this tour. Bruce the guide was full of knowledge and shared a lot not only about the local Chinese community but about the history, geography, and culture of the original Chinese cuisines. The food samples were great and accommodated for many restrictions. Wonderful three hours that left us feeling like we now understand a lot more and want to experience more. Highly recommended!read moreread lessK McKenzie19/01/2026Great guides and great places, really enjoyed it. Just be mindful if you only drink spirits, the free drink does not include any spirits. All the people in the group were great.read moreread less
Margot19/01/2026Great walking tour with a knowledgeable guide. Fun & informative!read moreread less
Meredith19/01/2026We had a great time on our tour with Michael! He was very knowledgable and it was a great way to kick off our visit to Sydney.read moreread lessPreeti18/01/2026Great tour, amazing food options and street art. Andrew was a great guide! Would definitely recommend.read moreread less- Wandarra Media18/01/2026Andrew was a great tour guide!read moreread lessJavier Pimentel18/01/2026Steve was knowledgeable and genuine. Very nice tour with lots of historical insights. Highly recommended.read moreread lessLeanne Jarrett17/01/2026We thoroughly enjoyed our Chinatown foodie tour with Justin. He is knowledgeable about the culture, food and history of Chinatown. Each place we visited was a gem and more places for future visits were noted. Highly recommend this for both locals and visitors to Sydney!read moreread less
Mike & JL17/01/2026Justin was an amazing guide. Very knowledgeable and appreciated his effort to accommodate everyone’s interests. Great intro to city of Sydney!read moreread less
Fiona17/01/2026Justin was terrific! He answered all our questions and made the tour very interesting and informative. He tailored the tour especially as he asked each one of us what we were interested in knowing. So much history!
After the tour he sat and gave us dining suggestions and answered so many questions we had about places to visit, etc.
This tour is really worth doing, especially if you are new to Australia. Thank you.read moreread less
Corey17/01/2026Decided to book a tour on a whim whilst visiting Sydney. Not something we’d normally do but decided it could be fun. Met a great people, visited some interesting establishments that all provided a variety of different alcoholic beverages. If it weren’t for the downpour and getting soaked travelling in between bars it would’ve been even better hahaha no fault of the hosts obviously. Fun, informative night that I’d recommend to anyone wanting to do something a little different in their free time. Thanks again guys ☺️read moreread less
Carol17/01/2026Great tour!read moreread less
Marilyn17/01/2026Tom was a great host and answered any questions that were asked. Even got us on the right ferry to get home. Would do another walk with Tom when we are in Brisbane next. Very knowledgeable about the history of Brisbane 👍read moreread less
Billy17/01/2026Was a great experienceread moreread less- Sam16/01/2026Ari was very tolerant of my drunk friend spitting popcorn on himread moreread lessSarah Rylands16/01/2026Incredible tours especially if you’re a history nerd and foodie! Even if you’re neither, you’re guaranteed to have a great and informative experience with this company!! Highly recommend the Sydney China Town Tour, everyone who works there is incredibly familiar and friendly with the guides and in turn he shares an immense amount of knowledge and wisdom from food to history 👍read moreread lessJOSE16/01/2026Excelente tour, Justin un genio! Todo muy bien explicado que no era necesario ni preguntar. 10 puntos!read moreread less
- Chelcie Powell15/01/2026The Chinatown walking tour was recommended by a family member and would love to pass this recommendation on to someone else! The food was delicious and learned so much about the history, Justin was an amazing guide!read moreread less
Mick Hyde15/01/2026Good tour learning more about some of the different Chinese cuisines and also getting some good recommendations on where to eatread moreread less
Luke15/01/2026I really enjoyed the bar crawl with Ari, he was knowledgeable and charismatic throughout the tour. The group which was a mixed bunch of different ages and from different parts of the world all got on really well and we were able to wonder to 4 different places and take it in. Definitely would recommend this for any solo travelers or couples visitingread moreread less - Laredo14/01/2026This was such a great almost 4 hour walking tour from start to finish. The itinerary was packed in the best possible way—every stop felt worthwhile, well‑timed, and thoughtfully planned. Matt, tour guide was absolutely wonderful: friendly, organised, and incredibly knowledgeable. They shared so many insights and stories that added real depth to each place we visited. You could tell they genuinely loved what they do. Overall, an amazing experience and highly recommended.read moreread less
Deb Hucke14/01/2026Matt was terrific! The right amount of history while also providing an excellent flavor of Sydney. Wish we had done the tour on our first day in Sydney! On our own we missed so much. Also loved our small group. He even remembered our names! ❤️read moreread lessKirin14/01/2026시즌의 전반에 대해서 자세히 알 수 있는 좋은 경험이었습니다. 영어를 좀 더 유창하게 할 수 있으면 숨겨진 장소와 역사에 대해서 세세히 알 수 있을 겁니다. 중간중간에 친밀하게 만들어 주는 스몰 토크와 마지막에 맥주 한 잔까지 매우 훌륭한 구성이었습니다. 가이드 matt역시 친절하고 유머러스 한 최고의 가이드였습니다.read moreread less
- Michael Martin14/01/2026Matt was very knowledgeable and kept the tour moving but at comfortable pace. His content was very informative.read moreread lessDoug Hucke14/01/2026Wonderful guideread moreread less
Vincent14/01/2026Such an AMAZING experience! Love to do it again 🙂read moreread less
- Storm Bate21/01/2026Fabulous tour, extremely informative!read moreread lessInge Maya van Brakel21/01/2026We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Matt! It was extensive, interesting and very varied. Absolutely recommend!read moreread lessJo Tysoe19/01/2026Great service and great experience visiting Darlinghurst with the gorgeous Kiama Blowhole!read moreread less
- Irit Alony19/01/2026Great experience! We’ve been to Chinatown so many times but learned a lot in this tour. Bruce the guide was full of knowledge and shared a lot not only about the local Chinese community but about the history, geography, and culture of the original Chinese cuisines. The food samples were great and accommodated for many restrictions. Wonderful three hours that left us feeling like we now understand a lot more and want to experience more. Highly recommended!read moreread lessK McKenzie19/01/2026Great guides and great places, really enjoyed it. Just be mindful if you only drink spirits, the free drink does not include any spirits. All the people in the group were great.read moreread lessPreeti18/01/2026Great tour, amazing food options and street art. Andrew was a great guide! Would definitely recommend.read moreread less
- Wandarra Media18/01/2026Andrew was a great tour guide!read moreread lessJavier Pimentel18/01/2026Steve was knowledgeable and genuine. Very nice tour with lots of historical insights. Highly recommended.read moreread lessLeanne Jarrett17/01/2026We thoroughly enjoyed our Chinatown foodie tour with Justin. He is knowledgeable about the culture, food and history of Chinatown. Each place we visited was a gem and more places for future visits were noted. Highly recommend this for both locals and visitors to Sydney!read moreread less
- Sam16/01/2026Ari was very tolerant of my drunk friend spitting popcorn on himread moreread lessSarah Rylands16/01/2026Incredible tours especially if you’re a history nerd and foodie! Even if you’re neither, you’re guaranteed to have a great and informative experience with this company!! Highly recommend the Sydney China Town Tour, everyone who works there is incredibly familiar and friendly with the guides and in turn he shares an immense amount of knowledge and wisdom from food to history 👍read moreread lessChelcie Powell15/01/2026The Chinatown walking tour was recommended by a family member and would love to pass this recommendation on to someone else! The food was delicious and learned so much about the history, Justin was an amazing guide!read moreread less
- Mick Hyde15/01/2026Good tour learning more about some of the different Chinese cuisines and also getting some good recommendations on where to eatread moreread lessDeb Hucke14/01/2026Matt was terrific! The right amount of history while also providing an excellent flavor of Sydney. Wish we had done the tour on our first day in Sydney! On our own we missed so much. Also loved our small group. He even remembered our names! ❤️read moreread lessKirin14/01/2026시즌의 전반에 대해서 자세히 알 수 있는 좋은 경험이었습니다. 영어를 좀 더 유창하게 할 수 있으면 숨겨진 장소와 역사에 대해서 세세히 알 수 있을 겁니다. 중간중간에 친밀하게 만들어 주는 스몰 토크와 마지막에 맥주 한 잔까지 매우 훌륭한 구성이었습니다. 가이드 matt역시 친절하고 유머러스 한 최고의 가이드였습니다.read moreread less
- Michael Martin14/01/2026Matt was very knowledgeable and kept the tour moving but at comfortable pace. His content was very informative.read moreread lessDoug Hucke14/01/2026Wonderful guideread moreread lessJulia Pottkämper11/01/2026What an excellent tour ! We loved our guide Matt. Such an enthousiast tour guide. Definitely recommend!!read moreread less
Neil G01/01/2026Matt was a great guide. Informative, fun, gregarious. Perfect tour guide. Quote from my friend as well: “Best walking tour I’ve been on in some years, and i go on a lot of ‘em”read moreread less
Dream4358446885231/12/2025This was a fantastic tour and well worth it. Justin’s knowledge of Chinese cuisine is second to none, and we got to sample an awesome range of foods.I think we could eat in Chinatown every night of our stay and not be bored.read moreread less
helen a30/12/2025We really enjoyed the tour. It was very comprehensive, so we learnt about the early history of Sydney as well as being shown what we might like to do now. Jake was very friendly and informative. I would thoroughly recommend the tour.read moreread less
AnnaBBolton29/12/2025Jake did a fantastic job. Learnt so much and feel like I have a real grasp of Sydney and its history without feeling over whelmed with facts. Highly recommend.read moreread less
Martin H29/12/2025Top tour with Jake. So knowledgeable and informative, and fun too. Learnt so much about the history of Sydney and was shown plenty of little gems. Thank you!read moreread less
Chloe W29/12/2025Must do when in Sydney Really informative and entertaining Saw keys points and hidden gems Would highly recommend- thank you Jake 😊read moreread less
Alan M29/12/2025Steve was a first rate guide. Highly informative and full of puns as we went along. An altogether great trip around Sydney for an introduction to the City. A bargain, rounded off by a drink in the bar. Guide selfie photo 😂read moreread less
Peter S28/12/2025Great tour with lots of information and really good food. Justin was a fantastic guide who provided good and detailed insights into China Town and the food we sampled.read moreread less
Aneesah28/12/2025Had such a great time getting to know Sydney’s culture. Local beer was the perfect ending. definitely recommend for family, friends or couples. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes.read moreread less
Madhavab27/12/2025Fantastic tour and Matt was awesome and extremely knowledgeable. We did this on our first day, learned a lot, and it was a great way to see Sydney.read moreread less
Jason P26/12/2025Fantastic tour. Very informative and fun. Packed a lot in but remained at a good pace (not too frantic). Jake was very friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. A total recommend!!read moreread less
suzanneb69624/12/2025This is a good value tour with a knowledgeable guide but there is a fair bit of walking. We’d been in the city a couple of days but found that Jake introduced us to area’s we hadn’t been to. Well worth doing. The admin is also excellent, as I had an issue with the original day I had booked for and they changed to another tour with no fuss. They also recognised that we’d done a tour with them in Brisbane and gave us a rebooking discount.read moreread less
Amanda S23/12/2025I was nervous going but i had a brilliant time with Ari, he made me feel comfortable immediately and was very knowledgeable. We went to some great places and met some fab people, I’m already looking to do it again!read moreread less
rhuts0n23/12/2025Excellent guide – very informative and personable – only 7 of us so a lovely sized group- we learnt a lot about history of Sydneyread moreread lessElaflo22/12/2025Really enjoyed the tour. Jake was really knowledgeable, and I felt that I had a much better and interesting view of the fabulous city of Sydney. So thank you, Jake. Also worth noting that I used the same company for a tour in Brisbane with Tom which was equally as engaging and interesting. So good when they really know their stuff.read moreread less
Oliver M22/12/2025Fantastic tour with Jake! Very knowledgable and engaging. Discovered places in Sydney that you wouldn’t stumble across normally and he gave out great recommendations for local bakeries and bars. To top it off, got a great drink at the end! Highly recommend this tour!read moreread less
Harry20/12/2025Absolutely class night out with the tour and our guide Ari. He made the whole experience so much fun! Gave us some interesting history about the area as well as some awesome recommendations. Would definitely recommend the whole experience.read moreread less
Brad F20/12/2025We had a wonderful tour with our guide Steve who was both knowledgeable and entertaining. Sharing a beer at the end of tour was a great way to end it!read moreread less
- Margot19/01/2026Great walking tour with a knowledgeable guide. Fun & informative!read moreread lessMeredith19/01/2026We had a great time on our tour with Michael! He was very knowledgable and it was a great way to kick off our visit to Sydney.read moreread lessMike & JL17/01/2026Justin was an amazing guide. Very knowledgeable and appreciated his effort to accommodate everyone’s interests. Great intro to city of Sydney!read moreread less
- Fiona17/01/2026Justin was terrific! He answered all our questions and made the tour very interesting and informative. He tailored the tour especially as he asked each one of us what we were interested in knowing. So much history!
After the tour he sat and gave us dining suggestions and answered so many questions we had about places to visit, etc.
This tour is really worth doing, especially if you are new to Australia. Thank you.read moreread lessCorey17/01/2026Decided to book a tour on a whim whilst visiting Sydney. Not something we’d normally do but decided it could be fun. Met a great people, visited some interesting establishments that all provided a variety of different alcoholic beverages. If it weren’t for the downpour and getting soaked travelling in between bars it would’ve been even better hahaha no fault of the hosts obviously. Fun, informative night that I’d recommend to anyone wanting to do something a little different in their free time. Thanks again guys ☺️read moreread lessCarol17/01/2026Great tour!read moreread less - Marilyn17/01/2026Tom was a great host and answered any questions that were asked. Even got us on the right ferry to get home. Would do another walk with Tom when we are in Brisbane next. Very knowledgeable about the history of Brisbane 👍read moreread lessBilly17/01/2026Was a great experienceread moreread lessLuke15/01/2026I really enjoyed the bar crawl with Ari, he was knowledgeable and charismatic throughout the tour. The group which was a mixed bunch of different ages and from different parts of the world all got on really well and we were able to wonder to 4 different places and take it in. Definitely would recommend this for any solo travelers or couples visitingread moreread less
- Vincent14/01/2026Such an AMAZING experience! Love to do it again 🙂read moreread less
James10/01/2026Very much a disappointment actually.
While the host was extremely friendly and engaging, the cost per person (collectively) only to then be taken to locations where the average drink was beyond $20 AUD per drink … simply did not meet my “expectations” at all. Lovely group – wonderful host – but “product” or “experience” needs to either be clearly communicated or perhaps revised to reflect participants expectations.read moreread less
Jonas Andreas09/01/2026Great guide, even as a solo traveler you are not alone. Great tourread moreread less 
Ryan09/01/2026Had a great tour of Sydney and a nice close to have a beer with the group!read moreread less
Prerna08/01/2026nAread moreread less
Masashi07/01/2026We will visit 2-3 local bars.I think that only our group of tourists can have a more local experience.read moreread less
Laura06/01/2026Great night with Ari! We had a nice group, learned some facts about the city and had really nice drinks at not so crowded places. Would definitely do this again and will likely join other tours 🙂read moreread less
Taina06/01/2026This was my second local sauce tour and my favorite nightlife experience in Sydney! You really get access to bars you wouldn’t be able to find yourself as a tourist, and it’s a great way to meet friends for solo travelers. If you are visiting Sydney a local sauce tour is a must. Thank you to our guide Ari!read moreread less
Hannah06/01/2026Such a fun way to discover unique bars we wouldn’t have otherwise found! Absolutely loved it and it was a great way to spend our first night in Sydney.read moreread less
- Gareth21/01/2026Loved this tour. Was great to meet new people in some great bars. Small group, no one is asked to introduce themselves so it isn’t confronting for people that are shy. Though no one is shy after a few drinks. Highly recommended!!read moreread lessJOSE16/01/2026Excelente tour, Justin un genio! Todo muy bien explicado que no era necesario ni preguntar. 10 puntos!read moreread lessLaredo14/01/2026This was such a great almost 4 hour walking tour from start to finish. The itinerary was packed in the best possible way—every stop felt worthwhile, well‑timed, and thoughtfully planned. Matt, tour guide was absolutely wonderful: friendly, organised, and incredibly knowledgeable. They shared so many insights and stories that added real depth to each place we visited. You could tell they genuinely loved what they do. Overall, an amazing experience and highly recommended.read moreread less
- Lorinda12/01/2026We enjoyed the tastes offered, but were hoping for more for the price. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about Chinatown and China in general, especially since he lives part time in China. We appreciated his thorough knowledge. The one beverage offered was at a tea stand that we had to pay extra for ourselves. It was a very hot day and it was a lot of standing around in the heat listening to him talk a lot about history. It would have been nice to have more of a focus on the food and chats about history sitting in shade or air conditioning. But an interesting tour.read moreread lessSarah09/01/2026Tom was a brilliant guide! We learned so much about Brisbane Street art, the history of art in the city and a bit of general history too! The Thursday night route is brilliant and the small bars they bring you to are absolutely fantastic. Well worth the money!read moreread lessShaun03/01/2026Really interesting insight. Thought some of content mat be a bit dry but was really interesting and great anecdotes. Matt is a great guide.read moreread less
- Kyle A02/01/2026Justin was very friendly and knowledgeable.read moreread lessAmanda27/12/2025Ari was amazing, the bars were great and loved meeting new peopleread moreread lessEmma26/12/2025The guide was great and very knowledgeable about the history of the city.read moreread less
- GetYourGuide traveler26/12/2025Great tour of the city. Our guide was fantastic – very knowledgeable & we covered all the major historical landmarks of Sydney. The drink at the end of the tour was most welcome😁read moreread lessDanica Fong25/12/2025Michael is an excellent tour guide with a wealth of knowledge and insight. He is attentive and answers to all our questions. We have learned so much from him!read moreread lessRea21/12/2025Our tour guide Justin was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed the food choices.read moreread less
- Anna20/12/2025I enjoyed learning more about some of the key Sydney landmarks. Jake was a very warm, friendly and informative guide as well. Even though I’m from Australia, I still learnt some things. A well paced walking tour, it wasn’t too taxing for an unfit person like me 😉read moreread less
Frank20/12/2025Jake had a bunge of information about the history of Sydney. I love it to start exploring an unknown City with such a tour. Very appreciated been part of the tour.read moreread lessנורית19/12/2025all was great!read moreread less
- Chris13/12/2025Get to see things you may miss , Jake our guide very knowledgable , lot of history , good walking tourread moreread lessTorben11/12/2025Everything was good and the tour guide Eddy was good!read moreread lessGetYourGuide traveler10/12/2025Guide was very informative. Was more talking than walking but learnt a lotread moreread less