It was approaching noon on a recent Saturday and a small crowd was forming outside of Southern Girl Desserts, a now-closed cookie shop at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw shopping plaza.
“Are you here for Daisy’s tour?” Each person asked as they approached the group. We introduced ourselves while we waited for host Daisy Miles to arrive.
Minutes later, a black party bus rounded the corner. The door opened and Miles descended, immediately setting the tone with her outfit, a puffy, sparkly white dress with a matching ribbon tied in her braids, not unlike what a bride-to-be might wear for her bachelorette party.
“I hope you’re all hungry!” she exclaimed, stepping aside so we could scan our tickets and pile into the bus. Inside, black curtains blocked out the windows and purple neon lights zigzagged across the walls and ceiling.
The idea to start a food tour came in 2024, after Miles relocated back to L.A. following stints in Texas and Mexico. Every year for Black History Month, she had a tradition of spotlighting historical Black figures on her TikTok. That year, as a way to reacquaint herself with her hometown, she decided to highlight some of the stalwarts in L.A.’s Black food scene. It was then she realized how much local restaurants were struggling and that industry challenges were even more pronounced among Black-owned businesses.
“After that, it was like, oh, my gosh, how can I help even more?” she said. “That’s when the thought clicked in my mind like, ‘You should do a food tour.’ ”
Miles held her first food tour during Black History Month last year, renting a party bus that made stops at Bayou Grille, Jamz Creamery, Cousin’s Kitchen, Keokia’s Kitchen, Krab Queenz, Tev’s Kitchen and Southern Girl Desserts, the latter of which has since shifted to pop-ups and catering.
At first, sales were slow. Miles paid for ad space on Instagram and Eventbrite, but it wasn’t until a local influencer shared the tour with their audience that the event went viral and tickets sold out. Just about every tour she’s hosted since then — at least one and up to four per month, including neighborhood walking tours — has sold out.
Over time, the format has shifted. “On my first tour I didn’t even know what I was doing,” Miles admitted.
A former teacher, she earned a bachelor’s degree in African American studies and a master’s in humanities. She has a full-time position with L.A. County department of mental health and is raising a 4-year-old. “I got more business savvy over time, and that’s when I had to start making the dollars make sense. That’s why I had to go up on my ticket [prices], right? That way I can see a profit as well, and not to mention … all the expenses like tipping the driver, paying for the bus and things like that.”
Ticket prices for Daisy’s Black L.A. Food Tour are now around $150. The tour length has extended from three to four hours and each is now limited to five restaurant visits. She now has a social media manager and an assistant, and has expanded from one party bus up to four on her most recent tour. Miles offers corporate and private tours, with past clients that include award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
Miles counters the ticket price by giving away a handful of tickets monthly to those in need.
“I know everybody in my audience doesn’t have $150 to pay for an experience, but everybody deserves it. Everybody’s going through something,” Miles said.
Our Saturday tour kicked off with a brief explanation of the day’s events. The bus would stop at each spot for 20-30 minutes, long enough to pass out food and sometimes a drink.
Miles told us that she’d recently instituted a rule of no hard liquor, as a way of bringing focus back to the restaurants. Moments after this announcement, she passed out Capri Sun-style pouches filled with mixed drinks.
“I have whiskey and lemonade, the blue one is tequila…” she said.
None of us questioned this logic. Perhaps she meant no more shots, I thought.
Still, it was hard not to be charmed by Miles, who next selected a DJ among the guests and helped them connect to the sound system. Soon, old-school West Coast rap was thumping through the speakers. “Ain’t nothin’ like a gangsta party, party…”
For the most part, we stayed on the bus during each stop, and the restaurant owner, chef or manager would climb on to tell us their story and explain what they were serving.
“I always appreciate Daisy because she brings good vibes every time she comes,” said Milli Jay, chef and owner of Breakfast With Milli, a cheery pink diner in a Baldwin Hills shopping center. In one hand she held a wrapped shrimp burrito, a substitute for a guest who didn’t eat poultry. “I’m going to give her some discount cards so when y’all come back and see me tomorrow you don’t have to pay as much.”
Though restaurants are not compensated for participating in the tour, many are happy to become repeat stops and end up recommending friends for the tour. Beyond brick and mortar stops, Miles also invites caterers, pop-up chefs and home-based food businesses to join.
“The restaurant gets new eyes on their food, on their restaurant,” said Miles. “Each tour I have at least three to five influencers, so not only are they getting my audience, but they’re getting the influencers’ audiences as well.”
As I got acquainted with the other guests on the tour, Miles’ reach became evident. Two friends drove from Bakersfield after meeting her on a recent cruise. One influencer met her at a local market, where she introduced herself and offered a free tour in exchange for social media content. A Sacramento couple joined the tour on a whim after seeing one of Miles’ viral Instagram posts. They road-tripped overnight to make the noon meeting time and planned to drive back the next day.
Others were repeat customers. One woman wanted to try the party bus after doing one of Miles’ neighborhood walking tours. Another attended the tours regularly as a way of trying new Black-owned food spots around the city.
The portions were generous, more like a hearty snack than a bite — a cup of Biscoff pudding from Tap Out Queen Treats, a fried turkey chop and waffle from Breakfast With Milli, a thin slice of jerk chicken pizza from Esco’s Pizza, a half-burger and onion rings from Phat Daddy’s and a baked chicken wing and half of an egg roll stuffed with yams, mac and cheese and collard greens from A Family Affair that I ended up saving to eat later.
As we rode around the city, occasionally catching glimpses of the clear blue sky and leaning palm trees out of the bus’ curtained windows, I was reminded how rare it is for most Angelenos to explore the true sprawl of L.A., and particularly its traditionally Black neighborhoods.
Once, on a private tour in South-Central, Miles said some of the guests were initially worried for their safety. “I definitely think the tour gives exposure to those that are scared,” she said. “The person who raised that concern was an executive from Disney, and he wants to book me for more parties.”
Between stops, Miles entertained us with Black trivia questions, complete with prizes.
“Who can name three movies filmed in South-Central?” she asked. In lieu of hard liquor, the winner of each round got a blast from a Champagne squirt gun into their mouth.
Those who prefer a more low-key atmosphere or to skip the booze should try Miles’ neighborhood walking tours, which have spanned sections of Inglewood, View Park-Windsor Hills and Compton. To make them as accessible as possible, the route is less than one mile on flat, paved sidewalk.
“The guests love it because you get to walk off the food,” said Miles.
It’s true. When the bus dropped us off at the parking structure at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw plaza around 4 p.m., I felt ready for a nap. Save for the playlist that had firmly moved from gangsta rap to smooth R&B, the last 20 minutes of our ride was mostly silent, with several of us dozing off.
More than a year since launching her food tours, Miles has no plans of slowing down. She’s since created tours catering to Caribbean cuisine, Black-women owned spots and even taken visitors to Bloom Ranch, the largest Black-owned farm in L.A. County. For Juneteenth, she ‘s planning a food tour of Long Beach that will conclude with a house party. In August, she’ll host a tour in Martha’s Vineyard just ahead of the island’s nine-day African American film festival.
Miles hopes to incorporate more education on future tours and is interested in partnering with real estate agents who can arrange stops at open houses and offer resources for curious first-time home buyers. As the federal government cracks down on public schools’ ability to teach critical race theory, she hopes her tours will offer a counterbalance.
“I’m fighting against a system that’s trying to erase our businesses,” she said. “Black restaurants have to fight harder for the business loans, they have to fight harder for the grants. So for me to be able to highlight them and expose them is a blessing.”
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