Spice and Serene - From the moment we arrived at the gate of Avery Island to the time we waved good-bye to the gate attendant we experienced true southern hospitality! Everyone from the gate attendant, to the ladies in the restaurant, the museum counter, in the country store and the janitorial staff were amazing! The Tabasco Factory Tour was informative and the smells were great. The food in Restaurant 1868 was delicious. I highly recommend the crawfish etouffee! The drive thru and walks throughout Jungle Garden were peaceful and so beautiful. I highly recommend a visit to Avery Island!

The most helpful staff and best tour! - The self paced tour was easy to navigate. I learned so much that really made me appreciate how the hot sauce was created and manufactured. You can tell the company values family, friends, and their employees. We were able to sample all the items and they were very patient with our group. At the end I was asking for specific places and items I needed. Since we traveled from Oklahoma I had a list. Kathy was BEYOND amazing. She helped me find everything I needed in their store and the items they didn’t have she located for me in a local city. I felt like we were the most important customers in the world. If you are ever close by this is the place to go. Took about two hours and we leisurely did the tour.

Worth the Drive from NO - We took a day trip from New Orleans to Avery Island. Well worth the trip. The factory is a lot of fun, great history. The people are super friendly. The jungle gardens was very scenic.

Beautiful place - Great history and beautiful grounds. The self guided tour was easy to follow. The history videos were informative. We loved it.

Very Informative and Interesting - First of all, you will find the kindest and most hospitable employees here. That begins and ends your tour with a smile on your face. It was so interesting how Avery Island began. It was nice going through the various stages of making Tobasco sauce. We got to see the barrels and the bottling plant. I imagine it would be hopping on the weekdays. We went on a Saturday. Being that we went in June, be forewarned that it is hot and humid. Make sure you are hydrated. We were able to taste the various flavors of sauces. And we will be ordering some online. We had lunch plans and were not able to taste what the restaurant had to offer, but I imagine it would taste excellent. The highlight of the tour was the Jungle Garden. You drive it in your own car, but we saw people walking it. You are surrounded by beautiful green trees and plants. We even encountered an alligator. As people who did not grow up with these creatures, it was fascinating and a little scary at the same time. The one we encountered went from its head barely above water to scampering up the bank in a very quick second. As we were in the car, we were not too concerned, but it was a sight to see. We went to the Buddha statue, but the doors were closed. However, it was a peaceful spot. If you walk over the bridge, there is a tree with exposed roots that looked like a snake head. The best part of the Jungle Garden, the Bird City. I could have sat around all day long. It is a little bit of a trek from the parking area. The path was uneven on cement blocks. But when you got there, it was absolutely stunning. The placard mentioned three types of birds, but there were more than that. A gentleman showing his family around said that whenever you buy a bottle of Tobasco sauce, you help support this beautiful sanctuary. These birds were endangered. Building this City helped bring them back. While there, I heard alligators and fish in the water. If it was not so hot and humid, I would have stayed longer. One tip: If you are going to walk around, use bug spray. I was very vigilant of any insects around me and did not get bitten. We really enjoyed the tour, and I highly recommend the tour.

Don’t miss - Excellent self guided tour, but the best if you have the chance is the cooking class where they use the sauces. Miss Karen was amazing and her cooking was top notch

Take the tour; Skip the gardens. - Louisiana is HOT! With that said, this tour was lovely being that it was half outside and half inside. The woman that sold us tickets and gave us our tour stickers was lovely! There are 8 factory stops, the gift shop and the restaurant. The greenhouse wasn't nearly as hot and moist as we had expected it to be, so make sure you don't skip it! The bamboo "jungle" walk was fun for the kids. The smells are so neat! The gift shop had samples sorted from least heat to hottest. My 12 year old and husband chose to do them all. They were brave! but "felt the heat" for a few days afterwards! HaHa! They also sell slushies right next to the samples, which was much appreciated! We did not go into the restaurant. We did then visit Jungle Gardens. To be honest, I was disappointed. In my mind a "garden" has flowers". This had trees, trees, bamboo, more trees, egrets (which was really cool and worth the walk!!!), Buddha- that you can hardly see through the glass, some bridges, some water, one gator, mosquitos galor and trees. Luckily to our surprise, you don't walk all of the gardens, but rather drive through 90% of it. Be sure you download the app that follows you and tells you about each area. If I hadn't done that- The gardens would have been a bust and not worth it at all.

Tabasco Ice Cream? - A hidden gem in the heart o Acadiana. Visited with friends from Oklahoma and was very impressed with the history and artifacts detailing the Tabasco story. Not something that most kids would enjoy, but still very a very relaxing day. Don't miss the ice cream samples at the gift shop it sounds crazy but it is AWESOME! Lots of Tabasco merchandise to choose from.

Sorry to have missed the gardens. Walking tour was good. Food not. - Our tour was limited to the self-guided tour of the factory area, museum, gift shop, and the cafe. The jungle gardens were closed due to severe storm damage from what appeared to be a small tornado that had struck the area three days prior to our arrival. (The admission had been lowered to compensate for this.) There are only three places where you can actually see the production - the blending area where the ground peppers are mixed with vinegar; the aging area area where the pepper mash is aged in barrels and the bottling line where they can bottle over half a million bottles a day. If you want to try your hand, the gift shop was selling Tobasco pepper plants in pots. They also have a tasting bar where you can try all of the varieties they make here. As far as the cafe goes, the food is just fair and somewhat overpriced. And, if you don’t like Cajun fare, you have few choices.

Tasty tour of Tabasco Co - The restaurant was a treat and the tour was interesting. Enjoyed the hot sauce tasting at the gift shop