Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before
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TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesEnglish
Group sizeUp to 12 travelers
Overview
Most Chinatown and Little Italy tours stop where the postcards do. This one eats where locals eat: seven family-run shops across Chinatown, Little Italy and Nolita, with no chains. Taste hand-folded dumplings, a bakery open since 1968, fresh pasta from a century-old shop and gelato on Mulberry Street. Your guide shares the stories most visitors walk past, from Little Fuzhou to Doyers Street. With 12 guests max, you hear every story. The flat, under-a-mile route suits first-time visitors, families, culture lovers and anyone short on time who wants a full lunch in three hours.
- Taste seven delicious dishes from local eateries in Chinatown, Little Italy, and Nolita
- Walk through three neighborhoods while learning their fascinating histories
- Maximum group size of 12 ensures a more intimate experience
- Vegetarian options are available; beer and wine can be purchased during the tour
What's included
Local guide
Bottled water
Lunch
Gratuities
What to expect
10m
A Fuzhounese counter shop on Grand Street where almost nothing costs more than a few dollars and everything gets made fresh. Robert Sietsema called it the neighborhood’s favorite cheap eats destination, and The Infatuation rates it a 9.2. The owner left an engineering career in Toronto to come back and run the family shop, and he keeps the prices low on purpose so the neighborhood can still afford to eat here.
10m
Dumplings folded by hand at the window while you wait, cooked to order, northern style. The tell here is ginger, and they are not shy about it. Regulars can pick these out blind. The kitchen also turns out chive pancakes, hot and sour soup, and wonton noodle soup for the people who come in and sit down for an actual lunch.
10m
A Taishanese bakery that has been feeding Chinatown since 1968. In 2008 the New York Times published something close to an obituary for it. It reopened three months later, on an auspicious 8/8, and then outgrew the Bayard Street counter it had held for over fifty years and moved around the corner to a bigger room on Mott. The founders’ oral history sits in the Museum of Chinese in America.
10m
One family has been making one thing on Baxter Street since 1984, in more than thirty flavors, for about a dollar apiece. It is barely sweet, which is exactly why the neighborhood’s older residents have always favored it. A longtime customer bought the shop from the founder in 2009, and his daughter runs it today. She drew the cartoon characters on the wall herself, based on her own family.
Piemonte Ravioli
10m
Fresh pasta rolled daily on the ground floor of an 1833 Federal-style house that New York City individually landmarked in 2010. The pasta business has occupied this storefront since before the Depression, more than a century of continuous business, and the Bertorelli family has run it for the last seventy years.
Nolita
10m
A corner slice shop on Kenmare run by a guy who came from Bleecker Street Pizza, which is a stop on our Greenwich Village tour. He once spent five hours building a pizza with Pope Francis’s face on it, using ricotta and raspberries to get the skin tone right. His house pie is a Margherita with two upgrades, and he will happily argue for both of them. Gluten-free crust available.
Eldridge Street Synagogue
Pass by
See a striking 1887 landmark that tells part of the neighborhood’s immigrant story.
Manhattan Bridge
Pass by
View this iconic bridge as you explore the streets and flavors of Chinatown.
Pass by
Follow Chinatown’s famous bend and hear the stories behind its notorious nickname.
10m
We finish on Mulberry Street at the one gelateria The Infatuation singled out as not a tourist trap, on the single most tourist-trapped block in New York. Authentic Sicilian cannoli, with both the shells and ricotta made in Palermo, Sicily.
Meeting and pickup
Meeting point
Meet directly on the sidewalk outside the Grand Street location.
End point
Additional information
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
