One of the BEST ways to get to know a new city, especially if you like food, is to do a food tour! A food tour can even be a fun way to get to know your own town better and try out lots of new-to-you restaurants. In fact, I got to do just that two years ago in my home town of Knoxville and spent a great afternoon with other bloggers noshing on yummy foods at many local restaurants, a few of which I had not tried yet. So in a massive, food-centric city like the Big Apple, what better way is there to experience as much of the local cuisine as possible than a food tour. You get to knock out lots of great restaurants in one fell swoop in a few hours with a local to guide your taste buds along the way! You will leave with more knowledge of the cuisine and history of the area, great advice for other places to put on your tourist to do list, and very full bellies. This is definitely money and time well spent!
During our trip to NYC last fall, we had the opportunity to go on the Original Greenwich Village food tour with Foods of NY Tours, the OG and one of the top tour companies in the city; they’ve been doing this gig full-time since 1999. This is where we experienced one of the best New York slices ever, a quintessential NYC bucket list item. They like to keep tour groups small with an attention to detail and expert local tour guides known for entertaining guests. Our tour guide, Bert, is not only a food tour guide, but also a comedian and his style was incredibly engaging. They have thousands of 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor from satisfied past patrons leaving you with confidence to book through them. Trust me, I did lots of research before our trip and it was evident that these guys are the echelon of tour companies.
So how does a food tour work? Very similar to any other tour, you meet your guide at a predetermined time and location, get an introduction and some ground rules, then you set off to fill your bellies at local eateries. The tour company sets up the tastings in advance, some are longer seated tastings and some are quick bites standing in the restaurant, market, or street. They time everything so that you can’t dilly dally too long, but you never feel rushed and when you get to your next destination, magically fresh, hot food is there waiting on you! We met Bert at Murray’s Cheese shop in Greenwich Village on a beautiful Sunday afternoon! He handed us a bottle of water, a napkin, and a pre-printed guide book, then we set off to our first tasting at Joe’s Pizza around the corner.
Yeah, remember what I said about that quintessential New York slice? You’ll find one of the best here.
Bert came back out with an entire extra large cheese pizza in his arms! We each grabbed a slice while he gabbed about the history behind Joe’s. As you can see it’s been in business for quite a while since 1975. A slice from Joe’s was one of the very first food experiences of the owner of Foods of NY here in the city and what lead him to return time and again, then eventually establish the food tours.
I can see why! This pizza is life changing. Is it fancy? No. Is it dolled up with toppings and expensive cheese? No. Is it one of the best slices of your life? Yes. Are all of the ingredients done just right with that perfect thin crust chewy dough? Yes. It’s not overly greasy or saucy or even cheesy. It’s perfectly balanced and I could have eaten that whole pie. But I knew we had MOAR food to go. The other amazing thing? A slice won’t break the bank; it’ll only set you back a few bucks.
This place has seen some history too! When you step inside, you’ll see photos of tons of famous people hanging on the walls (yes, this IS the pizza joint from Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’). It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall joint with little seating, but the point here is not to linger over your meal, but to grab a slice or two and go. See the ATM machine beside the entrance? Yeah, that’s strategically placed there because this is a cash-only establishment.
Next, we hopped on over to O&Co, a local sundries shop selling top quality olive oil, vinegar, pastas, spreads, and kitchen wares. We sampled olive oil, the real stuff, on a slice of Tuscan bread. Bert and the owner talked about buying true quality olive oil and vinegar, what to look for, where to buy it from and the difference in taste. Having gone to Italy earlier in the year, we were familiar with this knowledge. We even noted that this store was stocking true Balsamico di Modena (and the price tag).
We even got an extra surprise tasting here of popcorn, popcorn dusted with truffle salt. YUM.
Next up we checked out Faicco’s across Bleecker Street, an enduring Italian market offering house-made sausages & sauces, plus meats, cheeses, oils & more, including the most amazing arancini or rice balls. For $1 each, you can be transported to Italy with these simple, but decadent and delicious fried rice balls.
Miraculously, these were not the slightest bit greasy. They were just creamy, cheesy, and perfectly crispy on the outside. There ended up being one too many and Remington didn’t need much persuading from Bert to take the last one.
Next stop: Tacombi for some street corn.
This little cup was filled with a generous serving of sweet corn off the cob with cotija cheese, smoky homemade morita mayo & spicy chili pequin. This corn had a bit of a kick. To temper the spice, they also provided a taste of their watermelon and lime cooler.
After the savory, spicy corn, it was time for something sweet. We stopped at Royce’ Chocolate. How did I not know about this chocolate? They make and sell Japanese-style chocolates with a focus on fresh chocolate requiring refrigeration. They are also known for the chocolate covered potato chip.
We tried a few of the refrigerated chocolates, including matcha white chocolate and a dark chocolate. So yum! Some of the most delicious chocolate ever.
We headed back across the street for a closer look inside Faicco’s and a sampling of their salami.
Then we headed next door to Trattoria Pesce Pasta for our second seated tasting of the tour.
We were served a very generous helping of what is touted as the best meatball in all of NYC with sauce over noodles. At this point in the tour, I was starting to get full and couldn’t quite finish my plate of pasta, but I was determined to eat every bite of that meatball. They use fresh, local grass fed beef and it’s a very tender, meaty meatball with a simple tomato sauce. Very good stuff. The restaurant was cozy inside with a friendly staff; we’d definitely go back for a full blown meal.
Time for another treat! We walked over a few blocks to Milk & Cookies Bakery for a perfect chocolate chip cookie. The bakery was featured on Insider in 2017 for their loaded ice cream sandwiches. Their chocolate chip cookie would certainly make an excellent base for an ice cream sandwich with it’s soft-baked and chewy texture. Service is friendly in this quaint little space with water provided in the corner.
Thank God it was time for the walking tour part so we could walk off some of that food. I had to save most of that delicious cookie for a snack later.
Does this building look familiar?
Following a great history of the area with Bert pointing out important sights like the smallest home in NYC, Cherry Lane Theater, and the Friends building, we had two more tastings to sample…yay MOAR food.
Eventually we made our way back to Murray’s Cheese shop for a sampling of cheeses starting a soft goat cheese, a couple of hard cheeses, and a baked cracker like cheese. Murray’s is a fun gourmet shop filled with tons of foodie fodder, so it was also fun to just peruse the store.
And our final stop on the tour was Rocco’s. Pasticceria Rocco is an Italian Pastry shop and Cafe, family owned since 1974 by the Generoso family. World famous for their cannoli, filled to order, Rocco’s features traditional pastries made using only the finest ingredients with age old recipes.
the pizza look so delicious.