(New York, NY)

You have a limited amount of time visiting a great city like New York and you'll want to see it like a local does by walking it's streets, tasting it's local foods and seeing it's sightseeing icons, are best done with a NY food tour.

The most pleasant question you'll have to answer is, which neighborhood should I visit if I have only a weekend to explore? Every neighborhood in Manhattan is truly unique, and it depends on your interests in food or sights to make the right choice. So, I'll give you a description of several of the most popular areas and let your gut (no pun intended) be your guide.

Greenwich Village

A beautiful place to visit, lots of unique clothing shops, many restaurant choices, streets are not particularly crowded here, because
its a very affluent neighborhood which makes for great people watching. Many celebrities live here including, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mathew Broderick.
Giselle Bundchen,Tom Brady and Julianne Moore.

For eating like a local there are many choices, Joe's Pizza for a thin-crust slice made with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, Murry's Cheese makes gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, Magnolia Bakery for the famous cupcakes seen on Sex and the City, lobster rolls from the Lobster Place, sushi from Sushi Samba, and don't forget the cannoli from Rocco's.

Sightseeing icons are Washington Square Park, where locals, New York University students, and travelers all meet to listen to bands jamming for donations, and artists doing their thing.

Don't forget to see the arch, a copy of the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris. High Land Park, a new elevated park which in 1 year has already had over 2 million visitors. And one of the most charming tree-lined streets with old residential buildings on Barrow Street.

SoHo/Little Italy/Chinatown

These 3 neighborhoods all share a common border and it's quite easy to visit all three in 1 outing. What's so unusual here is the difference in the neighborhoods, SoHo is quite an upscale place to visit with the best shopping in the city, Little Italy's popular is shrinking but there are still over 50 restaurants to choose from, and Chinatown is quite bustling with shoppers still seeking fake designer bags and Rolex watches.

SoHo has many great places to eat including, Grandaisy Bakery which makes fresh home-made thin crust zucchini and mushroom pizzas, and for dessert don't miss the Best Chocolate Cake in the World on Spring Street. Little Italy has the freshest cheeses and cold cuts from Alleva, a 5th generation family run business since 1892, and for dessert you must try the cannoli here from Ferrara's. In Chinatown the pork dumplings with chives are all the rave, with long lines forming at Fried Dumpling, and for dessert head to Fay Da for egg custard.

Great must-see sights are the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral on Prince Street, the Old Police Department Condos on Centre Street, and make sure to visit Columbus Park in Chinatown, where all the locals are playing mahjong, chinese checkers, or poker and betting is encouraged.

Brooklyn Bridge

The tour meets in Lower Manhattan and walks over the bridge to Brooklyn in about 25 minutes. Participants learn the history of the bridge and see many famous landmarks from the bridge, including Governor’s Island, a former Coast Guard facility sitting in the middle of the East River.

In Brooklyn it's pizza from Grimaldi's, where Michelle Obama and her children visited this past summer. For dessert its gourmet ice cream from the Ice Cream Factory, owned by the River Café, a local waterfront restaurant. Major sights include the Fulton Ferry Landing, and several landmark buildings from the 1860's.


Your trip to NY would not be complete unless you walked through at least one of the above neighborhoods, and in addition to tasting the local foods which makes a NY food tour so unique, the smell of the shops, bakeries and restaurants are something I can't put into words.

All the tours are led by Bruce Scher a native New Yorker and licensed by the City of New York. His tours have been written up in the New York Times, and Time Out NY Magazine.

To see New York walking tours in greater detail please visit;

http://walkingtoursmanhattan.com