Little Italy in the bronx
Every Saturday, our small-group tours explore Arthur Avenue — New York's last neighborhood of family-run Italian food shops — with guides who know it inside and out. We offer two tours, a morning Shopping & Tasting Tour that starts at 11 am and an Afternoon Aperitivo Tour which starts at 3 pm.
Private tours for groups are also available Tuesday through Saturday by appointment. Choose your tour below, or scroll down to the FAQ if you have questions before booking.
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Choose your Arthur Avenue tour
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2 hr 30 min
95 US dollars
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2 hr 30 min
125 US dollars
Which tour should I choose?
The Shopping & Tasting Tour includes history, shopping, and a sit-down lunch at Mario's. It starts at 11 am, so you can taste the bread, still hot from the oven, and the mozzarella, freshly made. The tour is about 2 hours of walking over 6 square blocks, and 30-45 minutes at the restaurant.
The Afternoon Aperitivo Tour is a one-hour highlights tour of Arthur Avenue with tastings, followed by wine and a spread of food sourced around the neighborhood in the secret bar upstairs at Mario's. This tour is more social and laid-back. It's about 1 hour of walking over three square blocks and 1 hour and 30 minutes to eat and drink in the secret bar at Mario's.
What you will eat on the Shopping & Tasting Tour
On-the-go tastings include fresh-filled cannoli, lard bread, sesame breadsticks, and freshly made mozzarella. Lunch at Mario's includes fried calamari, meatballs (beef), cheese ravioli from Borgatti's, and pizza.
What you will eat on Afternoon Aperitivo Tour
On-the-go tastings include raw oysters, olive bread, and fresh-filled cannoli. The spread at the secret bar includes pizza, salumi from the Calabria Pork Store, mozzarella from Casa della Mozzarella, olives, mini spiedini, and more, on the menu at Mario's since 1919. Two glasses of wine per person are included, and a cash bar is available for those who would like more.
Our tours include bread, cheese, cured meat, and seafood — there is plenty of food and you are welcome to skip anything that doesn't appeal to you, but we cannot accommodate gluten-free, vegan, or dairy-free diets and do not offer substitutions.
Meeting Place, Directions,&
Parking
All tours meet at 2344 Arthur Avenue, in front of the Arthur Avenue Retail Market. If you're navigating by GPS, please be sure to add the actual address, because the default drop-off point for the Retail Market is at the loading dock on Hughes Avenue.
We recommend taking Metro North's Harlem line to the Fordham Station. It's just 16 minutes from Grand Central Station. If you are driving, there is a municipal parking lot directly across the street from our meeting place. The parking lot entrance is at 2356 Hoffman Street.
TOUr Price & Cancellation
The tour price includes all tastings and lunch as well as a 20% tip for the restaurant staff. It does not include a tip for the tour guide.
Children under 5 years old are free.
Tours are fully refundable until 48 hours before the scheduled date. Cancellations within 48 hours and no-shows are non-refundable.
Tours run rain or shine.
If there is extreme weather, we will contact you directly.
SPECIAL DIETS & PRIVATE TOURS
Please note any allergies you may have when purchasing your ticket. Unfortunately we cannot accommodate vegan or gluten-free diets.
Private tours are available by appointment from Tuesday-Saturday. We do not offer tours on Sundays because most shops are closed.
Prefer to visit independently?
The Shopping & Tasting Tour is available as a map-synchronized digital guidebook via Saltete or as a physical guidebook, available on Amazon.
