Your Complete Guide to Arthur Avenue, the Bronx — New York's Real Little Italy

​Forget Mulberry Street. Manhattan's Little Italy is a block and a half of tourist restaurants and souvenir shops. Arthur Avenue is the real thing — two blocks in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx where Italian American food culture never disappeared, where the families who built these shops in the early twentieth century are still behind the counters, and where the Italian Americans who moved to Westchester and New Jersey decades ago still drive back every weekend to do their shopping. Their kids do the same.

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My great-grandparents opened a store on this street in 1918. It was originally a baccalà store, then a butchers shop, and it's still a butcher shop, now called Vincent's Meat Market.

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What is Arthur Avenue?

Arthur Avenue is the main commercial street of the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx, roughly between East 184th and East 187th Streets. When people say "Arthur Avenue," they usually mean the broader neighborhood — a cluster of food shops, bakeries, butchers, pasta makers, fish markets, pastry shops, restaurants, and delis that extends onto the surrounding side streets, particularly 187th Street and Hughes Avenue.

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It has been the center of Italian American life in the Bronx since the early 1900s, when waves of Southern Italian immigrants settled here, mainly from the crowded tenements of East Harlem, which was known as Italian Harlem before it became Spanish Harlem in the 1950s.  Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's Arthur Avenue Retail Market, opened in 1939, is still operating, the only pushcart market left in New York City.

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What makes Arthur Avenue different from every other Italian American neighborhood in New York is that, even though Italians no longer live there, it has never stopped being the place Italians shop. Now, anyone who appreciates small shops, high-quality food, and skilled butchers and breadmakers makes Arthur Avenue a regular shopping destination. The shops here are old because the families who run them refused to leave or even modernize. That stubbornness is what makes it special. There's no other neighborhood like this in the United States.

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When to Visit

Saturday is the best day if you're coming for the first time. The neighborhood is at its most alive — the shops are fully stocked, the sidewalks are busy, and you get the full experience of what it feels like to be part of this community's weekly ritual. Most shops open around 7 am and close between 4 and 5 pm.

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Sunday is not recommended. Most of the food shops are closed on Sundays, following the old Italian tradition of a day of rest. The restaurants may be open, and a few shops open for 3-4 hours, but only to serve those leaving Mass.  Don't make the trip on a Sunday unless you're specifically going to a restaurant.

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Monday through Friday, the neighborhood is quieter and the best time to really shop. The only thing to know is that many restaurants are closed on Monday, so if you want to shop, and then sit down to eat, Tuesday-Friday is best. The weekday experience is more relaxed and personal. The shopkeepers have more time to talk, which makes the experience unlike any other. 

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Christmas and Easter are packed. It's a lot of fun, but know that you'll have to wait in line, often outside the stores, so plan ahead.

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Getting There

The best way to get to Arthur Avenue on public transportation is by Metro-North. Take the Harlem Line from Grand Central Station to Fordham Station — it's a 16-minute ride that costs a few dollars and drops you a short walk from Arthur Avenue. This is far faster than the subway and dramatically more comfortable. Do not take the subway; there is no convenient connection, and the walk from the D train is far. Inaccessibility from public transportation is part of why this neighborhood never gentrified into luxury condos.

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If you're driving, the municipal parking lot at 2356 Hoffman Street is directly across from the Arthur Avenue Retail Market and is your best option. It's inexpensive, safe, and central. GPS for the Retail Market will often direct you to the loading dock entrance on Hughes Avenue — ignore this and walk around to the Arthur Avenue side of the building.

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From Midtown Manhattan by car, the drive is typically 30–45 minutes, depending on traffic. The neighborhood is also close to the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden, making it a natural stop before or after either attraction. It's very easy to get to from New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester, and good parking is what allowed Italian Americans who moved to the suburbs to continue shopping in the old neighborhood.

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(Want our Shopper's Guide to Arthur Avenue in your pocket? Purchase here.)

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The Arthur Avenue Retail Market

Start here. The Retail Market at 2344 Arthur Avenue opened in 1940 as Mayor LaGuardia's solution to the street vendors crowding the sidewalks. He moved them indoors, and they never left.

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Inside, you'll find Peter's Meat Market, which has been here since 1970 and makes fresh sausage daily. Mike's Deli, which makes fresh mozzarella in front of you and builds sandwiches that are unreasonably good. A man rolling cigars by hand in the corner, which has been happening here for decades. A craft beer bar, the Bronx Beer Hall, is the perfect place to hang out with the Fordham students or watch a Yankees game. If you buy a sandwich at Casa della Mozzarella or Calabria Pork Store, you can eat it with your drink at the Beer Hall.

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The Bread Bakeries

Arthur Avenue has three bakeries within a two-block radius, and they are legitimately baking the best bread in New York City. The arguments between their loyal customers have been going on for decades and will not be resolved here.

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Addeo Bakers on Hughes Avenue is known for bread that locals will drive hours to buy. Their chicola bread — made with chunks of crispy cured pork baked into the loaf — is one of those things you eat once and spend years thinking about.

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Madonia Brothers Bakery on Arthur Avenue is the one that ended up on the cover of The New Yorker. Their rainbow cookies are made with fresh marzipan, their cannoli are filled to order, and their bread has been feeding this neighborhood since 1918.

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Terranova makes a crusty, dense Italian loaf baked in a coal oven that has its own devoted following among people who know the difference. Even though they have a commercial facility in Mount Vernon that also produces excellent bread, diehards come to the Bronx to get the bread baked in the coal oven.​

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The Butchers

This is where Arthur Avenue truly has no peer in New York City. Four butcher shops within two blocks of each other, each with a different specialty.

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Biancardi's at 2350 Arthur Avenue has been here since the 1930s and is a full-service operation.

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Vincent's Meat Market at 2374 Arthur Avenue occupies the space where my great-grandfather opened his store in 1918. It became Oteri's Meat Market, then the set for the 1955 film Marty starring Ernest Borgnine, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Peter De Luca has owned it since 1980. The prices are low, the quality is high, and their broccoli rabe sausage is a thing of singular beauty.

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Peter's Meat Market, inside the Retail Market, has been here since 1970 and makes several types of sausage every day. Their dry-aged steaks attract customers from across the city.

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Calabria Pork Store at 2338 Arthur Avenue is a relic of the era when butcher shops specialized entirely in one animal. Between 7,000 and 12,000 pounds of sausage hang from the ceiling at any given time — the most Instagrammable spot in the Bronx. Their soppressata comes sweet, hot, or very hot, and their 'nduja is the real Calabrian thing. 

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The Pasta Shop

Borgatti's Ravioli & Egg Noodles on 187th Street, across the street from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, has been making fresh pasta since 1935. You pick your pasta type and thickness — they have a chart — and watch them cut it to order on machines that have been running for decades. Their ravioli, their lasagna sheets, and their egg noodles are used by restaurants across the city. Bring a cooler if you're driving.

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Fish Markets

Cosenza's Fish Market and Randazzo's, both on Arthur Avenue, are among the oldest businesses in the neighborhood.  You can eat oysters and clams at the sidewalk raw bars, which is how we open our Afternoon Aperitivo Tour. Oysters are the original New York City street food, dating back to the 19th century, when oyster carts were everywhere, sourcing oysters directly from New York waters. I recommend the Blue Points from Long Island, 

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Wholesale Market

Teitel Brothers is the place for imported Italian foods — Parmigiano Reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars, San Marzano tomatoes, specialty pastas, anchovies from Sicily, and Calabrese tuna you won't find for a better price anywhere outside of Italy. It was started by two Jewish brothers from Austria in 1915, who were told they would never sell anything if people knew they were Jewish. They put a Star of David into the tilework of the entryway as proof that they were just as much a part of the community as anyone, and the business and the mosaic star are still there.

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Where to Eat Lunch

Mario's has been open since 1919 and is one of the oldest Italian American restaurants in New York City. Francis Ford Coppola wanted to use it for the restaurant scene in The Godfather and was turned down. What it's most famous for among people who actually know it is the off-the-menu pizza — a thin, coal-oven-baked pizza available only to those who know to ask. Ask.

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Dominick's serves family-style at communal tables with no menu — the staff tells you what's good. Big portions, vinyl tablecloths, cash only. Do not argue with this.

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Zero Otto Nove serves more contemporary Italian food similar to what you'll find in Salerno, where chef Roberto Paciullo is from. Here you'll find Neapolitan-style pizza cooked in a wood-burning oven. 

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Enzo's is a beloved neighborhood institution that is especially welcoming of larger groups. San Gennaro is a cozy trattoria, and Tra Di Noi is a red-tablecloth gem where I highly recommend ordering from the specials chalkboard.

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The Church

Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Belmont Avenue is the neighborhood's spiritual center, built in the early twentieth century at the request of the community's founders. The July feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is one of the oldest and largest Italian American celebrations in New York. Even if you're not religious, it's worth stepping inside.

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What to Buy and Bring Home

If you're shopping to bring things home, the order of priority is: bread (eat it today or tomorrow), fresh mozzarella (same day), sausage (keeps well), dry goods from Teitel Brothers (lasts indefinitely), and freshly cut pasta from Borgatti's. Bring a cooler if you're driving. Bring an insulated bag if you're taking Metro North — you will fill it.

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How to Get the Most Out of Your Visit

Come hungry. Plan for at least two to three hours if you want to browse properly and eat. Start at the Retail Market to get your bearings, work your way down Arthur Avenue toward 187th Street, and double back on Hughes Avenue, where some of the best shops are. Plan to shop, stop, and rest with a cappuccino and cannoli mid-way. Peek inside the church and light a candle. Finish with lunch. Plan to make a full morning or afternoon out of your shopping trip. 

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Talk to the people behind the counters. They have things to tell you that you won't find in any guide, including this one. The shopkeepers here are not employees; they are the owners, their children, or their grandchildren. They remember customers. They have opinions. That relationship is the whole point of Arthur Avenue and the thing that no supermarket or delivery app has ever been able to replicate.

 

Come With a Guide

If you want the full story — the history behind every shop, the insider knowledge of what to order and why, and the connections that turn a food walk into something you remember for years — join us on the Arthur Avenue Shopping & Tasting Tour.  Our guides know this neighborhood inside and out, and our family has been part of it since 1918.

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The tour runs every Saturday at 11 am. $95 per person includes all on-the-go tastings and a sit-down Italian American feast at Mario's. Limited to 14 guests.

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For those who prefer the afternoon, our Afternoon Aperitivo Tour runs Saturdays at 3 pm — the neighborhood's highlights, oysters at Cosenza's raw bar, and an aperitivo spread at Mario's private bar. $125 per person, including wine.

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Book the Shopping & Tasting Tour · Book the Aperitivo Tour

Getting there: Metro North Harlem Line from Grand Central to Fordham Station — 16 minutes. Driving: park at 2356 Hoffman Street, directly across from the Arthur Avenue Retail Market.

Hours: Most shops open 7 am–5 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sundays. 

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Meeting point for tours: In front of the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, 2344 Arthur Avenue. Stand at the Arthur Avenue entrance, not the Hughes Avenue loading dock.

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