Best Food Tours in NYC
Are you looking for the best food tours in NYC?
Food tours are a great way to discover a destination, and they are something I love to do whenever I travel. And as a native New Yorker, I’m rounding up the best food tours for your trip to NYC!
New York is known for being a melting pot of different cultures, and naturally, that extends to the food too! You can find just about every type of ethnic cuisine in NYC. Some of the most well-known cuisines in New York are Italian and Chinese, but you can also find Caribbean, Polish, Korean, and more!
The variety of food is one of the things I love about NYC — no matter what type of cuisine you’re craving, you can find it in New York (and you can probably find it at any time day or night too!)
Below I’ve rounded up the most delicious food tours for you. Many of these tours are focused on a specific neighborhood in NYC, allowing you to learn more about that area and its cuisine.
Most of these tours are priced between $60 and $120. Keep in mind that New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and food is no exception! But I think all of these tours offer good value since you’re getting plenty of food at each stop on the tour, plus a knowledgeable local guide.
All of the tours I’ve rounded up below can be booked on Viator, a tour platform I love using when I travel because they have a 24-hour free cancellation or change policy that offers maximum flexibility.
Ready for the food tours? Let’s dig in!
⭐ Short on time? These are the top tours and activities I recommend. If you book directly through a link on this page, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Stay to Wander!
Best Food Tours in NYC:
- Secret Food Tour of Chinatown and Little Italy
- Chelsea Market and High Line Guided Food Tour
- Greenwich Village Walking and Food Tasting Tour
Secret Food Tour of Chinatown and Little Italy
Chinatown and Little Italy are two adjacent neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan that combine perfectly for a food tour! Over the course of three hours, you’ll explore both of these iconic NYC neighborhoods.
On this tour, you’ll get the opportunity to try handmade fried dumplings, baked roast pork bun, and mochi donut holes in Chinatown. Then you’ll head over to Little Italy where you’ll enjoy brick-oven pizza, mini cannolis, and New York-style cheesecake. This is definitely a tour you’ll want to come hungry to!
Hell’s Kitchen Guided Food Tour
Another delicious NYC food tour is this Hell’s Kitchen tour. Hell’s Kitchen got its name from a motorcycle gang that frequented this once-gritty Midtown neighborhood. However, the neighborhood now has a lot to offer in terms of food, and you’ll discover the highlights of Hell’s Kitchen cuisine on this 2.5-hour tour.
On this small-group tour, you’ll stroll the streets of Hell’s Kitchen with a local guide and visit some hidden gems. You’ll also try an eclectic variety of cuisines from Japanese barbecue to Indian tacos.
Chelsea Market and High Line Guided Food Tour
Chelsea Market is a bustling indoor food hall that can honestly be kind of overwhelming if you don’t know the best spots! That’s why this three-hour tour is a great way to experience the best food at the market.
You’ll sample Sicilian–style pizza, pastries, donuts, and more as you learn about the history of Chelsea Market and the surrounding neighborhood. Then you’ll head outside for a guided walking tour on the Chelsea High Line, a unique linear park built on former elevated railroad tracks above the city streets.
Greenwich Village Walking and Food Tasting Tour
Greenwich Village is one of the most famous bohemian neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan. It’s always been popular with artists, writers, and musicians throughout the decades in NYC. It’s also a great neighborhood for foodies, and this food tour is the perfect way to discover the best spots.
As you walk through the tree-lined streets of Greenwich Village with your local guide, you’ll stop to sample falafel, pizza, pommes frites, MORE pizza, arancini, and cupcakes… yes, it’s safe to say that you should not eat anything before coming on this three-hour tour through one of NYC’s most charming neighborhoods.
The Story of Lower East Side’s Food Culture
The Lower East Side is a hip neighborhood with a lot of history. Immigrants including Italians, Poles, and Eastern European Jews have all called the LES home throughout history and left their mark on the cuisine.
On this three-hour tour, you’ll eat your way through the neighborhood and make your way over to nearby Chinatown, trying everything from pizza to dumplings to knish to empanadas.
Midtown and Central Park Food Tour
Midtown might not be the coolest neighborhood in NYC (it’s where you’ll find lots of corporate offices and the tourist crowds of Times Square) but it’s growing in terms of good spots for food. On this tour, you’ll discover hidden gems in Midtown, including a classic New York diner and an underground market.
You’ll sample bagels, donuts, pastrami sandwiches, chocolate, and more on this two-hour tour. And you’ll finish just a few blocks away from Central Park, which is the perfect location to go for a walk or a bike ride and burn off some of the calories you just consumed on this delicious food tour.
Flavors of Flushing: Exploring New York’s Biggest Chinatown
If you’re looking for something off the beaten path and authentic, I highly recommend this tour. Flushing is a neighborhood in Queens that is also known as a larger Chinatown. Unlike Manhattan’s small Chinatown, Flushing is not a place that many tourists go to, giving it a much more authentic feeling.
This two-hour tour with a knowledgeable local guide includes samples of delicious foods like Chinese fried pancakes, pork burgers, rice rolls, Taiwanese fried chicken, and handmade dumplings.
Williamsburg Food Tasting & Walking Tour
Williamsburg is a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn that is heaven for foodies. There are so many delicious foods to try in this neighborhood, and this three-hour tour is the perfect way to discover all the highlights.
As you walk around the streets of Williamsburg and learn more about the neighborhood and its history, you’ll make various stops to try food like pizza, chicken sandwiches, dumplings, donuts, and more.
New York’s West Village Food Tour
The West Village is another one of the coolest downtown neighborhoods in Manhattan. It has some overlap with the adjacent Greenwich Village. This three-hour food tour covers some of the best culinary hotspots in the West Village. You’ll sample tons of food as you stroll the charming streets of this neighborhood.
You’ll stop at one of the best pizza joints in the city, try Thai food, Italian arancini, Mexican tacos, and a real New York bagel, before finishing your tour at one of the best cupcake shops in NYC.
New York City Food Cart Walking Tour
Food carts are everywhere in NYC. You’ll see them selling hot dogs, gyros, bagels, quesadillas, hamburgers, giant pretzels… really any type of street food you can imagine! But not all food carts are worth it. Some of them offer overpriced and low-quality food that might even be a little bit questionable.
Here’s where this two-hour tour comes in! You’ll hit up the best spots in either Midtown or the Financial District depending on which location you choose, and learn about these ubiquitous food carts from your local guide. And you’ll eat at the carts that are the most popular lunch spots for NYC’s office workers.
Union Square Donut Adventure & Walking Food Tour
These last two tours are for anyone with a major sweet tooth! If you want to skip the savory and only taste the sweet, you need to try this delicious two-hour donut tour in Union Square and Greenwich Village.
Accompanied by a local guide, you’ll stroll through these two vibrant neighborhoods and learn more about the area. You’ll also make four stops at some of the best donut shops in New York City.
East Village Donut Adventure & Walking Food Tour
Another donut-themed food tour is this East Village tour. The East Village is a grittier neighborhood with a fascinating history, and if I had to choose, I’d say this tour has the best donut stops on it!
In addition to learning about the history of the East Village from your knowledgeable guide, you’ll also stop at four yummy donut shops on this indulgent two-hour tour perfect for anyone who loves sweets.
Best Food Tours in New York City
These are the best food tours in NYC to help you discover the city’s amazing cuisine.
To recap, these are the top three NYC food tours I recommend:
- Secret Food Tour of Chinatown and Little Italy
- Chelsea Market and High Line Guided Food Tour
- Greenwich Village Walking and Food Tasting Tour
Food tours are a fun activity that give you a different perspective on the place you’re visiting. You can learn a lot about a destination from its food, and that’s certainly the case in New York.
Not to mention, food tours are a simply delicious activity!
I hope you found the perfect food tour from this list, and enjoy your trip to NYC!
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