Pining for a plantain? Dying for douhua? Embark on The Big Onion's culinary tour of the Lower East Side, Chinatown and Little Italy, which features nibbles from various ethnic shops and markets, including Italian specialty store Enoteca DiPalo. You'll also stop at tofu factory Kong Kee Food Corp. for some beany bites spiced with star anise.
This tour combines the history of the diverse Lower East Side with a series of small food sampling, or “noshing” stops from local shops and markets. The main focus of our tour is the history of the multi-ethnic Lower East Side emphasizing the neighborhoods of the Jewish East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown.
During the course of our walk we will sample about 10 different items, representing the Dominican, Jewish, Italian & Chinese communities of the Lower East Side. Most of these items are vegetarian or dairy. All food sampling will be done outdoors and we do not include restaurants on our tour. Our “noshing” tour uses the markets and shops to highlight the history, and this walk should not be considered a meal.
Big Onion will have ample guides at this very popular annual walk. We will be touring in multiple smaller groups. All tours last approximately two hours. We do start ON TIME. We walk between one and two miles during these two hours. We maintain a moderate walking pace, stopping at various sites along the tour.
The Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour costs $5 per person additional. This addition is included in the $25/$20 pricing and covers all food samples during the tour. Reservations are required. Refund Policy: Tour refunds (minus a $2 processing charge per person) are available by request up until 48 hours prior to the scheduled tour. Cancellations less than 48 hours prior to the tour or no shows will not be refunded. If Big Onion cancels a walk for any reason a full refund will be provided.
Since 1991, Big Onion Walking Tours has led locals and visitors alike on innovative and exciting tours through New York’s ethnic neighborhoods and historic districts. For more than two decades, Big Onion guides have lead tours that explore the diverse fabric of New York City. Our educator & graduate student guide lead tours that are the finest, most comprehensive, and thought provoking walks available. Over the years we have won numerous awards, including “Best Walking Tour in New York City” by New York Magazine, “Best Place to Take Out-of-Town Guests, 2014″ by the Village Voice, and “Best Urban Walking Tour in New York” by Forbes.com, and “New York’s most prestigious historical-tour company” by The Rough Guide to New York. We are also very pleased to have received the 2012, 2013 & 2014 “Award of Excellence” from TripAdvisor.
Big Onion has the finest group of tour guides in the city. We are not your traditional tour guides. Most of us are full-time graduate students researching and writing doctoral dissertations in history. Big Onion guides have high school or college teaching experience and are quite often researching topics relevant to the tours they are leading.