West Village Food Tour - June 16, 2023 A wonderful, 3-hour…read moretour. Informative and delicious! First of all, Josh in the office was more than helpful. I admit I made his job more difficult than necessary due to the multiple changes I needed to make. Josh was courteous and helpful and, in no way, did he give me impression of being bothered. Andrea was the tour guide for myself and two friends. Our tour group was small which I felt was a stroke of luck. Andrea sent an email to each of us the day before our tour which reminded us of the tour, our meeting spot and time. She also noted that the tour would begin promptly at the scheduled time. She also asked if we had any dietary restrictions, food allergies or questions. I replied to her email asking for suggestions for places to visit after our tour had concluded. She responded promptly and gave us some helpful suggestions. Andrea cheerfully met us at the predetermined time. After introductions, Andrea gave us a brief overview of what we were to see, answered our questions and confirmed that there were no food allergies she needed to be aware of. We stopped at Faicco's Italian Specialties where we sampled soppressata and rice balls, a.k.a. Arancini in front of Faicco's. Both were excellent. As we snacked, Andrea gave us a history of the place. Our next stop was Bleeker Street Pizza. Andrea gave us a brief history before going in. We ate slices of of Nona Maria pizza. Then the previous owner, Greg Greenwood, joined us. He gave us a detailed history of the restaurant, which his brother, Captain Douglas Greenwood, opened in 2004. Captain Greenwood tragically passed away from 9/11 illness and ownership passed to Greg, who recently sold the pizzeria, although he still works there on Fridays. The pizza was fantastic! I will definitely visit again. As we walked through the West Village, Andrea gave us more history of the neighborhood, which included a home that was only 9 feet wide and a former speakeasy!! Our third stop was Hudson Bagels. where we shared two delicious, traditional New York bagels with cream cheese. Our fourth stop was Galanga, a Thai restaurant. We each had a corn fritter and Chicken Satay. I loved the fritters but thought the chicken was a bit plain. The fifth restaurant was Mamoun's Falafel. My boring palate did not enjoy this treat, but the others did. Lastly we had a cupcake at Molly's Cupcakes, opened by a former school teacher and schoolhouse themed. We each ordered different cupcakes, all of which were yummy. We ended the tour at our original meeting place. Andrea was wonderful, personable and informative. I inquired about other tours Andrea gave so that I can book another tour with Andrea.

We went on the food tour of the Lower East Side with Adam of Sidewalk tours. It was awesome. This…read moretour takes you through all the cuisines of the various populations that have settled in the Lower East Side. We started at an amazing Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery. This bakery has been in this location since 1910. Yonah is fifth generation. We had a potato knish to die for and you can see why this bakery is still in business. Unfortunately, our guide Adam, as he went over the history of the Lower East Side, said that very soon this little knish shop may be pushed out due to the high rents and development that is taking over this neighborhood. We moved on to Katz deli- skipping the line- because we were on the tour :) and had pastrami. Pastrami is not really my thing, but even I can taste that the Katz Pastrami melts in your mouth. We also had rugula from Russ and Daughter's. The rugula was delicious. My sister said she could have eaten 10 more pieces. As we walked, Adam filed us in on the history of the area. Along the way, we stopped at Economy candy. This place has every old fashioned candy you could ever want as well as modern favorites. It is candy floor to ceiling and very fun. We then went to Essex market. I could have spent a whole day there. It has both prepared foods and many market stalls for fresh fruits and veggies, dairy meats, sweets, really everything you could want. If I lived in NYC, I would shop there every week. We stopped at Arinchini Brothers for orrincici (rice balls) which were fabulous. I wish I could have taken some home but they ship so I'll get them that way. We also stopped by Essex Olive and Spice where I bought two bottles of fig balsamic vinegar, which may be the best balsamic I have ever tasted and I have been to Italy, France and Croatia. The olive oil there was also special. I went back to Essex market after the tour and spent more time there. So much to eat and buy and so little time. Okay so moving on we stopped at North Dumpling to buy some of the best dumplings in the city. The pork dumplings were so flavorful. I was pretty stuffed by now but we moved on to the Pickle Guys where I tasted pickeled pineapple which I would have purchased if I had not had to put it in my luggage. Sounds gross, but trust me. It was awesome. We then stopped at Kossar's Bialys for what I had been waiting for and they did not disappoint. We had an everything bagel and a bialy and they were... well, NY perfect. You may think you have had a bagel, but if you haven't had a NYC bagel, you haven't tasted bagels. We moved on to the Doghnut Plant where they have a tres Leche donut, which they were out of, and a wonderful blueberry cake donut that was a nice ending to a wonderful food and culture tour. I highly recommend it.

During this strange world, I've been enjoying taking advantage of all the amazing virtual…read moreopportunities out there we may not otherwise get because of our world circumstances. One of these opportunities includes The New York Adventure Club, a tour company that in typical times hosts in-person "adventures" around New York. I love the idea of a group of citizen experts showing off all the awesome things in their city. In normal times, it looks like they tour museums, historical sites and lots of hidden "secrets" around the city. I've always been interested in the arts and history of New York and have really enjoyed hoping on these virtual experiences. So far, I've attended two virtual events, "The Secrets of TriBeCa: Lofts, Artists, & Alleyways" led by Gardiner and "The Famous Gilded Age Balls that Forever Changed NYC" led by Kristen. I would easily attend more. I was really impressed with the breadth of knowledge of these guides, and how much time, energy and thought was put into the research and assembly of these webinars. In particular, Gardiner grew up in TriBeCa and had such a personal spin to his entire virtual event, which was super cool. For a $10 ticket to these online events, you're getting so much more in value. I'm so pleasantly thrilled with the type of content they offer and will definitely be attending more of these in the future. If you live outside of NYC, definitely consider hopping on one of these fantastic events and learning something new! Love this cool business.

I attended a Brunch Classics cooking class at Essex Market on Saturday, August 13, 2022 organized…read moreby New York Adventure Club and was stunned that even though this was an indoor event with approximately 12 people sitting ultra-closely side by side around a prep island, that the class leader, Chef Jon Lovitch was permitted to actively discourage mask wearing among the participants during his opening remarks. His reasoning was that in eating some of the dishes he would be preparing, we would get "cinnamon and sugar all over our mouths," and therefore he emphasized we should NOT wear a mask throughout the class since the CDC had recently relaxed those guidelines, and "we should all be getting back to normal." It was obvious that I was the only mask wearer and that I would continue to wear my mask in response, so he turned to me in front of everyone and asked if I was OK with everyone else not wearing a mask, essentially trying to pressure me into removing mine. I resisted the combination of both public peer pressure and mask-shaming and did not remove it except to eat and then I kept those moments ultra-brief. I'm a breast cancer survivor and have to be extra careful at indoor events where people are seated in close proximity to one another and are not wearing masks. In other instances of ultra-poor planning by the New York Adventure Club, It should be noted that no napkins were provided together with the food-sampling plates and forks, which was curious as either purposeful or an oversight given the heavy-duty negative pressure not to wear masks from the class leader; that the elevator to the floor with the demo kitchen where the class was being held was turned off to that floor so that someone in a wheelchair could not even reach the class at all; that only two of the four recipes were printed out and those were only distributed at the end of the class, preventing someone from taking notes on the recipes in real time as with most well-run cooking classes; and that when I tried to speak to the group's owner, Corey William Schneider, who was in attendance at the class at all times, he brushed me off completely and told me to only give him feedback at the end of the class (he was busy taking photos throughout but otherwise remained completely silent). In short, I can't recommend any of this group's in-person events, because there is not a sufficient emphasis on protecting the health and well-being of participants, and if you read their other Yelp reviews, you'll see that many of their events actually end up getting cancelled. I also believe they may be violating the Americans With Disabilities Act with some of their lack of organization and socially irresponsible messaging. So if you have any kind of health condition or are disabled, please be very careful about attending any of this group's in-person events. And if you attend any of their cooking classes with Chef Jon Lovitch, you should be prepared to resist concerted pressure to remove your mask if you are someone who typically wears one at indoor events where you're sitting side by side with a lot of other people who aren't mask wearers. Each person has to decide about mask wearing for themselves now, but I don't think the New York Adventure Club should be actively supporting not wearing masks in close quarters, or they risk litigation should someone becomes ill as a result.

The tour guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He took us from Chinatown to Washington Square…read morePark. We saw so many places including The Raven Knight Social Club, where John Gotti did business. It's now a clothing store called Den of Thieves. I'd definitely suggest it.

If you're a fan of the mafia, this is definitely the tour to do our tour guides. gave us the…read moreabsolute best tour that you would absolutely imagine and all the food we tasted and the pastries at the end were amazing

Wonderful tour of an amazing NYC landmark! Great tidbits and cool use of AI! Bob and Ed really…read morebring the building to life!

Our tour guide for the Woolworth Building was Bob Gelber. He was a true professional, could not…read morehave more knowledgeable or more considerate of the tour participants. We choose the 90-minute tour, and the time just flew by. The only downside was there was no place to sit, and the restrooms are not available to tour participants. Neither are something the tour operator could do anything about. Bob, Thank You, your tour was the most interesting event in my seven days in New York City. Five Stars.

Really fun tour and super informative!…read more Great for big group or small groups. We had 4 people in our party but the tour total was about 25 people & by the end of the tour we had gotten to know everyone and were all friends. At least half of our tour were locals from NY which right off the bat was a great sign this isn't your typical touristy thing. Such a great activity to do with out of town friends b/c It feels like a local secret, you learn a lot about the history of beer in NYC, and you drink a lot of tasty beer. We went on the Express Tour. I cannot wait to go on the regular tour next time!

This was AWESOME! Marshal was incredibly knowledgeable! Great time all around! I would do it again!read more

Went on my 3rd B.O. walking tour and somehow this is my first review. The other two were years…read moreago, but I remember enjoying them as well. This weekend I went on the Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour and it was exceptional. I forget the name of our guide (he was a PhD student and professor) but he was packed full of info, very comfortable presenting it, and all around a top notch guide. Two hours of lots of food and a moderate amount of walking. Fantastic way to spend an afternoon, highly recommended, and now I have to go on more of their walks.

We loved our walking tour about immigrants in New York City. Natalie was so knowledgable!read more

We went on two full day tours with him and couldn't be more happy. He is both knowledgable and…read morepassionate about New York and you can tell he loves what he's doing . We were first timers to New York and really appreciated that he customized the tour to our interests while hitting the must-sees and giving us history, backstories, and trivia along the way. (he's also a great photographer :). With his warm and upbeat personality, the time flew by and we wish we had more time to explore with him. New York is a great city and even greater with a great guide. Highly recommend!

My husband gave me a tour for the two of us as a gift and we loved it! We went this past June 1…read moreweekend and really loved the way we felt so connected to the feel of downtown NYC as it was when the British negotiated land rights from the Dutch, and then where all the rioting and rabble-rousing took place at the onset of the American Revolution. Karen knew the answers to EVERY question and personalized the tour based on the group (we had two Brits in the group). I love economic and gender history and Karen seemed to be an expert in these and everything else she discussed. I look forward to reading her books and recommending her tour to anyone visiting New York (or those who live there like I do).

Karen Q's love of history and discovery is infectious and gives me hope. We learned about the…read moredismantling of statues, taunting, cycles of publishing and social networks--not unique to our time. This conflict and difference is part of a larger search for truth, purpose and meaning of what it is to be American--where what unites us is more important than what divides us.