Seven Tastings From Chinatown to Little Italy
Dumplings, pork buns, and a cannoli, strung together with the street history most visitors walk straight past.
Chinatown and Little Italy share a border about three blocks wide, and most visitors cross it without registering the change. This walk is built around that crossing. It opens with dumplings on the Chinatown side and ends at a Little Italy bakery counter two hours later.
The seven tastings are counted as lunch, and reviewers keep saying the same thing about the portions. "It was all full size portions," one reviewer wrote in June 2026. Arrive hungry.
Tasty Tours NYC was founded in 2023, and all six food stops on this route are independent shops. The tour comes in two formats, a public group departure four times a day and a private booking twice.
Chinatown and Little Italy Food TourTwo hours, seven tastings, run by Tasty Tours NYC. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.www.viator.comThe Chinatown Half
The Chinatown stops run savory first. Tasty Dumpling opens the walk, and the guide fills the wait with how those bottoms get so crisp. Mei Lai Wah follows with char siu bao, sweet roast pork in a bun the bakery turns out baked or steamed. It has been in Chinatown since 1968 and moved to 41 Mott Street in the summer of 2025. Older directions still point at Bayard.
Then it turns sweet. Spongies Cafe pairs a Hong Kong-style sponge cake with a homemade Thai tea. Most stops run about ten minutes, and the walk keeps moving between them.
Crossing Into Little Italy
The crossing happens at the Welcome to Little Italy sign, where the Empire State Building lines up behind it for anyone who wants the photograph. Piemonte Ravioli comes next, a family pasta shop that opened in 1920 and has held the same Grand Street storefront since 1930. The operator lists the tasting as handmade cheese ravioli under a marinara made in house.
Nolita Pizza handles the pizza, burrata on a base that stays thin and crisp at the edge. Eileen's Special Cheesecake closes the route, where the last tasting is a choice between a cannoli and a slice of cheesecake. Decide on the way over.
The Stops Where Nobody Eats
Five of the eleven stops have no food attached. Mosco Street has Chinese street art and a sightline to One World Trade Center. Doyers Street bends sharply halfway along, and the guide covers the tong-war killings that gave the bend its Bloody Angle name in the early 1900s. Mulberry Street Bar played a mob hangout in The Sopranos and turned up in Donnie Brasco, and Tristan Eaton's 2013 Audrey Hepburn mural sits a short walk along the same street.
Before You Book
Public departures leave at 10:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 2:30 PM. The private booking runs at 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM. Departures run Tuesday through Sunday, with nothing scheduled on Monday.
The tasting menu is fixed, and the operator states it does not suit vegan, gluten-free, or nut-allergic guests. That is the one hard filter on the list.
- Bookings take one to fifteen travelers, priced per person
- Bottled water is included; gratuities are not
- Strollers are fine and service animals are allowed
- Rated suitable for all fitness levels, with a note against poor cardiovascular health
- Across 426 reviews on Viator, this tour averages 4.9
The route runs about a mile, covered on foot the whole way, along blocks that stay narrow and crowded. That is the part to weigh before booking. It is a mid-priced booking, and what you see at checkout is what you pay.
The walk starts outside Tasty Dumpling on Mulberry Street, where the guide meets everyone at the door. The map pin above sits on Mei Lai Wah, the pork bun counter partway along the route. Navigate to Tasty Dumpling to find the group. There is no hotel pickup, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure. The operator also cancels and refunds for bad weather.
Eileen's is the last stop, and the guide points you toward the trains from there. A 10:30 departure puts you back on the street by half past twelve with the rest of the afternoon open.