ABOUT SIDEWALK FOOD TOURS OF NYC

Sidewalk Food Tours was founded in New York City in 2011 by Joshua Hirsch. Long before he started the company, Josh loved walking the city, trying restaurants, and finding the small neighborhood places he would later bring friends and family back to.

He was especially drawn to the places that had a story behind them—old-school delis and bakeries, family-run restaurants, specialty food shops, pizzerias, and neighborhood institutions that had been serving New Yorkers for generations. Over time, he built his own mental list of places worth seeking out.

The idea for Sidewalk Food Tours came together after Josh took a friend on a long walking tour of Lower Manhattan. He loved sharing the history and stories of the neighborhoods, but after hours of walking, they were hungry. That sparked a pretty simple idea: why not combine a great New York walking tour with the foods and restaurants that help tell the neighborhood’s story?

Josh began leading the tours himself, and Sidewalk Food Tours was born.

Fifteen years later, we’re still doing what we started doing in 2011: walking neighborhoods, eating a lot of food, finding places we think are worth sharing, and introducing guests to New York through the people, history, and food that make its neighborhoods different from anywhere else.

Today, our New York City food tours explore the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village, two neighborhoods with very different food traditions and stories. We visit a mix of longtime neighborhood institutions and newer favorites, while our local guides share the history, architecture, people, and cultures that shaped the streets we’re walking.

We also put a lot of thought into the food. We don’t choose a stop just because it’s famous or has thousands of online reviews. We taste the food, consider its connection to the neighborhood, get feedback from our guides and guests, and think about how each tasting fits with the rest of the tour. Some places make the cut. Others don’t.

We believe a great food tour should leave you with a full belly and an inspired mind. By the end of your tour, we hope you’ve eaten enough for a hearty meal, learned something about New York you didn’t know before, and discovered a few places you’ll want to come back to on your own.

That’s the New York we love showing people.

Bon voyage!

SIDEWALK FOOD TOURS

New York is a city best explored on foot—and with something good to eat along the way. Our food tours take you through some of Manhattan’s most interesting neighborhoods, where the food, history, architecture, and people all help tell the story of the city.

Follow our local guides through the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village, stopping at neighborhood restaurants, bakeries, specialty food shops, and other places we’ve discovered over years of exploring and eating our way through New York. Along the way, you’ll hear the stories behind the foods you’re tasting and the neighborhoods you’re walking through.

We offer small-group public food tours, private tours for families and friends, and corporate team-building food tours for groups of all sizes. Whether you’re visiting New York for the first time or you’ve lived here for years, our goal is to show you a side of the city you might not discover on your own.

Come hungry. We’ll take care of the rest.