Retired NYPD Guided Gangster, Crime and Food Walk
5
Retired NYPD Guided Gangster, Crime and Food Walk
By Mafia Food Tours
About
Ages 12-110, max of 20 per group
Duration: 3h 30m
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
English
- Pizza, eggplant parmigiana, cannoli
- Pizza , eggplant parmigiana, cannoli
- Departure details
- 302 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003, USA PM experience please meet inside the meeting point called "John's of 12 street" on AM experience meet in front of the same location
- New York, NY, USA We operate in the mafia neighborhoods located throughout lower east's Manhattan
Return details- 108 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013, USA Pastry Shop
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Stroller accessible
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Wheelchair accessible
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 241402P2- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- What you can expect during your visit
- Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
Community- Safety precautions are provided by the property and are not checked by Tripadvisor for accuracy.
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 241402P2
Itinerary
- You’ll have 2 starting optionsSee departure details
- 1East VillageSee detailsPass by188 1st Ave.
- 2John's of 12th StreetStop: 45 minutesSee details
- 3St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery ChurchSee details
- 4Russo'sStop: 15 minutesSee details
- 5New York Marble CemeterySee details
- 6East VillageStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 7Elizabeth Street GardenSee details
- 8Albanese Meats & PoultryStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 9Liz Christy Bowery Houston Community GardenSee details
- 10Little ItalyStop: 30 minutesSee details
See 3 more stops
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About the operator
Mafia Food Tours
47
New York City, New York
Joined in January 2020
#49 of 285 Food & Drink in New York City
- grahamhA851GK00An Excellent Choice!This was so much fun! John was an excellent and absorbing host, who managed everything expertly. Great food, great history! I was surprised there are still a few physical remnants of NY's immigrant (and Mafia) past. Did I mention - excellent food?
- JulleKi00Good if you know the mafia storiesThe tour was fine but you need to know a lot about the mafia stories already to appreciate it and keep up. We skipped one food visit so we only had one with a huge meal instead. I would definitely have preferred a few short stops with smaller bites instead of so much food at once.
- barbhenz00Great fun and food!We had the best time! Our tour guide was Jason and he was extremely informative and super engaging! We ended up having a schedule/restaurant change and I am so glad it happened! We ended up getting a 4 course sit down dinner and I think my mom has a little crush on the owner, lol. Food and service were great. And we really had a great group too! Only 12 people on the tour. Please be advised, there is some walking, I was concerned that it was going to be too much for my mom but Jason kept a great pace for her.Highly recommend! I will probably do it again when I go back with my husband...
- g0gsm00A must for mob fans.Amazing experience, Johnathan was a fantastic guide. Wonderful history and food. The tour was meant to last 3hours but thankfully it was so enjoyable it lasted 4 hours.
- U6932QZdebbiep00ExcellentMe and my husband went on this tour and it was great. Really interesting and great food stops along the way. Highly recommended and a must do if interested in crime
- B3338UJpaulr00Ask for John!John was fantastic! Made it an extremely enjoyable and personalized experience. Best tour guide of any kind that we have had.
- hannahbS4432RT00Mafia and Food TourThis was an excellent way to spend an evening. We got to explore parts of NYC we had never been to before. Our guide was super knowledgeable and had great energy. The foods stops were fabulous and will be going on our lists of places to eat the next time we visit. We had a fantastic time!
- Greg R00A unique NYC tour unlike any other!This tour was the most fun tour I’ve done in NYC! Jason was an incredibly knowledgeable and charismatic guide with seemingly endless knowledge about mafia history, and NYC history in general. He had fun facts, handouts, jokes, and great conversation throughout! There were 3 groups on the tour, and by the end of it we all felt like family, dining together in Little Italy and exchanging life stories and history lessons. The food was phenomenal, the history was fascinating, and it was such an adventure walking through East Village, Lower East Side, Nolita, and Little Italy with fun stories along the way. Thanks for an unforgettable experience!
- Discover2924436427900Mafia tour and food tastings of Little ItalyJason was wonderful in telling the history of buildings and haunts of the old Mafia. The food tastings were also great! He was very knowledgeable of the Little Italy area
- MinnesotaAkins00Lots of informationWe enjoyed the tour. It was different from some other walking tours we have taken in that there was a lot of information. Jason clearly knows his stuff and worked hard to share it with us. The headsets were helpful, but even with those there were times we were spread out and it was hard to hear him. The “sit down” at John’s was a highlight as the owner treated us by sharing stories with our group.
- C5322GBcarolines00So great!!This was such a fun tour! Jonathan was hilarious and very knowledgeable on the history of the mafia. We also liked how engaging and personal he felt. Definitely would do it again
- S3711EKjanetm00Skip this one unless you like dull stories, bad food and lots of walkingI desperately wanted to give this tour a higher rating but in all honesty, I can’t. Here’s why: - While the tour guide was the nicest most likeable guy on the planet, I didn’t feel like there was a continuity in the stories he told. In a town like NYC and in that particular part of town, I felt like there could have been - must have been - hundreds of sites where significant things happened but the ones we heard about were mostly not the kind of thing you’d get excited about. - There was way more walking than there needed to be and the tour took longer than it needed to. It felt like we were just wandering around while the guide would randomly point out things sort of related to the mob. There was no continuing narrative like you generally get in a walking tour. - The sites we saw were not impressive or memorable. - The food at the restaurants was not good. The pasta fagioli at the first stop was bland and they ran out of meatballs at the second stop so we ended up with eggplant (gross) and a really unremarkable sausage link in sauce. The cannoli were okay, but the place they took us had a “B”rating from the health department, and our guide had even told us earlier to never eat at a place with less than an A rating. Unless you are deeply knowledgeable about La Cosa Nostra and want to pick up some additional minutiae — or if you just want to walk two miles and eat really mediocre food — skip this one, especially at this price point.
- C8985WPderekt00Mafia tourJohn was a great speaker and kept everyone engaged, including remembering everyone’s first name! I recommend this tour to every NYC visitor
- Sheila D00History of the mafia and Italian food… great combo!He was knowledgeable and informative.The restaurants he picked had great food. Sometimes it was hard to hear him but he explained that he forgot his earbuds. He was very nice.
- annlZ75HP00La Costra NostraJason sure knows his La Costa Mostra stuff ! Great tour - delicious food . Highly recommend. We toured through many NYC neighborhoods too.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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Keiron M
Vancouver, Canada26 contributions
Jul 2021
I travel frequently and try to do off the beat tours where I can. This is likely the best tour I have ever done. Dennis is a former NYPD officer, but more importantly he grew up in Little Italy. He is passionate for the neighbourhood and its history. As you walk through the neighbourhood, locals say hello to Dennis as he is a local resident.
I am a university professor who teaches organized crime and has studied and taught Italian Organized Crime. With that said, I learned so much on this tour about the history and real insights to the role the mob played in the daily lives of the community.
To actually go to places where mob history was made, or visits places where the Godfather movies, Donny Barasco, and the Sopranos was filmed just added to the overall experience.
The part however that set this tour apart from others was that Dennis really cares about the guest experience. He asked the group multiple times what they wanted to do and or see. In addition, as it was a small group I met a nice family from Mexico City and another couple from Kansas.
Recommend you call Dennis on the day of the tour to confirm as some issues from third party booking companies.
Overall an amazing experience.
I am a university professor who teaches organized crime and has studied and taught Italian Organized Crime. With that said, I learned so much on this tour about the history and real insights to the role the mob played in the daily lives of the community.
To actually go to places where mob history was made, or visits places where the Godfather movies, Donny Barasco, and the Sopranos was filmed just added to the overall experience.
The part however that set this tour apart from others was that Dennis really cares about the guest experience. He asked the group multiple times what they wanted to do and or see. In addition, as it was a small group I met a nice family from Mexico City and another couple from Kansas.
Recommend you call Dennis on the day of the tour to confirm as some issues from third party booking companies.
Overall an amazing experience.
Written July 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PoliceTours
it was truly my pleasure to meet you. I enjoyed having as part of the experience- thank you again! Dennis
Written August 7, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Trip31578726070
1 contribution
Dennis was a great guide! Restaurants were incredible. He’s very thoughtful and tells such great stories! My 20-something girls were impressed!
Written July 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PoliceTours
Thank you again for coming out!. Enjoyed meeting you all. appreciate you taking time to review!
Written July 24, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.






















