| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
|
Fun and Informitive !
|
| Wed, Apr 9 11:00 AM |
baybrook |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Other |
| Recently took the Lower East Side Food Tour with my wife and mom. We had a great time interacting with the shop owners. These folks are passionate about their food and it shows in the delicious samples we tried. Had the best dill pickles ever, right from the curing barrels at The Pickle Guys. Our Guide Nicole was wonderful, such a friendly and fun person to be around. She is very knowledgeable on both the food and the neighborhood around it. When you are done with the Midtown tourist sites and want to see the original culinary influences of this great city, give City Food Tours a call.
Brian .O |
|
Loved our tour!
|
| Sun, Apr 6 10:00 AM |
dupreesgal |
Female |
30-39 |
Local |
Family Without Children |
| We had our tour on April 6 at 10am. We were so pleased with how it turned out. Despite the chilly tempretures, we had a blast. Our guide, Nicole was wonderful and very knowledgeable. The food was delicious. I would reccommend this tour to anyone wanting to experience the Lower East side more intimately. |
|
|
Yum!!
|
| Sat, Apr 5 10:00 AM |
swiert017 |
Female |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| The Lower East Side Artisan tour was not only full of information but you come away with some really good places to re-visit at a later time.
It incorporated all the meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner along with notes on the history of the area and a little entertainment via Essex Food Market.
I would recommend this if you want a little insight into the area, and some good tips on where to find the best coffee/chocolate/dessert and meal ingredients.
YUM!! |
|
|
great tour
|
| Sun, Mar 30 10:00 AM |
cfd184 |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| We were lucky to have a small group. (7 people). Joyce was very knowledgeable and friendly. It was a wonderful day. |
|
|
Enlightening
|
| Sun, Mar 30 10:00 AM |
kristeller |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| I brought my 9-year old daughter on this tour, and she loved it as much as I did. The food was delicious and fascinating, mostly because it's food you don't ordinarily see or think to try. For example, the grape ice cream was wonderfully refreshing. The orange doughnut was too good for words. In addition to the food, we learned so much history about these small, independent shops. These shops really are a treasure, and this tour highlights the wonders and simplicity of food and drinks made by actual people using fresh ingredients that were obtained by people who where paid fairly for their labor (i.e. fair trade coffee beans). We are typically bombarded by advertisements for the franchised restaurants, but these small, independent shops are the heart and soul of our country. I thank City Food Tours for sharing with me the delicious beauty and simplicity of the small independent food shops. |
|
|
Interesting venture into lower east side NYC food
|
| Sat, Mar 22 10:00 AM |
athiede |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| My husband, daughter and I signed up for the artisan food tour and found little to disappoint us. The guide was great, sharing information about the history of the shops we visited, from a great donut shop to a very inventive coffee shop. We hit a sugar high at a local candy shop and then spent the remaining time at the Essex Market sampling everything from cheeses to a chicken dish prepared by the local butcher. The only disappointment was the fact that our tour was on Saturday and we were not able to visit a few of the Jewish owned shops since it was the Sabbath. It would have been nice if there had been some shops to take their place. When my husband and I come back to NYC, we would definitely like to come back to a few of these food boutiques in the lower east side. It was a fun experience. |
|
Interesting but with some shortcomings.
|
| Sat, Mar 22 10:00 AM |
bthiestand |
Male |
30-39 |
Local |
Group of Friends |
| I thought the leader of the group, Conrad, was a nice fellow who was obviously enthused with the topic, but I felt disappointed that at least two times during the tour he mentioned places that we would have gone had it not been Saturday (Shabbat) and the stores were closed (The Pickle Guy and Kossar's Bialys.) I really feel this should be listed on the tour description for the Saturday tour - " some stores may/will be closed on Saturdays."
Other parts of the tour, The Roasting Plant specifically, was very interesting but not what I would think of as artisan-style food. It felt a little too much like a commerical for the store, rather than a tasting sample. I felt similarly with the visit to Economy Candy. The guide basically just walked us to the store, told us a bit about it and said go inside and get something if you like.
The last part of the tour in the Essex Market was interesting also, but I felt that the samples of the food that we received, other than the cordon-bleu, were already provided by the vendors and not something special that had been arranged by the tour.
All in all, I enjoyed the tour but felt that for $40.00 a bit more food would have been provided to showcase the artisan foods in the area, rather than 2 shots of coffee, 2 bites of a donut, and a small piece of microwaved cordon-bleu.
Thanks for your time,
Brian Hiestand |
|
|
So interesting and entertaining
|
| Fri, Mar 21 11:00 AM |
KSNOWDEN |
Female |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| We were late, but Joyce, the tour guide, saved our samples and the explanations. I loved all the information, including why Wisconsin's cheese can't hold its "head" up near European samples that we tasted. I loved the samples of chocolate which I purchased as a hostess gift. Across from the coffee house where I had the best cup of coffee ever, I bought, at the bookstore we visited, a book that I am reading for more information about this immigrant area that is in the throes of gentrification.
I am definitely returning for more information and fun. |
|
|
Not much for the money
|
| Wed, Mar 19 11:00 AM |
dfmayes |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Other |
| This tour was ok, but not worth the $40. You can probably walk the neighborhood yourself and find all the food establishments. |
|
|
Hightly Educational and tasty, too!
|
| Fri, Mar 14 11:00 AM |
kathiemandel |
Female |
40-49 |
Combination |
Individual |
| I enjoyed this food tour of the lower east side immensely. The tour guide, Matt, was enthusiastic, extremely knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor and timing.
The tour was the perfect amount of time (2 hours) to get a good general idea of the unique history of the lower east side, specific nuggets of information about each food establishment, and current trends affecting the neighborhood (gentrification being an obvious one).
After the tour, I really felt as if I had learned quite a few interesting facts about the neighborhood and about coffee, chocolate, doughnuts, pickles, cheese and bialys! Speaking of those foods, they were all delicious. The food purveyors were well-chosen both for their excellent products and for the special qualities of their establishments-- be they design elements, production capabilities and/or novelties, or superior customer service values.
I would definitely like to go on another City Food Tours food tour! |
