
Five amazing secrets of Little Italy
You can live in New York for years and still not know everything about its vibrant neighborhoods.
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Go for the pasta but stick around for more incredible things to do in Little Italy like the Feast of San Gennaro.
Little Italy fills every tourist’s must-see list—its romantic, old New York atmosphere is world famous and its authentic pasta dishes, served by the best Italian restaurants, can’t be beaten. The once-Italian enclave stretched from Canal to Houston Streets, between Lafayette Street and the Bowery, as immigrants from Naples and Sicily flooded the area in the 1880s. Now, it’s mostly on the blocks surrounding Mulberry Street, where some of the trendiest clothing stores and the best bars in NYC are located, but what's left is still going strong.
Yes, it is one of the most iconic neighborhoods of NYC and offers a taste of New York Italian specialties hard to find anywhere else.
Its food! And the Feast of San Gennaro Festival.
Eat. Pull up a chair at one of the neighborhood's oldest restaurants (Lombardi's or Angelo's of Mulberry Street) to experience Little Italy in the best way—through its food. And finish off a hearty meal with a cannoli from Caffé Palermo.
Don't just eat Italian food and think you're done. Check out the Little Italy Street Art Project to see some impressive murals by a group of diverse artists. The initiative offers tours or you can go solo.
Take a historical walking tour to learn more about the neighborhood's history, its immigrant roots and how much of those roots still exist today. GPSMYCITY has a self-guided tour you can take right now.
Shop its specialty stores (Di Palo's Fine Foods, Ferrara, and Alleva Dairy)
Check out the New Museum and see what’s on right here.
Grab a glass of wine at La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels, which has an approachable list of vin that’s complemented by chef Eric Bolyard’s “fringe France” cooking. Otherwise, head over to The Randolph at Broome, a 1,500-square-foot dive that serves classic cocktails (think rickeys and fizzes) and frozen boozy slushies.
Canal Street
Soho, a shopping enclave full of high-end boutiques and buzzworthy pop-up shops, as well as a sea of street vendors touting designer knockoffs in the form of sunglasses, handbags and scarves. Though many of the art galleries that made Soho New York a contemporary-art hot spot are gone, some excellent art spaces remain. Walk along the cobblestone streets and find great New York restaurants, bars and things to do in this downtown neighborhood.
You can live in New York for years and still not know everything about its vibrant neighborhoods.
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Consult our list and head straight for these downtown stores, including jewelry and shoe stores and standout boutiques
Out-of-towners and locals get psyched for the annual Feast of San Gennaro, and for good reason: the event includes the best spots in Little Italy. Eat at some...
At Little Italy's annual Feast of San Gennaro, take a bite of the world's biggest cannoli and eat some really great pasta
Discover Time Out original video