New York City has some of the best street food in the world, but if you don’t know where to go, you could totally miss out on it. Discover the culinary delights of New York City’s food cart scene on this guided walking tour. Visit several of NYC’s food carts and food trucks and sample dishes served up right on the street.

Prebook your NYC food cart tour to secure your preferred date
Come hungry—taste different food cart dishes in Manhattan
Learn the stories behind these curbside kitchens during your walking tour
Choose a tour either in the Financial District or Midtown

What's Included

Five food tastings
Bottled water
Local guide

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting points

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Start time

12:00 pm

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

With the fast pace of life in New York City, food carts are a popular option for those who want a quick and delicious meal on the go. Manhattan’s street food scene has evolved from basic hot dog and pretzel pushers to seriously gourmet to-go offerings scattered throughout town. Choose from a walking tour of Midtown Manhattan or the Financial District, then meet your friendly foodie guide for an exploration of these curbside kitchens.

Stop at several different carts to sample delicious multicultural and fusion dishes. Because mobile food trucks change locations from day to day, the exact stops vary. Expect globally inspired offerings like Middle Eastern falafel, Korean short ribs, Pakistani curry, Greek souvlaki, Belgian waffles, and Mexican chocolate brownies.

Learn about the history of mobile dining as you walk from cart to cart, and see parts of the city you may otherwise have overlooked. Bring your sense of adventure and your appetite for a tasty and memorable afternoon. A percentage of all sales from this tour support the Street Vendor Project, an association that provides assistance to street vendors.

Bryant Park

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Midtown

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Infant seats available
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

5.0

66 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 66 reviews

Great experience

Tawana_M, Nov 2022

The food cart tour was fantastic! Our tour guide Amanda was great! We didn't just eat great food that was filling, but we also had a great learning experience from the culture and history of food carts. Highly recommend!

Excellent tour by a very knowledgable...

Nicola F, Jan 2018

Excellent tour by a very knowledgable guide. Food was awesome and plenty :

Our guide Brian Hoffman awesome...

Susan L, Dec 2017

Our guide Brian Hoffman awesome! Great history lesson on the financial district. Took us to the best food carts. The history of the food cart industry is so interesting. If you're looking for a real behind the scenes tour in New York, this is a good one.

It was a nice walk-about...

Denise S, Nov 2017

It was a nice walk-about. Interesting info but when comparing notes with some locals not all of the info provided is exactly true but enjoyable anyway. The tour guide was very spirited and interactive.

This was a fun and informative tour...

Marjorie S, Apr 2017

This was a fun and informative tour. The day was rainy, but our tour guide found places to duck in while we did our food sampling. We were able to taste a variety of food and finished with a delightful dessert. Learned about safety of the food sold from carts and all the regulations they had to abide by. I would recommend this tour to anyone who loves to sample different types of food and always wanted to learn about eating from all the various food carts. The next morning, I bought my breakfast at a food cart with confidence.

Amazing experience! It appeared that...

Olexandra Z, Dec 2016

Amazing experience! It appeared that I was the only guest, but the tour started and Brian, my tour guide, was just brilliant. There was a lot of interesting non-typical information, details about food cart industry, problems, traditions, and cultural specialities. A lot of detailed food talks around great food tastings - it's for you, food-lovers! It's not about hotdogs or pretzel, all tastings are fancy, unique and related to a particular culture of multicultural New York community. I learned so much about the inner life of the city. This tour is really a chance to dive inside and imagine how new yorkers have a lunch, relax, and live. And - of cause - a lot for tasty food as well as informal friendly chats with local traders.

Excellent tour. Brian our host was...

Adam_W, June 2016

Excellent tour. Brian our host was very knowledgeable, accomodating and a fun guide. Easy tour with lots of food. Definitely loved veronicas jerk chicken.

This tour was my favorite part of...

Anna L, June 2016

This tour was my favorite part of visiting NYC, 6 generous samplings from food carts that are from different ethnic groups. Highly recommend !

Great tour and a fantastic way to...

Shirley I, Mar 2016

Great tour and a fantastic way to see New York and eat like a local, the story behind how food carts originated and the modern problems they have was all very interesting. Every cart owner was happy to chat, answer questions and were very welcoming.

This tour was sooooo amazing. We...

Tamara H, Jan 2016

This tour was sooooo amazing. We were just with the 2 of us and the guide. We got told so many things about the history of food and foodcarts in NY and also about NY itself. The food we had at the carts was really very good as well and we tasted some food we never tried before. The last cart we went to was a funny one for us because it was Belgian waffles and the names of the waffles and snacks they have were all written in Dutch and since we are from Holland we could read what it said and the names were real funny :- I would really recommend this tour to anyone visiting NY...especially to the ones who want to do something outside of the box that every tourist does.

We loved it. It was informative, well...

Janis K, Nov 2015

We loved it. It was informative, well paced and delicious fun.

There were only four of us in the...

sfbyrnes, Oct 2015

There were only four of us in the group do we got a lot of attention from Doug. Each cart we visited represented a different country's cuisine. We learned about regulations in NYC on the carts. Learned history of food carts with many old pictures. A great time and very filling!

Brian was fun and informative. We...

Benjamin R, Sept 2015

Brian was fun and informative. We learned so much about the Food Cart culture and rules AND ate some delicious food. Highly recommend!

Bryan was a great host on this tour...

Rosemary E, July 2015

Bryan was a great host on this tour, he is a lot of fun but very informative. The food from all the trucks was great, we would never normally eat from trucks like this on the street.

This tour and our guide Bryan was...

Jacqueline M, July 2015

This tour and our guide Bryan was just great. Highly recommended. We tried food that we would not have been brave enough too and it was all great. We also learnt lots of the history, we had no idea about, very interesting, I won't spoilt it. I love doing the food tours, you learn so much and get to try the local cuisine, some better then restaurant quality, definitely the case here.

Loved this tour. Brian was awesome...

ikpetrie, May 2015

Loved this tour. Brian was awesome, really knew his stuff about New York and the food scene. A definite do during any visit!

Sarah our tour guide was great! So...

Erin, Mar 2015

Sarah our tour guide was great! So lovely and found places for us to eat and hide from the snow. The vendors are lovely and their food is delicious! We would have loved to have tried more but the 2hrs went really quickly. Thanks again

Wonderful guide made this tour very...

Elianne R, Oct 2014

Wonderful guide made this tour very rewarding and unforgettable in all aspects. New what he was talking about, also the social and regulative sides.

Super fun, and the food was great! The...

Brian H, July 2014

Super fun, and the food was great! The tour guide, Brian, was awesome. Highly recommended.

Loved it. Food was awesome and the tour...

Sheena L, May 2014

Loved it. Food was awesome and the tour guide was great! Highly recommend this tour.

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