Along Mulberry Street between Grand and Canal streets, you will find more Italian eateries than you could ever hope to visit in a single trip. Welcome to Little Italy, the quaint little neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, historically home to the city’s Italian population.
In the late 1800’s, an influx of Italian immigrants created a Little Italy that wasn’t so little. Some of the neighborhood has since been absorbed by Chinatown, as immigrants from China and other East Asian countries moved to the area. Today, the section of Mulberry Street between Broome and Canal Streets, lined with Italian restaurants popular with tourists, is designated as Little Italy, recognizable by the red, green, and white parking meters.
What film could embody Little Italy better than The Godfather? The Old St Patrick’s Cathedral was used for the scene where Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is awarded the Order of St. Sebastian the Martyr. Elizabeth Street hosted the Italian-American street festival, during which Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna) is gunned down!
Have a drink where Vincent (Andy Garcia) and Mary Corleone (Sofia Coppola) drank at Mare Chiaro, now the Mulberry Street Bar (also a location for another Italian favorite, The Sopranos). The Customs House at 1 Bowling Green at Broadway was also used for the Immobiliare takeover meeting in the film. Although not included in our tours, these are great places to visit on your own during your trip to Little Italy.
Little Italy is also the perfect place to visit after taking the Sopranos Sites Tour. Follow up your New Jersey mob family adventure with a classic Italian family-style dinner at Amici II or La Mela. Visit Grotta Azzura for upscale Italian. Skip dessert and grab some great cannoli over at Ferrara Bakery and Café.
When you take On Location Tours’ Sex and the City Hotspots Tour, you can visit Onieal’s, otherwise known as Scout, the bar owned by Steve and Aidan in the series. Located right next to the old New York City Police Headquarters in Little Italy, this bar is a great place to kick back and have a couple of drinks (cosmos, anyone?) with friends.
Nolita
Nolita, short for “North of Little Italy,” is a neighborhood in Manhattan is bounded on the north by Houston Street, on the east by the Bowery, on the south roughly by Broome Street, and on the west roughly by Lafayette Street. Long regarded as part of Little Italy, the area has lost much of its recognizable Italian character because of the migration of Italian-Americans out of Manhattan. The late 90’s brought a flood of expensive retail boutiques and trendy restaurants and bars.
Don’t forget to get some shopping done in between your restaurant hopping. Nolita boasts many trendy boutique clothing stores. Splurge on some great name brands like Chip and Pepper and Triple Five Soul and go home looking like a million bucks, or go vintage at Claire Blaydon and Zachary’s Closet.
* In an effort to stay current, we are constantly updating our tours with new locations and cannot guarantee the presence of locations mentioned on our site. If you have a particular interest in locations from a specific TV show or movie, please let your tour guide know and we will do our best to accommodate your request.