Great New York Tours

Eh, tour was good but man it was so hot. Shouldn’t our tour guide have noted we were dying and cut it short? Also why stop at places we aren’t going to get cupcakes at? It’s a cupcake tour! No crumbs?
Great concept though. Would have been a little pricey if we payed full price (used a groupon) could have just walked to these places ourselves and had a better time.
But customer service kicked butt! Answered all my questions before the tour like pros!

Loved, Loved, Loved our tour. My family Did the Drink History Tour for our father as a Christmas Gift, they had a grace period where you can book it any time for X amount of Months. We had Jessie add our guide and we loved her!!! My brother and his fiancé had her for their tour guide for the Cupcake Tours. If I child take Jessie home with us, I Would!!! She was fantastic and my whole family loved her. There was an exceptionally large crowd (maybe 30+) and she made sure we all had a fantastic time! I would definitely go on another tour as long as she is our guide! Thanks so much for a great and memorable day Jessie!

Reserved a food walking tour in Greenwhich Village. I am leaving a bad review because:
The tour was cancelled, but, we were not notified.
Customer service was hard to get a hold of — hard to find correct phone number or e-​mail
Meeting location was not easy to find
Our advised meet up location:
110 7TH AVE SOUTH, NEW YORK, NY 10 014.
So we arrived at this address as per the GPS and as per the taxi driver, but, when we arrived, the 110 civic address could not be found!
To help you:
Here is a picture of the metro station to get off at if advised to meet at this address… This metro station was just in front of the meeting place! Christopher St Station 1 Downtown.
Luckily, a man in the cigar shop at this address is helpful. He is by no means affiliated with the tour.
Real too bad for this experience because my sister and I were visiting from Montréal and we really want to like it.

Took the Bleeker st tour. Highlights had to be Bleeker Street Pizza and Molly’s Cupcakes. The pizza was unforgettable and the experience was awesome as we got to meet the owner. He explained how he learned to make the pizza from his grandmother. Molly’s was also great. Got to choose our cake and icing and add our own toppings. Cupcake was moist and the burnt sugar icing was spectacular. Walking tour was 4 stars. Be ready for some walking and the tour guide will give lots of info about the stops.

Dang, I’m glad I didn’t read the other reviews before booking our tour because I likely would not have! But it all worked out for us, so I’m grateful for that. It probably all depends on your tour guide as ours was fantastic.
We booked our tour through Living Social because there was a good deal. (Always check those coupon sites when you’re doing tours because the deals seem to be always available.)
We visited five pizza joints ranging from Bleeker Street to Lombardi’s while getting a nice historical account of the pizzerias, pizza itself and the neighborhoods, and we even stopped in front of Martin Scorsese’s old place. The walking around was definitely necessary because the tour ordered boxes of pizza, rather than a slice for each person, so there were always several leftover slices.
It did get a little disorganized when the pizzas weren’t ready at one of the locations. Our tour guide basically made us circle the block because it’s not like a group of a dozen people could hang around on the sidewalk or inside in the small space waiting for pizza.
Tours are nice just to get an insider’s view of a city and visiting points of interest that we otherwise would not have known. It was also nice to try all the pizza of course, but I wish I wasn’t extremely full by the end of it because I didn’t enjoy that slice as much.
Be sure to bring your own drink or be prepared to stop by a corner store. We did have extra time while we waited for the pizza to be made. The tour also ended at the last spot, like it didn’t take you back to the original starting point. I’d say we were quite far from our starting point. So keep that in mind.

Had an amazing time on the cupcake/​dessert tour! Jessie was a very knowledgeable guide who spoke a lot about the history of a lot of places we passed on this tour and pointed out the bleecker street pizza (the best pizza in New York) which I tried after the tour when I was craving anything savoury, and appreciated the recommendation very much! The different cupcakes and desserts on the tour were all to die for! Molly’s cupcakes was my fave stop on the tour, but all the bakeries were very yummy! The tour was quite large (approx 2 dozen) but the only reason for complaint was the noisy disrespectful children on it but that was easily ignored by walking at a different pace. I met some lovely ladies on this tour and had a really fun and delicious time! Highly recommended.

We went for the drunk history tour which started at The Arch at Washington square park. The tour guide was interestingly quirky and gave a very unique tour. I thought the history shared was very relevant and interesting. You will walk about 3.5 miles so make sure you are appropriately dressed, with comfortable shoes.
The three stars is due to the fact that no drinks or food is included in this tour. It would have been nice if this was clarified beforehand as we thought we would at least get 1 – 2 drinks as part of the tour (ahem, drunk history) We had to pay for all drinks and only got a free shot of cheap whiskey/​vodka at each stop.
Tour is a little pricey without drinks so I highly recommend buying a Groupon.

This review is based solely on their shocking booking system and customer service. Didn’t actually get as far as being able to schedule the Cupcake tour that we’d bought through Groupon…
Firstly, I think long and hard before even considering a one star review. However, as I have wasted a lot of time thanks to this company, hopefully others can save themselves the trouble of going down the same path.
Imagine this scenario: you are planning a weekend away & go to book a hotel room online — you chose your dates & it shows availability. Sometimes the systems show you all upcoming available dates. Simple, right? Apparently not so for the Great New York Tours system. Initially we’d checked to see that there were options showing for the weekend and, based on that, made arrangements for a few other things to do in NYC. Friends also booked for the tour and planned to join us.
Then when I went to book (it was still showing the date & times), it said no availability. It turns out that you have to try each date & every time slot then click through to the next page before you get the «no availability» message. I.e. you have to try EVERY date from now until there is a free slot. Not only that, the days & time slots were inconsistent with their website and I got different results trying multiple browsers (often getting error messages on Opera) and their Facebook booking options. I contacted «support» through their chat option and explained the issue with their website — their response was «have you checked the website?». Duh.
Fortunately we had all bought through Groupon, who attempted to sort it out with Great New York Tours (who gave Groupon a «corrected» URL, which was actually for another tour…) and then refunded us. After reading other reviewers’ issues, I’m glad we didn’t persevere. Will do a beer and wine tour of the area instead :)

Our guide had great knowledge of not only the history of the establishments but also, the neighborhood. All the places were great and I learned a lot about Williamsburg. The food was awesome. I would go back to every place he took us to.

Wow. I have to say what a disappointment the Drunk History Tour is. I DO NOT recommend. There is not much in the way of history NOR are you taken to any historical pubs or any interesting pubs for the matter. Your day will be spent listening to very little history, shelling out cash at the pubs because drinks ARE NOT included (you get a free shot WITH drink purchase) and you will have to drink quickly because it’s a two hour tour (equating to about 20 – 25 min at each pub). Don’t expect your tour guide to teach you any history while you’re drinking either — you’ll be left to your own devices. And they don’t help you navigate the lines — you have to wait for your drink like any other customer. Huge disappointment.

I will start with that our tour guide never showed up. Therefore, my one star is merely because the customer service is so terrible. We called the listed phone number and after a half hour of standing in the FREEZING cold, with snow pelting down on us, and no one answering, we left. Not only did we attempt to call, but also «online» chat — which is a joke. We received a notification two days prior to the tour, stating it was rain or shine. Therefore, we drove into the city (10 people!), and waited at the stated location. We received NO cancellation email, and checked throughout the day. I would NEVER book through this tour group again.

I booked the cupcake walking tour as a birthday present for a friend and since she’s never been to NYC it was the perfect way to get to know a cute little neighborhood while enjoying some of the best cupcakes/​cookies I’ve ever had.
I found a Groupon Deal and booked everything from back home in Germany. Meeting the group was easy and the following two hours were the perfect mixture of information and calories!
I especially loved that we did not only get tiny little bite-​sized samples but instead we got to decorate our own cupcake (Molly’s), got to choose from a variety of flavors at Crumbs and stopped at a great cookie store (Milk & Cookies) were we tried their speciality the Salted Oat Cookie (something I wouldn’t have tried otherwise).
Our tour guide Jessie was great — she was fun and took her time to answer all of our questions and gave us some inside information. Who would have thought that you see the Friends’ house and the entrance to Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment while being out on a Cupcake Tour?
I can totally recommend the tour to first time visitors as well as to everyone who is interested in seeing the city from a different perspective :)

I am a native New Yorker who took advantage of a Groupon advertisement for a cake tour. I had loads of fun tasting from these high end bakeries, particularly Biscous Ciaos for their delightful macarons and Amorino for their gelato. Mallory was a fun guide and I’d tour with her again in a NY minute. In fact, my son and I returned the to the above mentioned businesses a week later (minus the tour) to purchase more treats to take home.
The only negative experience I had was scheduling the event to begin with. Originally this tour was supposed to be a birthday gift for my son. Each time I scheduled a tour on line, I’d get a confirmation and then, the following day, I’d get an email saying that they were full. Eventually, I told them «You schedule me for the best weekend, then…» And we got a date 5 weeks after my sons birthday. If I had planned this tour around the schedule of out of town visitors, I’d have been sorely disappointed. I could not reach anyone via telephone, so, I had to take what was given. It’s worth it, otherwise, though.

(11/​26/​2013)
The Ghost of New York tour is really a waste if time.
Don’t waste your $$ on this ‘tour’

My fiancé and I went on the Great New York walking food tour this past weekend and had a great time! We first met the group in front of Village Cigars by 7^th Ave South. The tour started right one time with our very knowledgeable tour guide. When we first began the tour, I liked how he stopped to tell us fun facts at different points. My favorite of course was when we stopped in front of the building that was the key point for FRIENDS. I was super excited about that since it’s my favorite show! He also stopped us in front of where one of the first speak-easy’s was and taught us how the term «86 it» was created in that spot – awesome!
Our first stop was Bleeker Street Pizza – WOW. You can find out why it was wow in my review. I liked how we got a full slice each – I was worried we’d get jipped with a «sampling.»
Next was biscous ciao for macarons. Personally, I’ve never had them before, but wow that dark chocolate one was good!
Next stop was Bagels on the Square. This was probably my least favorite stop, mainly because the sample given was a quarter of an everything bagel with bacon, horseradish cream cheese. I’m definitely not a fan of everything bagels or horseradish so I took a few bites and then passed it over to my fiancé. I just thought that was quite bold of a sample choice.
Next up was Molly’s Cupcakes. Most adorable décor for a shop… ever! It’s set up to look like a classroom with desk-​looking tables and chairs, lunch boxes on the walls and games and books on shelves. My fave part – the swing seats at the bar! Cool! Take a look at what I thought of the cupcakes in my review…
Porto Rico Importing Co was up next for a small coffee sampling. Considering the amount of coffee beans in that place, you’d think we could get a full cup instead of a little dixie cup? But the heavenly smell inside the store made up for that… swoon.
Last was Bruno’s Bakery for a cannoli. It was a delicious cannoli although being Italian, I did not appreciate that the middle of my shell being hallow and not filled with delicious filling :(
Overall, the tour was a great experience. I think we’ll sign up for another when more deals come around! They are usually on Groupon or Living Social but are a bit pricey without the deal… Happy Touring!

Our tour guide Mallory did an amazing job on the cupcake tour! She was very engaging and approachable. The cupcakes and other tasty treats weren’t too bad either. Baked By Melissa and Molly’s we’re definitely the favorites of our group. (One friend said she can’t get Molly’s brown butter frosting out of her head.) Also, the gelato and cookie stops on the tour were lovely additions.
I would definitely look into other tours this company has to offer in the future.

My 8 year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed this walking tour led by the adorable guide, Mallory. The tour was a perfect blend of leisurely walking and stopping for sweet treats. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours.
I would recommend searching the local coupon sites for a deal because we were able to get a nice discount on our tickets this way.
Would recommend this tour to anyone.

I had never been on a walking tour before and being a lifelong NYC resident I never planned on going on one, but my son lives in rural New Jersey and loves all things NYC. So when I found a Groupon for the Ghost Tour I couldn’t resist.
At full price this would have been worth every penny. The tour was two straight hours thru Greenwhich Village and was super interesting-​it even kept my 12 year old son interested.
The tour guide (Marcy? Maya?) was engaging, encouraged questions, and let my hyper son ask questions and crack jokes the whole tour. I tipped her at the end because her service was worth it, plus I wanted to set an example for the tourists.
The only downside to the tour was it was an exceptionally large group for a walking tour and some of the residents of the houses we visited were less than friendly even though we were on the sidewalk and not infringing on the properties at all. Hell, if I could afford to live in the village and these tours wanted to stop by my place I’d invite them in for beer and pretzels!
This tour was totally worth it and shows tourists the real heart of the village they might miss… unfortunately we didn’t see any ghosts!

The cupcake tour was the bomb! our Tour guide Mallory was great she was very spunky and had a good sense of humor! She was also informative about facts in the city. My favorite by far was Molly’s Bakery it was great! The tour was so good I would do it again. The best part was that there was a break between cupcakes where we had gelato are

me and my boyfriend went on the New-​York Chocolate Tour. We found that thanks to Groupon so i can say that for the price we had a great time.
At the beguining we wanted to do the Brooklyn Tour but as there was not enough booking we had been scheduled with the Manathan tour.
I liked :
— The area was really nice: it is a cool walk
— The guide was stoping and giving us some funy stories about places (even thoses not linked to the tour) that was really nice
— We tried many different type of things which was good then we had no time to get bored of chocolate
— the tour was long enough t have some time to digest
I did not like :
— all the places were not that good, for exemple the macaron place wasn’t the best especially for NY. I would have liked to be in a place more typical for exemple in the Chealsea market there was a much better place!
— The try we had wasn’ much and sometimes not the specialty. i think depending on the tastes we could have a choice on what we wanted to try
— the guide did not even checked that we were all ready to leave for the tour
Could be better :
— I think it would be nice that people from the shop take some time to present the place
— We were too many in the Group it was hard to follow and we had to wait for a long time each time we wanted to change for a place to another. Many to make it more friendly we could have had a time to present ourselves and share what we like about chocolate
— Many time we were eating on the street because the place was to small… maybe chose another place or be a smaller group?
— We had no discussion and exchanges on the thing we were tasting which was a pitty i would have liked to speack with the others and know what they thought about it

We bought the Groupon for the Greenwich Village Ghost Tour. Less than $ 10 a pop if you bought four. So we did just that.
Here is how it is described on Groupon:
«Walk your way through nine of New York’s most bone-​chilling destinations, starting off at New York’s House of Death to learn about Mark Twain’s specter. The tour goes on to explore the mass grave beneath Potter’s Field, a restaurant that was burned down by ghosts, and the ghoulish apparitions of Edgar Allan Poe, a gang of flappers and drunks, and FDR’s dog.»
That’s pretty accurate. Our guide was good and he was an articulate story teller.
The only thing that bothered me was the fact that this tour group was a little bit too large. It could have been split into two. I am actually a tour guide myself and I can’t imagine herding a group of 30+. If there are more than 15, we split into two groups with two guides. So hopefully our guide made some good tip money that night…
Nothing about the stories were particularly «scary» per-​se. I do a lot of ghost tours around the country (and some out of the country too). Some of them are much creepier, darker, and more… well…scary, I guess. But it’s okay if they aren’t– there is still some interesting history to be heard.
That said, I didn’t go in really expecting to «see» ghosts on the tour. (I am «ghost agnostic» if you must know). But some of the stories seemed a little tired and needed possibly some current twists and testimony from spooky things that people currently see/​hear/​feel.
One of the most interesting parts of the tour was the house where Lisa Steinberg was killed by her father. This particular house had lots of deaths, but this one begged for more research on our iphones, since the guide didn’t elaborate on the details (which was okay-​it wasn’t really relevant to ghosts). What a sad, brutal, and horrifying little story. I vaguely remember this story from the 80s; it was interesting to read more into it.
So the tour was decent. It’s a lot of walking. It’s a lot of history. It’s interesting. But it’s not bone-​chilling, per-​se.