Walk from the East Village to Little Italy with a retired NYPD officer, hear the real mob
stories where they happened, and sit down to spaghetti and meatballs. Every option compared honestly.
Route and food spelled outWhere it starts, what you eat, what costs extra
Real guest ratingsLive Viator & Tripadvisor figures
Free cancellationUp to 24 hours before, on every tour here
Secure checkout on ViatorMobile ticket, instant confirmation
Tours
Choose your mafia tour
The retired NYPD food tour with dinner sits in the centre. On the left, the same walk without
the sit-down meal for $50 less; on the right, a private mafia tour by car for your own group.
Mob history from a retired or active NYPD cop, on foot from the East Village to Mulberry Street. A sit-down spaghetti and meatballs meal and a big cannoli are included.
What's included
Walking tour led by a retired or active NYPD detective or officer
Full-portion spaghetti and meatballs at John's of 12th Street (the 11 AM start serves spaghetti marinara)
A full-size Sicilian cannoli in Little Italy; vegetarian meals on request
Meets inside John's of 12th Street, ends at Mulberry and Canal
Not included: drinks and tips; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
The NYPD tours are the only ones led by police officers. The others are cheaper and shorter, or
swap the mob for ghosts, speakeasies or murder cases. Check the route column: it is where you actually walk.
The NYPD tours have no child price and are listed for ages 9 and up. The private tour is
priced per group. Every tour here cancels free up to 24 hours ahead.
Where it really happens
It starts in the East Village. Little Italy comes last.
Most people picture a mafia tour as an hour on Mulberry Street. The NYPD tours begin a mile north, at
John's of 12th Street, a red-sauce restaurant open since 1908, with a speakeasy upstairs during
Prohibition. In August 1922 a gunman for the boss Toto D'Aquila was shot dead outside after a "peace"
lunch there; the shooters are believed to have included a young Lucky Luciano. From there you walk down
past St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery and the Bowery to Mulberry Street, and finish at Mulberry and Canal.
Your guide is a retired or active NYPD officer or detective, and that is the point: you hear how the
police saw the mob, and often how a kid from the neighbourhood did. Not every guide worked organised crime,
and the stops are mostly outside buildings that are shops and restaurants now. Groups can reach 35 to 37
people, so stand near the front.
1908
The year John's of 12th Street opened. The tour still
meets there, and the food tour eats there.
John's of 12th StreetThe BoweryMulberry StreetRavenite Social Club
Mulberry Street, where the walk ends.
01
Is dinner included?
On the $129 food tour, yes: spaghetti and meatballs and a cannoli. The $79 walk includes the cannoli only.
02
Are the guides real cops?
Yes, active and retired NYPD officers and detectives. Each guide's career and stories are different.
03
How much walking?
About 3 hours on your feet from 12th Street to Canal Street, at a brisk pace, in all weather.
04
Who might skip it?
Young children and anyone who dislikes graphic stories. Food lovers may prefer the Chinatown and Little Italy food tour.
The walk
How the tour unfolds
Three to three and a half hours, north to south. The order of stops varies with the guide, but this is the shape of it.
01
Meet at John's
Inside John's of 12th Street for the food tour, outside for the morning walk. The food tour eats first.
The start
02
East Village stories
The 1922 shooting outside the restaurant, Luciano's rise and the old neighbourhood, told by someone who policed it.
First hour
03
Down the Bowery
Past St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery and the Liz Christy garden, towards Houston Street and Little Italy.
Second hour
04
Mulberry Street
Gotti's old social club, Gambino haunts and Sopranos spots, then a full-size cannoli. Ends at Mulberry and Canal.
Times and meeting point, tickets and ages, the food, and what to bring: one tab each.
Meeting point: John's of 12th Street, 302 East 12th Street at 2nd Avenue, East Village.
Evening food tours meet inside the restaurant; morning walks meet in front of it.
The walk runs in the morning (the 10 AM start has no lunch, the 11 AM start includes pasta); the food tour runs in the evening and at 11 AM.
The tour ends at the corner of Mulberry and Canal Street, a short walk from Canal Street station.
Arrive 10 minutes early: tours leave on time and the restaurant is busy.
Mafia walk from $79; mafia and food tour from $129 per person on Viator.
There is no child price: Viator lists the NYPD tours for ages 9 and up, the operator for 8 and up.
Groups are capped at 35 to 37 people.
On average the food tour is booked about 40 days ahead, so book early for weekends and September.
Food tour: a full portion of spaghetti and meatballs at John's of 12th Street (spaghetti marinara at 11 AM).
Both tours: a full-size Sicilian cannoli at a Little Italy pastry shop.
Vegetarian options are available if you ask in advance.
Drinks are not included; you can buy them at the restaurant.
Comfortable walking shoes: you cover about 1.5 miles of city sidewalk.
An umbrella or rain jacket: the tours run in all weather.
Cash for the guide's tip and any drinks.
An appetite, if you booked the food tour.
Water in summer: there is little shade on the Bowery.
IncludedNYPD guideA retired or active officer or detective, with stories from the job.
Food tourSpaghetti and meatballsA full sit-down portion at John's of 12th Street.
IncludedSicilian cannoliFull size, at a Little Italy pastry shop near the end.
IncludedMob landmarksGambino and Gotti sites, the 1922 shooting, Sopranos locations.
Extra costDrinksWine, beer and soft drinks are bought on the day.
Extra costTipsNot included and appreciated, usually in cash at the end.
Where you meet
The meeting point
John's of 12th Street
302 East 12th Street (at 2nd Avenue), New York, NY 10003
The tour meets at the restaurant where it all starts. Look for the red neon sign on 12th Street just east
of 2nd Avenue. For the evening food tour, go inside and tell the staff you are with the tour; for the morning
walk, wait in front. The nearest subway stops are 3rd Avenue and 1st Avenue on the L train and Astor Place on
the 6, each a short walk away.
Ends at Mulberry and Canal Street, Little Italy
Near public transport; walking route on city sidewalks
Not recommended for travellers with leg or walking problems
4.9★★★★★ 1,495 reviews · Mafia & Local Food Tour live Viator & Tripadvisor figure
★★★★★
A delightful tour with a former NYPD dive team member, Frank V. A concise history of the mafia as we walked through the area surrounding Little Italy and finished on Mulberry St.
★★★★★
The food was great and the first hand knowledge even better. Dennis had us entertained the whole time with stories you cannot believe exist outside of movies.
★★★★★
Our tour guide Louis was so charismatic and entertaining as well as so knowledgeable! I wasn't sure what to expect but found this tour to be one of the best I've ever taken.
★★★★★
We had a great time. We really enjoyed learning about Dennis's experiences growing up in Little Italy and hearing his stories from both sides of the mafia/police divide.
★★★★★
Fantastic experience! Meeting at John's restaurant was perfect! Literally the scene of a crime. Great food and great company! Our guide Frank V was sensational!
★★★★★
You eat right at 11:00, learn so much more than expected and walk thru so many different areas of NYC. This tour did not disappoint!
★★★★★
Absolutely fantastic tour with Louie Meatballs. We could have spent a month with him asking him questions. Went to some great landmarks starting off with a great meal at John's.
★★★★★
It is such an immersive tour! You are walking the same steps as many famous mob men and we found that to be so exciting. Our guide was fabulous, a decorated NYC detective!
★★★★★
Mike was knowledgeable, engaging and funny! I never expected to be learning about Mafia history in NYC while having such a good time doing so. I highly recommend this tour.
Here for the food?
Eat your way through instead
Fewer murders, more tastings: a small-group walk through Chinatown and Little Italy with eight
stops at family-run places.
Chinatown & Little Italy Small-Group Food Tour
★ 5.0 · 2,314 reviews · 3 hours
Came for the food more than the gangsters? This three-hour small-group walk stops for 8 tastings at family-run places in Chinatown and Little Italy, with the story of the immigrants who built both neighbourhoods along the way. It is the most reviewed food tour in the area, and vegetarian or gluten-free tastings are available with 48 hours' notice.
The New York Gangster Experience is a walk through a century of organised crime with a guide who
spent a career on the other side of it. Here is what you see, what you eat, what it costs and how to pick
between the versions.
Who runs it, and who your guide is
The tours are run by Police Tours, a small New York company whose guides are active and retired NYPD
detectives and police officers. Recent guests name guides such as Frank, a former member of the NYPD dive team;
Dennis, who grew up in Little Italy and talks about both sides of the mafia and police divide; and Louie, known as
"Louie Meatballs", who has written a book. That mix is the appeal and the variable: you get a real officer's
perspective, but not every guide worked organised crime cases, and each tells the story his or her own way. A
handful of reviews say a guide talked too much about themselves or about politics; most praise the first-hand
stories you will not hear on a history tour.
The food tour's meal: a full portion of spaghetti and meatballs at John's of 12th Street.
The route: East Village first, Little Italy last
Everything starts at John's of 12th Street at 302 East 12th Street, open since 1908. In Prohibition it ran a
speakeasy upstairs, and on 11 August 1922 the gunman Umberto Valenti was shot dead outside after a lunch meeting;
the young Lucky Luciano is believed to have been among the shooters, and the killing helped make his name. From
12th Street the walk heads south past St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery and the Liz Christy garden at Bowery and
Houston, into Little Italy. On Mulberry Street you pass the old Ravenite Social Club at number 247, the Gambino
family's headquarters, where FBI bugs in the apartment upstairs recorded John Gotti before his 1992 conviction.
Today it is a shoe store. You finish at Mulberry and Canal with a full-size cannoli.
The honest small print: this is a walking tour of street corners and storefronts, not a
museum. You go inside the restaurant and the pastry shop, but the mob sites are mostly seen from the sidewalk,
the groups are big (up to 35 to 37), and the pace can be brisk. Stand at the front, ask questions, and wear
good shoes.
The walk or the food tour?
The two NYPD tours follow the same route with the same guides. The mafia walk ($79) takes about three
hours and includes the cannoli; only the 11 AM start adds a plate of pasta. The mafia and food tour
($129) runs about three and a half hours and starts with a sit-down meal at John's: a full portion of spaghetti
and meatballs, or spaghetti marinara at 11 AM. The $50 difference is the dinner and the sit-down, in a
restaurant that is itself part of the story. If you planned to eat in Little Italy anyway, the walk is the
better deal; if you want the evening sorted, take the food tour.
The old social clubs of Mulberry Street look like ordinary storefronts today.
Who it suits, and who should skip it
It suits true crime fans, Sopranos and Godfather viewers, and anyone who wants a different angle on
downtown. The stories are graphic and the language strong, there is no child price, and Viator lists it for ages 9
and up: one grandparent noted that an 11-year-old did not know most of the names. If walking three hours is hard,
the private tour by car covers mobsters' graves and movie locations without the sidewalks, at a per-group price.
If you mainly want to eat, the Chinatown and Little Italy food tour has eight tastings and less blood.
Both NYPD tours end with a full-size Sicilian cannoli in Little Italy.
Straight answers to what people ask most about the NYPD mafia tours.
What is the New York Gangster Experience?
It is a walking tour of New York's mafia history led by retired (and sometimes active) NYPD officers and detectives, run by Police Tours. You start at John's of 12th Street in the East Village, walk down through the Bowery to Mulberry Street in Little Italy and hear the stories of Lucky Luciano, Carlo Gambino and John Gotti where they happened. The food version adds a sit-down spaghetti and meatballs meal. See the tours.
How much is the NYPD mafia tour?
On Viator the mafia walk is from $79 per person and the mafia and food tour with dinner is from $129, the same as the operator's regular prices. Drinks and tips are extra. See the price guide.
Are the guides really NYPD officers?
Yes. The operator says its guides are active and retired NYPD detectives and police officers. Not every guide worked organised crime cases, though: some were patrol officers or, in one case, a dive team member, and one reviewer pointed out that her guide was a police officer rather than a detective. Guests rate the guides highly for their personal stories.
Where does the mafia tour start and end?
It starts at John's of 12th Street, 302 East 12th Street at 2nd Avenue in the East Village, and ends at the corner of Mulberry and Canal Street in Little Italy. Evening food tours meet inside the restaurant; morning walks meet outside. Read about John's of 12th Street.
How long is the tour, and how much walking is there?
The walk takes about 3 hours and the food tour about 3.5 hours, including the meal. You cover roughly the distance from 12th Street down to Canal Street on foot with stops, at a pace some guests call brisk. The listings say it is not recommended for travellers with leg or walking problems.
Is food included on the mafia tour?
On the $129 food tour, yes: a full portion of spaghetti and meatballs at John's of 12th Street (spaghetti with marinara on the 11 AM start) and a full-size cannoli. On the $79 walk you get the cannoli, and only the 11 AM start adds a pasta lunch. Vegetarian options are available on request. Drinks are not included.
Which is better, the mafia walk or the food tour?
Same route, same guides. Take the food tour if you want dinner sorted and a sit-down break at a restaurant with its own mob history; take the walk if you are on a budget or plan to eat elsewhere in Little Italy. Compare them in walk vs food tour.
Is the mafia tour suitable for kids?
Viator lists the tours for ages 9 and up, and the operator for 8 and up, with no child price. Expect strong language and graphic descriptions of murders, and a long walk. Teens who like true crime tend to enjoy it; younger children may not know the names. See mafia tour with kids.
Do you go inside the mob sites?
Mostly no. Apart from the restaurant and the pastry shop, you stop outside the buildings: many old social clubs are shops now (John Gotti's Ravenite Social Club on Mulberry Street is a shoe store). The guide fills in the story with photos and first-hand police experience.
Should I tip the guide?
Tips are not included and the operator says they are appreciated. Many guests tip as they would on any guided walk in New York, usually in cash at the end.
What if it rains, and can I cancel?
The tours run in all weather, so bring an umbrella. Every tour on this site can be cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start time on Viator.
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