Why Foods of NY Tours Is the Best Food Tour Company in NYC!
Part 2:
Let the Research and Fun Begin!
Since my first trip to NYC with my friends was such a blast, I thought, “Let’s do it again!”. The goal was to be in NYC by 11 a.m., do as much as we could in five hours, and be home by 6 p.m. (and of course, do this without our parents knowing about it).
Since I was the ringleader, I had to put together a plan a few days before asking my friends if they wanted to go back to NYC. During the late ’70s, the only way to make a specific plan was by remembering what we did on our last trip in.
I decided that we should take the train from Cranford to Penn Station instead of taking the bus to Port Authority. I found a map of NYC in our house and saw that Penn Station was closer to Greenwich Village. As we got off the train, I remembered that we needed to walk to Fifth Avenue and then head downtown until we ran into Washington Square Park.
Once at the park, certain things felt familiar. The glue man was in the same spot, the smell of pot was in the air, and there were lots of friendly faces. We spent about an hour walking around the park and then decided to head back to MacDougal Street to get something to eat.
Before we knew it, we were standing across the street again from the tiny eatery where the giant piece of meat was sizzling on a spit in their open window. We stood there for about ten minutes before making our way over to catch a whiff of the meat. The smell was amazing! As we stood there, taxis lined up on the street, and the drivers ordered huge meat sandwiches right from their cabs. It was the only place on the street that had a line of taxis waiting for food, and we knew something special was going on.
The guy cutting the meat asked us if we wanted a sandwich. I definitely did, but my friends didn’t. I was the adventurous eater and would try anything. I told the guy we’d be back later. He smiled and said, “Okay, see you soon!” We then left to find something more familiar to eat.
About a block away, we all noticed a very strong smell of coffee. As we looked around, we saw lots of people going in and out of one stores. Inside were burlap sacks filled with coffee beans. In 1977, none of us drank coffee, but we found the shop fascinating. The only coffee I had ever seen was Maxwell House in a big blue can. We had never seen so many different types of coffee beans. The aroma in the store was incredible—we almost wanted to start drinking coffee.
After leaving the coffee shop, we continued walking and came across a small pizzeria with room for only about six people. Inside, the smell of pizza was incredible. There was a whole pie sitting on a tray at the counter, and we bought four slices. We were blown away by how good it was compared to the pizza we were used to eating in New Jersey. It was thin, crispy, chewy, and topped with delicious cheese and sauce.
After eating, we kept exploring. About a block away, we came upon two Italian pastry shops next to each other. We stood outside trying to decide which one to go into first. Since we still had $3.00 left, we went into both and got a pastry from each. Each shop had different types of pastries, and both were delicious.
As we continued walking, we came across a very small cheese shop, something none of us had ever seen before. Back in the ’70s, cheese to us meant American or cheddar. This shop must have had over 100 different kinds. The smell was overwhelming for my friends, so we didn’t stay long.
A few doors down, we saw two guys bringing baskets of bread up from a basement to a shop upstairs. The store was packed with people, so we knew it was a place we’d have to visit on another trip.
As we kept walking, we noticed an Italian pork store, a fish store, an Italian butcher shop, and a pizzeria called John’s. The sign said “brick oven pizza,” and we had no idea what that meant. The street was filled with food shops on both sides and people shopping everywhere. I made sure I remembered how to get back to this area on our next visit so we could really explore it.
Heading back the way we came, we noticed a bunch of really cool poster shops. Inside one store, we flipped through racks of NYC streetscape posters, old buildings, and posters of buildings with metal ladders zig-zagging down the front. We found out years later that those ladders were fire escapes. At the time, I couldn’t understand why there were so many posters of buildings with fire escapes. Now I realize they were part of the NYC landscape, they look amazig, and something newer buildings no longer have.
As we continued walking, we started seeing lots of cool bars and live music spots. Since my friends and I loved music, it seemed like a fantastic place to visit at night when we were older. We were only 15 at the time.
We were also amazed by how many restaurants lined both sides of the street. I noticed we were on Bleecker Street. There were so many different kinds of restaurants, none of which were familiar to us. Growing up in New Jersey, the only restaurants I knew were Italian, Chinese, Diners, Burger King, and McDonald’s.
We even spotted two chess shops directly across the street from each other, each with tables where people could sit and play. There were also many small places serving coffee and food with tables on the sidewalk. They seemed like spots where people would sit and talk for hours. At the time, we had no idea these places were cafés. Cafés didn’t exist where I was from in New Jersey. The more cafés I saw in Greenwich Village, the more curious I became about them.
This trip to NYC and Greenwich Village opened our eyes to how different it was from Cranford, New Jersey, or anywhere else we’d been. We were more excited than ever to come back and explore all the places we had discovered. On the ride home, I mentioned that we needed more than $5.00 for our next trip. I felt $10.00 would be just right. Back then, that was a lot of money for us. We all had paper routes and mowed lawns to earn some cash, and we managed to save up the $10.00 for our next trip in.
The day ended with us hopping on the train and heading home just in time for dinner. My friends and I all agreed this trip was even better than the first one.
Thank you for reading Part 2 of my blog series.
Part 3 of the blog series is coming soon!
If you didn’t read Part 1 here it is:
Why Foods of NY Tours is the best food tour company in NYC! Part 1
Todd Lefkovic
Founder/Owner
Foods of NY Tours