There’s no one taste or flavor to define a neighborhood, especially one like the iconic Lower East Side. Explore over 150 years of history through the stories of immigrant and migrant communities and the unique food cultures that defined life in New York City’s tenements through our guided food experiences.
Food experiences are available for both individual visitors and private groups.
New! Foods of the Lower East Side
Historical Food Tour
Together with a Museum Educator, examine ways in which tenement residents both preserved and adapted the food traditions of their homelands, and how generations of street vendors, restaurateurs, home cooks, and grocers sustained communities while shaping wider ideas of American cuisine and identity.
Essex Market Package
Group Visit Add-On
Book a private tour with a tasting at Essex Market, the Lower East Side’s historic public food market! Connect the family story from your tour to the history of the market, taste samples from a local vendor, and visit the Museum’s pop-up exhibit highlighting food stories from our Your Story, Our Story collection.
Support the power of storytelling by joining as a Tenement Museum member today! Members receive free admission to tours, invites to exclusive events, access to specialty content, and more.
Give the gift of history! Tenement Museum Gift Cards can be used for tour tickets, a new Museum membership, and donations.
The Tenement Museum reserves the right to refuse or revoke the admission of any visitor whose conduct violates our guidelines. Please contact Visitor Services at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns relating to your visit.