Little Italy - New York City, NY

Address:New York, New York

This is the place where Dr. Seuss, was living in NYC when he wrote "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," his first book published in 1937 and the scenes in Godfather 2 of young Vito's Little Italy neighborhood of 1917 were shot. Yes folks, we're talking about the largely famous Little Italy.

Once known for its large population of Italians, the lower Manhattan neighborhood changed as Italian Americans left the expensive Manhattan borough for other neighborhoods in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. The neighborhood called as Little Italy shrank and today, the section of Mulberry Street between Broome and Canal Streets, is the area that's still popular with tourists, and remains distinctly recognizable as Little Italy. Take a walk and smell the fresh baked bread, garlic and sauces where cafes, restaurants and bakeries line the street. Enjoy a glass of wine or tiramisu at a sidewalk cafe, or taste a salamis hanging from store window. For a real taste of Italian-American history stop in at Lombardi's, established as the first pizzeria in America in 1905 or hit Casa Bella where pasta and baking are all done in house, and serves reasonably priced pre-fixed dinners for large parties. The narrow, cobblestone streets beneath the fire escapes of turn-of-the-last-century tenements give you that old world feel no matter what you eat and it's fun to be amidst the sights, sounds and smells of Italian culture. If you're here in September, don't miss the Feast of San Gennaro, a large 11-day long street fair, that's basically a huge party of sausages, zeppoles, live music and Golden Oldies. The northern reaches of Little Italy, near Houston Street have been transformed into a fashion boutique-y neighborhood known as Nolita (an abbreviation for North of Little Italy) where shopping can be a whole lot of fun as well.