Top 5 Tips for Visiting Bronx Little Italy (Arthur Avenue)
1. Shop at the Arthur Avenue Retail Market
From vendors selling fresh pasta to bakers, butchers, and delis, this market is as much about shopping as it is about eating. Head here for lunch, snacks, or to find specialty Italian food products.
2. Stop by a bakery
For Italian baked goods, no foodie should miss the bakeries on Arthur Avenue. Expect to find authentic items few shops offer—even in New York—from taralli and sfogliatella to classic semolina sesame bread.
3. Relax in Ciccarone Park
This neighborhood park offers excellent people-watching, comfy benches, and a playground for the kids. Stop by to relax, use the restroom, and watch the locals play bocce.
4. Dine at an Italian restaurant
From white-tablecloth establishments to standout trattorias, no Arthur Avenue visit is complete without dinner. Classic red-sauce pastas are best here, and it's impossible not to swoon over the pizza.
5. Visit the zoo, or catch a baseball game
Two of the borough’s top attractions are just a stone’s-throw from Arthur Avenue—the Bronx Zoo and Yankee Stadium. Families with kids can enjoy the zoo by day and slurp pasta by night, while sports fans may be able to score same-day tickets at the stadium box office.
Peter Neely is a Brooklyn-based writer and poet who's been bounding between cities for a decade, with stops in San Francisco, Budapest, Montreal, and Lyon. Changing NYC apartments like socks, Peter has lived in Harlem, Greenpoint, Sunnyside, and Crown Heights, though Coney Island is his spiritual homeland. Spot him reading on the subway, or complaining about the slice at your favorite pizzeria.