QUEENS — A new walking tour is looking to serve up a taste of Long Island City, along with a slice of its past.
Local Finds Queens Food Tours will kick off the first of its weekly culinary jaunts this weekend, a three-hour walking tour of Long Island City that explores its history and culture while stopping for tastings at local eateries.
"There's really no better way to explore a neighborhood than dining where the locals go," said Richard Mumith, who launched the startup with fellow Queens native Sergey Kadinsky, a licensed tour guide who will lead the walk's history lessons.
The tours will take place every Sunday starting July 13, and cost $56 online. Tour-goers will learn about the area's industrial past — as well as the shiny high-rises and art studios of its present — while stopping for samples at six neighborhood eating and drinking spots.
The lineup includes Italian eatery Manducatis Rustica, Irish gastropub Woodbines, coffee shop Sweetleaf, new-American restaurant Alobar, microbrewery Rockaway Brewing Company and comfort food spot Sage General Store.
"We wanted to choose six very unique places that would really give somebody the best glimpse and taste of Long Island City in three hours," Mumith said.
Each spot will serve one of its signature dishes: tour-goers will get to try the pizza and gelato at Manducatis Rustica, for example, and sample two kinds of beers at Rockaway Brewing.
Participants will also get a brochure and map of the neighborhood, which will include recommendations for local things to do and see, as well as a list of other eateries in the neighborhood that aren't included in the tour.
The goal is to encourage visitors — be they tourists or native New Yorkers — to come back to explore on their own, and to showcase Queens as a must-see culinary destination.
"Queens has played second fiddle to the other borough counter parts and we never understood why," Mumith, saying they plan to eventually expand to give tours in other Queens neighborhoods.
"We are the best borough for eating."
