New York City aka The Big Apple is without a doubt a huge place. It seems almost impossible to see everything New York City has to offer. Personally speaking, I’ve known New Yorkers and locals who haven’t seen parts of the 5 boroughs that make up NYC. The city is inundated with tourist traps that frankly make you look like the stereotypical tourist. Like A Local Tours differs in many ways with their unique selection of tours and experiences.
Founded in 2014 by Lauren Beebe, Like A Local Tours offers an immersive experience for locals and visitors. The groups are kept small and intimate and often takes you off the beaten path, unlike other tours. To experience it for ourselves, we joined the Industry City Tour. Located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Industry City is a 6 building, 6 million commercial square foot redevelopment, with 5 acres of open space. This is the place you would want to get lost in with so many things to see like food and beverage hubs, murals, design, and so much more.
The Industry City tour is broken into two categories, which includes:
FOOD
4-5 of the following per tour:
Ends Meat
Li-Lac Chocolate
One Girl Cookies
Sahadi’s
Blue Marble Ice Cream
Table87 Pizza
Big aLICe Brewing
MAKERS
3-4 of the following per tour:
Bee Raw Honey
Brooklyn Candle Studio
Christoph Pourney Leather Studio
Ernest Porcelli Glass Art
Happy Mencol
Ian Love
Micol Ceramics
Teressa Foglia Hat Studio + Shop
Wanna Date
With the help of our Like A Local Tours guide, Meghan, we stopped by Wanna Date to meet the founder, Melissa. Wanna Date is a Date based spread which provides a vegan & allergen-friendly alternative to honey, dessert spreads, and nut butter. Flavors include Cinnamon, Chocolate, Vanilla, and our favorite, Pumpkin Spice. Each bottle is currently priced at $12. For more information, visit eatwannadate.com.
The next Maker we met was Micòl Hernández of Micòl Ceramics. At Micòl Ceramics, guest can order custom or premade pieces and even sign up for one-on-one lessons. While visiting Hernández, she was in the middle of creating a 200+ piece set for a wedding. She makes pottery look easy! For more information on Micòl Ceramics, visit micolceramics.com.
Next up, it was time to check out food vendors, we stopped by Ends Meat, Blue Marble Ice Cream, One Girl Cookies, Li-Lac Chocolate, Big aLICe Brewing, and even got an exclusive sneak peek of the new Sahadi’s store.
At Ends Meat, it is a carnivore’s dream. we sampled fresh cuts of beef and pork. Ends Meat is open every day from 11am-7pm. Be sure to check out their monthly dinner series for the ultimate dining experience.
Blue Marble Ice Cream has a delicious assortment of flavors. Cookies and Cream was a personal favorite of ours. There are also vegan options as well.
One Girl Cookies started with just one girl and her love of cookies. The One Girl Cookies also has locations in Cobble Hill and Dumbo. The menu includes sandwiches, Salads, cookies (of course), and our favorite, whoopie pies.
Li-Lac Chocolate has been around since 1923. In New York City, the chocolate brand has a total of six locations, recently opening in Hudson Yards. Visit li-lacchocolates.com for more information.
Shandi’s is a middle eastern grocery store and will be expanding with its new Industry City location. The soon to open location will debut later this Summer but we were able to get a sneak peek and you don’t want to miss it. Visit sahadis.com to learn more.
If you’re in the mood for a nice cold brew. you must stop by Big aLICe Brewing, which began production in January 2013. The Brooklyn Barrel Room has a great industrial look with plenty of beers options, including IPAs, Barrel Aged Bottles, and Ciders. Brooklyn Barrel Room was the perfect stop to end our evening tour and reflect on the day with the cold glass of beer.
Like A Local Tours did an excellent job executing this curated tour. It was the first time many of us had the opportunity to see Industry City up close and personal. The tour left us eager for more and making immediate plans to return before the end of Summer. Another thing we love about Like A Local Tours is their charitable aspect. $2 for every ticket sold will go to a highly rated charity, up to $10,000 a year. Like A Local Tours is one of the rare tour companies who give back to the community.
Manhattan is not the only place with amazing hotspots to see, adventure out the city and into Brooklyn for their Williamsburg Bites or Sunday Sunday Brooklyn Booze Tour. Right now, Like A Local Tours is offering a 15% off discount with code INDUSTRY15 on likealocaltours.com.
Cheers to Summer!