Our pass has excellent pizza places (not pizza shops if you are tawking New Yawk) but not every place here is excellent. Lots of places offer cheap, and in our opinion, terrible slices. Others are just mediocre. Just because you are in New York does not mean a place has good NY pizza, which to be authentic should be eaten by the slice. Stay away from pretzels, which are just partially heated from frozen, we’ll leave that one to our friends in Philly. For hot dogs, go to a storefront stand. Locals call cart hot dogs Dirty Water Dogs for good reason. For a real NY Dog, it’s mustard & sauerkraut or onion sauce. Just like in Chicago ketchup doesn’t cut the mustard here. Traditional NY is no ketchup but we run the only food tours where you choose what you like so enjoy a dog the way you want. Also, many vendors see a tourist and just rip them off, which gives our city a bad name but it is another reason to stay away. We are here to counteract that kind of thing with the “real locals” knowledge of the pass.
No. The pass is NEVER refundable because you are receiving the information immediately upon purchase. The value of the pass and your purchase is based only on the information provided. Use your pass like a private membership without sharing its contents publicly so our restaurants are not overwhelmed.
You are buying a digital pass that comes to you via e-mail and/or text to use on your phone. No downloading of apps is needed.
You are receiving a pre-vetted, pre-screened list of restaurants that have been chosen by us to be on the pass based on quality. You will receive bonuses* (see below) at each restaurant based on your check spend. You also receive valuable local information about New York, mass transit, and tipping. On each restaurant listing you receive information you need including borough (county), neighborhood, type of cuisine and service, nearest subway & buses, owner recommendations and price level. Just as importantly, each location is mappable. In addition, you earn points based on restaurants visited in order to receive free gifts*. You also receive additional offers from non-restaurant venues in NY to save money or get free bonuses* (see below).
You may purchase passes good up to 7, 14 or 30 days.
It is blocked out on your device.
No. This is one of the reasons the pass is so economical and valuable. You only purchase one pass for your group or family traveling together.
Restaurants will not honor multiple passes at the same table or accept multiple passes from the same group. Bonuses given by the restaurant are based on total check spend.
You will be seated separately if you want to use your passes. Restaurants are not obligated and will not accept multiple passes.
You can order the pass up to 60 days in advance of your first use and it is not activated until your first use in NY. If you do not activate it within 60 days of purchase the pass expires with no refunds issued since it is an information purchase and you will have had the opportunity to use the pass in your trip planning. If you do not activate it within 60 days of purchase you will not be eligible for bonuses, discounts or points.
When you enter a program partner location on the program YOU MUST allow the venue to enter their private code on their listing on your device to register your visit if it is shown as a requirement on their listing. If you do not allow them to do so your bonus(es) will not be honored.
No. There is no online ordering with the pass but you can take-out from the restaurant if you are picking up your order in person. You must show your pass at participating partner locations upon arrival to be eligible for bonuses and points and place your order on-site.
When you enter a program partner location show your pass with their listing and show offer but do not click the coupon until you are ready to pay as the coupon expires within ten minutes of activation. Activate your coupon at check-out and some offers may require a bar code scan but no code is needed. Do not activate your coupon early as the offer will disappear from the program. No coupon is required for online offers. Use the code provided.
You can do that but you are receiving restaurants recommended by locals backed by the expertise of award-winning Food On Foot Tours. Everyone knows many reviews these days are suspect and often cannot be verified. The information we provide about the city and your locations will make your trip more enjoyable and less stressful. It will save you valuable time and assist you in avoiding mistakes. If you’re a first timer, you don’t really have context of how large the city really is. Our pass takes away all that guesswork and possibly many hours of investigative work. Think of when you’ve traveled to a place that you have never been to but you knew someone who gave you local knowledge. Think of us that way.
You can do that too but your friend was a tourist too. Tourists have limited knowledge and context of the city, especially first timers. They often are only familiar with tourist areas. Local knowledge is invaluable.
If you don’t know where to go to eat, overspending for bad food at restaurants can be a very easy thing to do in New York. We have heard it from many of our about 40,000 (since 2009) tour guests. We also want to have you avoid the same types of chain restaurants that you can visit all over the US and other countries too. That’s not real New York or an authentic New York experience. It is often mediocre food partially pre-prepared in a warehouse kitchen or factory. The pass is a great value for the information provided to you and is easy to use. The avoidance of aggravation alone is priceless while using the pass at restaurants and non-restaurant vendors allows you to receive bonuses* and discounts* that can often cover the cost of the pass (see below).
The information and interactive map provided helps you easily navigate different areas, making it easy to explore more non-tourist neighborhoods all over town so you can experience the real New York.
No. We complement those passes to help you with dining options. We are not an attraction pass but our passes offer discounts and/or bonuses at entertainment, sports venues and services around the city.
We offer discounts or bonuses to our pass holders on things such as musical shows, theater, classes, cruises, spa services, luggage, jewelry, sports events, tours, souvenirs, and treats found at bakeries, candy stores and at ice cream vendors. These offers are continuously changing and while no specific category is guaranteed, they could be worth hundreds of dollars or much more depending on how much you visit our partners and how many are in your group. Unlike restaurants, these services are not vetted and are promotional offers for our pass holder members.
It does not, the pass is designed so you are not restricted in any way. We want you to have the freedom to order whatever you want at each place you visit because everyone wants to have what they want. Isn’t that the fun of eating out, especially in a place like New York with all its amazing variety and options?
Absolutely. One of the great benefits of the pass is it helps you be comfortable getting out of the tourist areas. The subway and bus information with mappability helps you see the real non-tourist New York. Very often there are great places to eat just a block or two away from a tourist area but you probably would not know about that as a visitor.
For each registered restaurant visit you have we donate a stipend to food and other charities**.
No. The pass is a private program designed just for tourists and the information is exclusive to pass holders. Think of it as a private exclusive membership. Bonuses are given by the restaurant in exchange for your business but although the pass lists bonuses we cannot be at every restaurant so we do not guarantee bonuses*.
*Bonuses cannot be guaranteed. We cannot be at every restaurant so you may get an employee who doesn’t honor the pass or know the redemption code. That shouldn’t happen but it might. Your purchase is for the information and technology. We cannot guarantee what happens at any restaurant but if you have an issue please let us know via customer service so we can remove that restaurant from the program if there are ongoing issues.
**We verify and donate to charities that are mostly involved in feeding people. We guarantee a donation of a minimum of twenty-five cents per registered food visit by our pass holders. We hope that adds up to thousands of dollars.