Inside the 130-Year-Old Italian Gun Club Tucked Away in a New York City Restaurant

If you think you know New York’s hidden restaurant scene, you probably haven’t heard of the place where you can eat osso buco and then head downstairs to fire a gun. On Good Guys, hosts Ben Soffer and Josh Peck stumbled upon the hidden gem that feels like something out of The Godfather meets The Grand Budapest Hotel with a side of espresso and a nine-millimeter.

Welcome to Tiro a Segno—which translates to “shoot at the target” in Italian—a 130-year-old, members-only Italian heritage club nestled behind three unassuming brownstones on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The club dates back to 1888 and was initially founded as a sportsmen’s organization for Italian immigrants. 

Tiro a Segno: A gun range in a restaurant?

Yes. You read that right. This place has a full-blown, NYPD-permitted, underground shooting range inside what otherwise appears to be a high-end Italian restaurant. Ben, who got into the club courtesy of a friend, breathlessly explained, “You walk through the kitchen, down the stairs, sign a waiver, get a gun, and shoot at targets. I had apps, went downstairs, and did target practice.”

Can we pause here and appreciate the image of two podcast hosts who once debated pineapple-on-pizza etiquette and are now being handed live firearms after a plate of antipasto?

Old-school prestige, with just a touch of Godfather energy

To be clear, Tiro a Segno is not your average city gun club. It’s exclusive, deeply rooted in heritage, and dripping in Italian pride. Members included everyone from Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to Enrico Caruso, and current leadership wants to clarify one thing: This place is more than a dining room.

“It’s very important that we maintain the social fabric. We spend quite a bit of time vetting the applicants,” said club vice president John Vincenti to The New York Post, who added that you don’t need Italian blood to join—but you do need the right vibe.

They host over 60 events a year, promoting Italian culture, and enforce a strict dress code (yes, even for a former Governor of New York). Additionally, they are registered with the FDNY, NYPD, and state police. This is not some fly-by-night underground speakeasy. It’s 100% legal, historic, and deeply respected.

As Vincenti said, “That is an homage to our heritage, more than something that’s really current.” This isn’t cosplay. It’s tradition.

The Good Guys meet La Famiglia

Now, imagine the comedy of errors that is Ben and Josh infiltrating this sacred space of Italian honor and old-world formality. With all the excited energy of someone who just discovered burrata for the first time, Ben shared his disbelief that a gun range could legally exist in Manhattan: “I had never heard of it before. I’ve never seen it before.”

And Josh’s response? “Are you sure it wasn’t BBs?”

It’s a pairing more unexpected than prosciutto and melon, but oddly, it works. You’ve got Ben marveling at the “no kick” rifle and Josh joking about Tiro’s permit being older than most buildings in SoHo. It’s as if two slightly confused, overly enthusiastic “good Jewish boys” accidentally wandered onto a Scorsese set and were too charmed to leave.

The place practically oozes cinematic energy. “It felt incredibly illegal,” Ben admitted, even though, technically, it’s the only indoor gun range in NYC permitted since 1893. “You sign a waiver, and they hand you a gun. And I have to tell you, it was a piece of cake.”

While they didn’t get into a philosophical debate over the ethics of gun ranges inside restaurants (though Josh did float the grim reality that “once a year someone comes in and unalives themselves”), what stood out was how they embraced the cultural clash with reverence, curiosity, and a whole lot of laughs.

Preserving culture, one espresso (and bullet) at a time

For all the novelty, Tiro a Segno isn’t just about the wow factor—it’s a legacy of Italian-American resilience, pride, and community. Vincenti said, “Our club is a very old club with a mission of promoting and sharing Italian culture with others.”

That mission is alive in every plate of osso buco, every burst of target practice, and every whispered story of past members who shaped history from the same dining room table where podcast hosts now marvel at the club’s eccentric grandeur.

In an age where heritage is often commodified or whitewashed, Tiro a Segno stands as a proud, immovable relic of real immigrant roots—and a reminder that sometimes, the most unexpected places (say, a gun range in a basement under a plate of pasta) are the best portals to the past.

Take the gun and the cannoli

If you ever find yourself in Greenwich Village with a dinner jacket, an appetite for veal Milanese, and a curious desire to live your best Robert De Niro fantasy, Tiro a Segno might be your shot. But don’t expect to waltz in without credentials. As Ben put it: “I have no idea how this person I went with got in. But next time you’re here, Josh, we’re going.”