Holy Rollers Kosher Sausage Truck Opens; Trouble Immediately Ensues
Finding a spot is always a difficult task for any new food truck or cart. But one of the first rules of the street is you shouldn’t set up near another cart, truck, or restaurant selling the same kind of food.
I witnessed a bit of a turf dipsute yesterday when I discovered a brand new hot dog cart that was amassing some serious attention. When I walked by 48th Street and 6th Avenue, I saw a huge line for a generic looking halal cart that had scratched out the halal menu and only displayed a kosher certificate reading: Holy Rollers.
After asking people in line what was going on, they explained to me this was a kosher sausage cart that had been featured on the blog yeahthatskosher.com with their menu. Clearly the kosher community had received the memo because the wait for a sausage was close to 30 minutes.
By the time I got to the front, they had run out of their hoagie bread (which looked good) and brisket. Since there was no menu on the cart, I told the guy to give me whatever he thought. So I ended up with a grilled, split sausage topped with pastrami, brisket chili, and spicy mustard on a hot dog bun.
It was just alright. The toppings were all a bit cold, but the homemade sausage (made by the owner in New Jersey) had a nice amount of flavor and smokiness. The hot dog bun couldn’t have compared to the crusty bread I saw them serving everybody else. Since the offerings at this point we a bit sparse, we were offered free drinks and a discount – he charged me $5 for one sausage – surprised that was a discount!
This was only their second day, but I imagine as they brand the cart, refine the menu and get their system down, there will be a lot of potential here.
But I can’t guarantee they will be on 48th and 6th any longer. As I was waiting in line, I witnessed three guys from the nearby hot dog cart waiting to have a talk with the kid running the cart. They were not happy about another hot dog cart setting up just a few feet away. It looked like all would be worked out peacefully, but I don’t blame them. Even though the kosher cart has a different clientele than the generic Sabrett one, it could still hurt their business if people craving a hot dog see the crowds and decide that this is the one they should wait in line for. Kosher or not.
So I hope Holy Rollers sticks around Midtown, but in all fairness, they should find another spot. Check out their Facebook page to see updates and anybody else who tries the food, let us know what you think in the comments.
Posted by brianhoffman at 10:43 am, February 11th, 2015 under Holy Rollers Sausage Cart, Street Vendor Issues.
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9 Comments
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thinking of a not bad way to say this: but I fully enjoy kosher meat slices on top of kosher hot dogs- add a knish for a real jewy trifecta
http://midtownlunch.com/philadelphia/2012/09/13/make-a-pastrami-and-knish-hot-dog-at-hershels/
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That’s the most meat jammed into a bun I’ve even seen… since Saturday night at Jamie’s sister’s place
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I will seriously kill you, do NOT go there
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Jamie, come back to NYC!
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Just two quick points
Holy Rollers Kosher Cart is not just a sausage cart, it sells pulled briskit, pastrami, grilled chicken and chilli as well.
Furthermore, I have been told that the choice of location was due to there being an outside oven cart that was located there and the owner of the cart decided to relocate to Newark, New Jersey.
The spot that was being used by that previous owner remained empty for about 6 months, making that a pretty good choice to place a cart.
And lastly, I hear that you think the first rule of the street is not to set up near another cart selling the same food, but the fact is look all over the city people set up next to each other all of the time.
Examples: liberty street and broadway, 46th street and 6th avenue, 14th street from 3rd avenue to Irving place, 14th street and union square west the south east and south west corners, all around water street and Wall Street, Whitehall street, Hanover square, the met, 5th avenue by grand army p,aka, Columbus circle, 44th and 6th avenue has two next to each other, the museum of natural history, 34th street and 6th avenue after 8 p.m., 23rd street and 5th avenue, 50th street between 6th and 7th avenue, maiden lane.
The list continues but I will stop here.
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Thanks for the update on the menu.
It’s true that this is not the first conflict of interest among street carts and trucks. And setting up near other carts is actually good for business in general. But the point here is that before a new vendor starts selling on the street, they really should assess the neighborhood and the situation (ie, speak to other nearby vendors) so they are not stepping on any toes. Just because an old cart was at that spot, doesn’t mean the other vendors would be ok with a new one setting up, especially if it’s the same food.
These food vendors spend years finding a spot and building up a reputation on that particular corner. To have someone new come and take some of their business (whether that business did it purposely or not), is not good vendor ethics.
In some of those examples you gave, the carts are either run by the same family/business or are serving different food. But if the other carts have worked it out or accepted it, that’s their situation. That’s not the situation here. And considering there are many streets in this part of Midtown without a hot dog vendor, I think Holy Rollers made a bad decision by choosing this particular street.
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I visited these guys a few days ago. They basically make gigantic sandwiches full of meat. Most ML readers will enjoy that.
I got one of the specialty sandwiches with sausage and brisket. It’s a lot of food. I thought the meat was well prepared. Overall I think they’re pretty good and worth trying. If I had a criticism it would be that they work at Jamaican Dutchy speed. But that can be improved. People should check them out.
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I forgot to mention that this place reminds me of Chaps Pit Beef in Baltimore.
sweet, sweet content