La Sonrisa Adds a Food Cart on 50th Street

One of the most popular streets for trendy mobile food vendors is 50th Street between 6th and 7th. The good news is that since this block is mostly populated by food carts (as opposed to trucks), the danger of the police shutting it down is lower. So if you work near 50th Street, you won’t have to worry about going hungry anytime soon.

And that’s espeically since this street seems to be the most popular for new food carts trying things out in Midtown. We have Swami, Tuk Tuk Boy, Li-Sal’s, Lil Zeus Lunch Box, and Hyderabad just to name a few.

You can now add La Sonrisa to the mix. La Sonrisa, which calls themselves a “boutique empanada company” on their website, will be a familar face to those that frequent the UrbanSpace markets, I have never tried them before because I can’t really bring myself to get involved in the overpriced madness that is those markets, Vanderbilt Hall aside.

So I was pleased to see the cart had no line when I discovered them around 1:00. Although based on their sold out signs, I’m guessing they had a busy early rush.

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I had already eaten lunch, so wasn’t looking to fill up, but rather get an idea of what they offer. I thought the coconut curry chicken empanada sounded interesting, so I forked over $3.75 for a snack.

The empanada is rather flat with a very tasty crisp, fried skin. Inside the chicken mixture was dry (it really needed the tasty chipotle mayo and hot sauce), but had some nice, unexpected flavors. Muted coconut and hints of curry came through on a few bites of the shredded chicken. It’s a decent empanada, but you’ll probably need close to three to fill up for lunch. Too bad they don’t seem to offer any combo or discount for ordering more empanadas.

I still prefer the doughy baked Argentinian versions at Nuchas, which are actually a bit cheaper than these despite their Times Square location. Has anybody else given La Sonrisa a try? Leave thoughts below.

La Sonrisa Cart, 50th Street between 6th and 7th Ave, (646) 434-8530

1 Comment

  • I was there yesterday. The curry chicken is really good. Great flavor. I also had the beef which was fine. The empinadas were a good size. This place is pretty good for empinadas.

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