53rd & 6th Halal Imitator Switches Up Their Packaging
The results of Street Meat Palooza 2 are just two days away, but here’s a little discovery that is worth sharing with you now. If you’ve been following Midtown Lunch, or the street food scene in Midtown, than you know about the “Famous Halal Guys” who park on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th at night, and the “imposter” cart during the day that pretends to be related to it. (It’s not.) If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should read this now.
When I first wrote about the “imposter” cart a year and a half ago, I noted that one of the ways you could tell the difference was the daytime cart had a rectangular tin, while the “famous” nighttime cart (and its daytime offspring on the SE corner of 53rd and 6th, and the SW corner of 53rd and 7th) all had circular tins. Well, at Street Meat Palooza 2 we discovered that the imposter cart (in addition to wearing the signature yellow sweaters worn by the famous cart) has now changed their packaging to circular tins. Meaning the two plates of food are now virtually indistinguishable.
Can you tell which is which? Larger shots are after the jump.
Virtually indistinguishable.
Which plate belongs to the Famous Halal Guys Cart (on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th) and which belongs to the daytime imposter on the SW corner?
I feel a little bad calling the daytime cart on the SW corner an “imposter cart” but when you copy the clothes, the packaging, and the food- plus tell customers the lie that you are connected to the cart that parks in your spot at night… well then, there’s no other word for it. I figure it’s only a matter of time before they start putting the food in yellow plastic bags (the only remaining way to tell the difference between the two, besides taste.)
The interesting thing is, some people prefer the food at the “imposter” cart- so it will be interesting to see how the two fared against each other during SMP2, which is a completely blind taste test. Results will be posted on Wednesday.
(Oh, and the “imposter” cart is the one on top.)
Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City
More Cart Shenanigans: Beware of the Yellow Sweaters
VIDEO: VendrTV Visits the 53rd St. & 6th Ave. Halal Guys
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:30 am, July 6th, 2009 under Famous Halal Guys on 53rd & 6th, Street Meat Palooza.
11 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
11 Comments
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The easy way to tell:
Famous cart has Kofta.
I’m currently enjoying a Kofta & Chicken combo w/falafel.
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Nothing comes between me and my streetmeat.
the chicken from the imposter cart is yellow, that’s how i could tell from the pictures