For years we’ve been telling people to look for the logo’d plastic yellow bags as a way of distinguishing the Famous Halal Guys on 53rd & 6th from would be imposters.  Well it looks like they’ve done us one better!  We received an email from Luncher Stacey last week, who received this lovely tote bag along with her order of street meat. It matches the yellow color of their shirts and is given out (usually at night) for big orders. They’ve actually had them for about a year (how did we not know this!?), but will now sell them for a dollar if you ask for them specifically. Not only is it a cheap, environmental way of bringing your food back to the office, but you’ll also be the envy of all your friends.

The Famous Halal Guys know how to bring the heat. Ask for a little hot sauce and unless you can handle serious spice, you may find your mouth in flame long after lunch time. Last week when I was getting a chicken pita (from the Famous Halal Guys daytime spot on the SE Corner of 53rd & 6th, natch) I noticed for the first time ever that among the cans of soda and bottles of water that they also sell bottled mango lassis (lassies?) I typically don’t get drinks with my pita because I don’t drink soda (and I’m cheap) so maybe they’ve carried these for sometime. The drink itself is on the sweet side, but it’s the perfect antidote if you over do it on the spice.

Totally forgot to post this last week…  when I was back in Midtown a few weeks ago I saw something I had never seen before in all the years I worked in Midtown.  The lunchtime Famous Halal Guys Cart on the SE Corner of 53rd and 6th had a longer line than the “Imposter” Cart on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th.  Even though the imposters proved themselves to be a delicious street food option in Street Meat Palooza 3, they still can’t deny that they are trying to trick people into thinking they are the same cart as the super famous cart that parks in that spot at night (they have even added logos to their yellow sweaters!)   It makes me a tear up a bit to see that people are finally getting the message, and lining up on the SE corner in greater numbers.  Now we have to get the word out to those people that the line-less cart on the NW corner of 52nd and 6th serves the exact same food as the famous cart on 53rd, with no wait!  (Our work is never done…)

Related:
Are Lunchers Finally Getting the Message About the Halal Carts on 53rd & 6th?

Speaking of Street Meat Palooza 3… last night’s episode of No Reservations was a follow up to his ultra popular food porn show from last year. He had cameos from famous chefs, and showed off a lot of expensive food… but the best part of the show for us was seeing our hero down a gyro pita alone on the street from the Halal Cart on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th (the one that pretends to be the famous cart that parks in the same spot at night.) The segment was titled “I Like It Dirty”, and Bourdain waxes poetic about street meat like only he can, likening waiting on the long line to waiting outside a methodone clinic “only more rewarding ultimately.” There’s no doubt that the lamb on pita tasted good, but we can’t help but wonder if he knows the whole story behind the cart he chose!

Check out the video after the jump…

Related:
More Cart Shenanigans: Beware of the Yellow Sweaters
Are Lunchers Finally Getting the Message About the Halal Carts on 53rd & 6th?

Yesterday, as promised, I hit up the Famous Halal Guys and the Healthy Vegetarian Cart (both on 52nd btw. 6+7th) for a mashup platter and I discovered that the Vegetarian Cart is now sporting a 99% vegetarian food sign in recognition of their brand new grilled chicken lunch special. Yes, the vegetarians are now serving chicken…real chicken.

But before we get distracted by what to call a “vegetarian” cart that serves meat, let’s talk chili/street meat mashup…

Apparently great minds lunch alike, because I went for a very similar combo as Luncher “Wellerfan” choosing chicken and lamb over rice with white sauce and hot sauce from the Famous Halal guys ($5) paired with a side of vegetarian chili and grilled veggies from the Vegetarian Cart ($3).

The combo of lamb, chicken, rice, salad, pita points, chili, veggies and white sauce/hot sauce made for one freaking delicious and satisfying lunch. Meaty bites plus black bean/soy protein chili over rice are a winning combo and worthy repeat meal. The lamb and black bean bites were especially tasty. Next time I would ask for extra white sauce and hot sauce on the side so I can distribute more evenly. As wellerfan notes, if you’re into hot and spicy, you’re going to want to go for the tongue burning Famous Halal Guys sauce rather than just relying on the hot sauce from the Vegetarian Cart.

While the Vegetarian Cart has a rotating “bean of the day” they only serve the chili on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. With the weather expected to be a snowy mess this morning and into the afternoon there’s a good chance that the Vegetarian Cart might not be out at all today anyway (anybody see them setting up this morning?) If not, hopefully they’ll be back in commission on Friday with plenty of chili on hand.

While I was ordering up my vegetarian chili and veggies the vegetarian guys were offering samples of their chicken. After I confirmed that “regular chicken” was in fact legit poultry, I gave it a try. Their grilled chicken was flavorful–they cook it with onions and other mixed grilled veggies. Texture-wise was more like little strip/chunks of chicken than the choppy grilled bits from over at Famous Halal Guys. Starting this week you can have chicken as one of your “choose any four dishes” combo for $6. Not a bad deal. This probably isn’t the ideal lunch for someone looking for a traditional street meat fix, especially since they didn’t seem to have any white sauce available, but if you’re looking for a healthy-ish cart lunch and you’d previously shied away from trying the vegetarian cart because of the lack of meat, you might consider giving them a second look.

99% Vegetarian Food Cart, 52nd St. btw. 6+7th

Last week as I was studying the menu at the Healthy Vegetarian Food Cart, I noticed a familiar face–one of the guys from the Famous Halal Guys cart on 52nd and 6th (the former Shendy’s cart) was getting the hook up. I watched as the vegetarian guys topped off the Famous Halal guy’s chicken and rice platter with the “bean of the day” (it happened to be black eyed peas) and some sauteed veggies. Nice. While I can’t take credit for coming up with the Famous Halal Guys and Healthy Vegetarian Cart mashup, I can say that I support the idea and will be hitting up this combo myself soon. If you were to make your own Healthy Vegetarian + Famous Halal guys combo, what would it include?

Related:
How Do You Keep Vegetarians From Getting To Their Lunch? Park a Hot Dog Cart in the Way!

I know it’s freaking cold out there these days, but don’t let that deter you from the street meat!  Street Vendor business always drops off in the winter, and this year is no different.  I’ve already heard from a number of vendors that business has dropped as much as 60%, and it’s not just the cold… it’s the wind too.  So as tempting as it is to eat at whatever crappy chain is at the bottom of your building, get out there and help your favorite street vendor make it through the winter.

And just to show that I practice what I preach, I dragged Hagan (the 93 plates dude) to the 53rd & 6th St. cart today, which we proceeded to eat on the street in the freezing cold!  And from what I hear, we just missed the DOH…

Just got this email from Lunch’er “Christian”

Wanted to let you know that I was just at Halal Guys (the real ones, not the impostors across the street) and a DOH inspector was giving them a hard time. Going through his checklist and pointing out the various violations they had. They seemed pretty freaked by this news. I heard the guy comment on something being too grimy and then he was pointing out some issues behind their cart (could be similar to the Hot Dog Lady with boxes and storage, who knows). Did it deter me from getting lamb and rice? F no! ;)

It’s a shame the bitter cold doesn’t keep the DOH away! This happened a few hours after we were there, and Christian left before it was resolved. If anybody could confirm the cart is still out there, that would be awesome.

A few months ago fans of Shendy’s Halal (on 52nd and 6th) started noticing some changes in the cart.  The containers had changed, the hot sauce was hotter, the meat was different.  We weren’t sure what was going on at the time, but one thing was clear… they were not serving the same food that scored them a second place finish in this year’s Street Meat Palooza.  Well, this week all of our questions have been answered… Shendy’s is now partnered with the Famous Halal Guys on 53rd & 6th!

In the photo above you can clearly see the branded sweaters, and the yellow bags with the logos.  But what about the food?

Exactly the same.  Apparently “Shendy” (the guy whose face used to be on the side of the cart) returned to Egypt recently.  Either he decided to sell the cart to the 53rd & 6th St. guys, or the guys he handed it off to made the deal.  But either way, they are now serving the exact same food you’ll find on the SE corner of 53rd and 6th during the day (and the SW Corner of 53rd & 6th at night.)  Same rice.  Same sauces.  Same circular containers.  Same pita bread.  In fact, while we were waiting to order, the guy ran over to the cart on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th, and came back with a giant metal tub full of rice.  Craziness.

This is terrible news for all the Shendy’s fans out there, but good news for fans of the Famous Halal Guys. The lines on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th have been getting pretty long lately, so now you have the Shendy’s cart as another daytime option if you don’t want to walk to 53rd and 7th (the Famous Halal Guys have a cart there too.) Thanks to Lunch’er “Ned” for the tip…

Related:
Ask ML: Is Something Up With Shendy’s?
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City