Archive for 'Famous Halal Guys on 53rd & 6th'

In These Cold Times, Support Your Street Vendors

DSC05953

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…

Read more »

I Would Kill For That Street Meat: Remember the guy who was stabbed to death at the Famous Halal Guys cart on 53rd and 6th Ave. back in October of 2006.  Well, the trial just started and the guy accused of the crime has pleaded "self defense". [via Eater]

Shendy’s Becomes Part of Famous Halal Guys 53rd & 6th Empire

newshendys

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?

Read more »

The Fancification of Street Meat

Despite the rain it looks like Dan Delaney and Fancy Fast Food managed to make it to the Famous Halal Guys cart on 53rd and 6th yesterday to fancify a plate of street meat for a future episode of VendrTV. Both camps were being all hush hush about exactly what they did (I suggested a charcuterie plate!), but this curious looking photo was posted online last night. A tagine isn’t a huge stretch from the original dish, but it’s still the fanciest plate of street meat I’ve ever seen! And it looks like they might have even cut up the rice to make it look like cous cous. Maybe there’s more to it than meets the eye. Guess we’ll just have to wait for the episode to see!

Lisa Lampanelli Calls Famous Halal Cart’s Line “Bulls&*t”

Apparently comedian Lisa Lampanelli isn’t a fan of the Famous Halal Guys Cart on 53rd and 6th.  From Grub Street’s “New York Diet” Column: “There’s a food cart by Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street and it always has twenty people in the line, so I say to my fiancé, “What the fuck is up with that place?” We ate there — some weird Middle Eastern thing. I think it’s beef, pork, chicken and yellow rice. I was like, “Not so much.” Then we tasted the guy next to him with no line and the guy with no line was better. See, it’s all bullshit! It’s all hype in New York!”  Nice.  I wonder if the cart with no line she went to was the one the SE corner?   Because that would be comedy!

Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City

Another Reporter “Discovers” The Famous Halal Cart on 53rd & 6th

The "Famous" Chicken & Rice Cart at 53rd & 6th Ave.

The NYT City Room blog revisits the topic of the late night line at the Famous Halal Cart on 53rd & 6th, and seems to be in awe of how it has led to “daytime halal carts now outside office buildings and nighttime vendors close to nightclubs, theaters and hotels” (as if this was a recent phenomenon.)  It doesn’t mention that you can avoid that late night line, by crossing the street to the SE corner of 53rd & 6th for the exact same food- but Shendy’s, the 2nd place finisher in Street Meat Palooza 2, did get a big shout out from one of the “clubbers” interviewed on the line:

“I’ve tried both carts; 53rd is really the touristy spot,” Mr. Amos said. “52nd is the spot for the people who just couldn’t wait, the starving guy. I’m usually starving.”

The article also mentions that there are other carts drawing crowds these days, like 28th and Madison Avenue, 40th and Seventh Avenue (really?), 45th and Sixth Avenue (uh, do you mean Kwik Meal?) and 52nd between Ninth and Tenth Avenues.

Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City

Famous Halal Guys and Five Guys Are Great Hangover Food

Mixed Combo @ the famous Chicken & Rice Cart on 53rd & 6th Ave.

If you thought the Midtown Lunch commenters could get nasty, check out this comment on Something Awful asking for the best drunk/hangover food:

“Chicken and lamb over rice from a halal cart. Squirt enough harissa over it to scare the evil right out of you (and burn your o-ring when you’ve got the beer shits the next morning). Preferably from the 53rd & 6th cart.

Another commenter agreed, and added his own recomendation:

“I would take that cart behind the school and get it pregnant. Drunk, I almost always swing Mexican. If not Mexican, then Five Guys.”

Nice.

Is the 7th Ave Offshoot of the Famous Halal Guys Cart Slipping?

New Cart on SW Corner of 53rd & 7th

Ever since the Famous Halal Guys (on 53rd and 6th) opened a third cart (on the SW corner of 53rd & 7th) it has always been the Midtown Lunch position that the food was exactly the same.  Well Lunch’er “Sadia” says that is not the case anymore:

“I used to visit the guys on 53rd and 7th a lot because their food was actually the same as the real famous guys’ food. I like to be believe I am a connoisseur when it comes to halal carts around the city, so I do believe I can tell the famous guys from non famous ones, similar packaging or not. The last two times that I went however there seems to be a different person serving the food and it does not taste the same.”

Read more »

What Did You Have For Lunch Yesterday? I Had Street Meat

DSC02319

Man, I was really in the mood for street meat yesterday… and can’t for the life of me figure out why.  (Oh, that’s right.)  I decided to hit up the Famous Halal Cart on the SE Corner of 53rd and 6th to try their kofta kebab (which we reported about a few months back.)  Probably not the smartest move considering they had just come in 3rd place in Street Meat Palooza 2 , but the line moved quick, and I just had to get my fix.

Check out my chicken and kofta combo plate, after the jump.

Read more »

Street Meat Palooza 2: Our New York City Chicken/Lamb Over Rice Showdown Crowns A New Champion

streetmeat5

One year ago this month 20 Midtown Lunch’ers converged in Bryant Park to taste 13 plates of street meat and rate them in an event that became known as Street Meat Palooza.  The Famous Halal Cart on 53rd & 6th was crowned the winner, and we vowed to return one year later to give another set of carts a chance at unseating the champ.  Last week a new group of lunchers once again converged in Bryant Park to blind taste test and rate 15 different street meat carts, many of them nominated by you.  Food was consumed, scores were given, and a new winner has been crowned.  Ladies and gentleman, Midtown Lunch’ers, and street food enthusiasts from around the world, I’m excited to give you STREET MEAT PALOOZA 2.

At Lunch Now: Street Meat Palooza 2

Some of you may be asking, “What exactly is street meat?”  Well, for the purposes of this contest it is an order of chicken and lamb, served over rice, with “white sauce” and hot sauce.  In Midtown it is often referred to as “Halal Food” (the Muslim equivalent of Kosher), but in this case the method of preparation (or its degree of holiness) is not important.  As long as you serve something called chicken and lamb over rice (with white sauce and hot sauce) it could be Palooza’d.  7 carts from last year were granted automatic entry, while the other 8 were culled from your nominations.  Carts received separate scores for chicken, lamb, rice, white sauce, hot sauce, and value, plus received an overall score (the most important.)  Every judge was also asked to choose a top 5 at the very end.

Keep in mind there are no losers in Street Meat Palooza, just different degrees of winning (I see the good in all street meat).  Just getting picked to participate meant that somebody likes the cart, and every single entry showed up in at least one judge’s top 5.  In other words, this isn’t a contest as much as a celebration- and just because a new champion has been crowned doesn’t meat that last year’s winner is no longer great.  It just means that on any given day, any number of amazing Midtown street food vendors might be putting out “The Best” plate of street meat.

Here are the results…

Read more »