Midtown Lunch

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.

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In what shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, the map part of this morning’s New York Times article about Midtown Lunching meant big business for some of our favorite carts today. The famous Halal Cart (on the SE corner of 53rd and 6th) had a longer line than I’ve ever seen (maybe to try their new kofta kebab?), there were reports of longer than normal lines at the Biryani Cart, and the Jamaican Dutchy ran out of jerk chicken before Noon. (Apparently there are a few people in Midtown who read the New York Times?) Anybody go to XPL, or one of the other spots on the list? Reports are welcome in the comments…

This is kind of exciting.  The Famous Halal Guys’ daytime cart on the SE corner of 53rd St and 6th Ave (who won last year’s Street Meat Palooza) have added kofta kebabs to their menu.  I had already had lunch by the time I walked by and spotted this beautiful sight on the grill, so I didn’t get a chance to sample.  But you better believe that a chicken/kofta over rice combo platter is in my immediate future (topped with white sauce and hot sauce of course.) No word on whether the nighttime cart (on the SW corner), or their other daytime cart (on the SW corner of 53rd and 7th) is also serving the item.

Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City
Are Lunchers Finally Getting the Message About the Halal Carts on 53rd & 6th?

53rd St. & 6th Ave at 12:30pm; SW Corner/Imposter (On Left), SE Corner/Real Deal (On Right)

In all my years of Midtown Lunch’ing this is the first day that I’ve seen the lunchtime line for the halal cart on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th rival that of the “imposter” cart on the SW corner of 53rd & 6th.  As any longtime reader of Midtown Lunch knows, the cart on the SW corner of 53rd & 6th during the day is not related in any way to the famous Halal cart that is parked there at night.  In fact, if you want the famous halal during the day you have to go to the SE corner of 53rd & 6th or the SW corner of 53rd & 7th.  Best way to tell if you are at the right cart… look for the yellow bags with the famous halal guy logo on them. It’s good to see that folks are finally getting the message.  Whatever you do, though, don’t OD on the stuff.  According to Lunch’er “TC”, if you eat at the cart on 53rd & 6th every day you will definitely get sick of it.

Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City
Famous Halal Cart on 53rd & 6th, Adds Another Cart on 7th

Spotted this little treasure trove around 11:20 a.m. yesterday on the ledge in front of the famous Halal Cart on the SE corner 53rd & 6th.  It looked like the owner was delivering it, like a Brinks Truck would deliver money to a bank. In fact, I’ll bet if there was a choice between stealing a bag of money, or a crate full of white sauce from the 53rd St. cart (and you could only take one) 9 out of 10 Midtown Lunchers would probably take the sauce. (Especially if you got those two squeeze bottles full of red sauce in the deal…)

VendrTV, the new video podcast dedicated to uncovering the best street food in the world, has devoted their third episode to the famous chicken and lamb over rice guys on 53rd St. and 6th Ave. in Midtown. The episode is hosted by Daniel Delaney (with a little help from yours truly) and he visits the famous nighttime cart on the SW corner, their daytime sister cart which parks on the SE corner, and the imposter cart that parks on the SW corner during the day. The episode brings to life a series of posts from Midtown Lunch, and is vaguely reminiscent of that “report” on WCBS TV last November– except that it’s good.

I hesitate to post the video, which exposes me in all my dorkiness and perhaps shows me looking not quite as fat as you may think I am.  Just know this for the purposes of scale… I only look that way because the host of the show is 7’1″ and weighs 530 pounds. (Lord help me, I’m just not that attractive…)

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I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

I have a ‘not really a lunchtime’ complaint but think you might be the best suited to help since its about a Midtown Lunch favorite. You see, I live on 53rd Street (btw. 6+7th Ave.) Yes… against generally considered good judgment some people do actually live there. Well the complaint is about the Famous 53rd Street Halal Guys cart. More specifically about their evening customers. The food is really good and I can’t fault them for their popularity. But the night customers are…well… pigs. Every morning when I take my pup out for his walk we have to maneuver through discarded chicken bones, whole platters of rice, tubs of that super hot hot sauce and most recently shards of broken glass bottles (not to mention the occasional pile of vomit … don’t ask why i know its related to the Famous 53rd St cart).

But wait… there’s more.

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I don’t even know where to start with this one.  I post a story on Thursday, and yesterday CBS 2 “reports” the same exact story on their 6 p.m. newscast- pawning it off as their own discovery.  Kind of lame if you ask me.  I might believe that it was just a coincidence, if it weren’t for the reporter being a complete douche total idiot guy who doesn’t know what the world halal means.  I’m flattered you use Midtown Lunch to come up with stories for your newscast… but a little credit would have been nice.  Think I’m being a bit harsh?  Read what I wrote on Thursay.  Then watch the video of the newscast… and you be the judge.

Fresh off taking photos of that mediocre Mexican cart posing as a Vendy Award nominee, I ran into these guys again on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th Ave… who have now started wearing yellow sweaters to further confuse people into thinking they are the famous 53rd St. and 6th Ave. halal cart.  As you know (or maybe you don’t know), at night this corner of Midtown is occupied by one of the most popular street meat carts in the city. The line stretches down the street from the time they set up (around 7 p.m.) to the time they leave (sometime after 3 a.m.) But during the day, there is a different cart there serving different food- but that doesn’t stop them from claiming to be the same cart that is there a night. They still don’t have yellow bags though, which is the true way you know you’re getting the real thing.  If they ever switch to yellow bags, there might be a war.

A photo of the actual famous halal cart guys is after the jump…   Read more »

Blockbuster news in the Midtown Lunch inbox today.  The famous 53rd St. and 6th avenue chicken and rice cart is expanding their empire to 7th Avenue.  The new cart is parked on the SW corner of 53rd St. & 7th Avenue during the day now starting at 11:30 a.m.  The sister cart on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th, who won the Midtown Lunch Street Meat Palooza is not effected.  Got that?  Let’s see if I can break it down for the uninitiated:

• There is a famous chicken and rice cart that parks every night on the SW corner of 53rd & 6th from around 8 p.m. until 5 a.m.  The line is down the street every night (you may have seen it before.)
• The same guys have a second cart that parks on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th during the day, from Noon until Midnight.  The food is exactly the same as the cart parked across the street at night.
• Now, another cart that serves the same food is parked on the SW corner of 53rd & 7th starting at 11:30 a.m.

The guys at this new cart claimed that this is the very same cart that gets moved over to the SW corner of 53rd & 6th at 7:30 at night- but I’m not positive that is true.  Either way, they’ve got the shirts, the plastic bags, and the awning of the famous cart, and the food looks exactly the same… so I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter. Simply put- Midtown Lunchers now have two places to get the Famous Halal Guys chicken and lamb over rice platter during the day.  SW corner of 53rd & 7th and SE corner of 53rd & 6th.  Very exciting!

Related:
Street Meat Palooza: A 13 Cart Chicken/Lamb Over Rice Showdown
Debunking the Myths of the Most Famous Chicken and Rice Intersection in New York