The 55th Street Fried Chicken Cart Probably Shouldn’t Use Styrofoam
From the looks of things 55th and Madison has become one of the most interesting street cart corners in Midtown. On the NW corner you’ve got the liver sandwich from Charcoal Grill. On the NE corner, there is a cart that serves grilled hot dogs, chili, and chicken sausages. And on the SW corner there is the “Fried Chicken Cart”, which Lunch’er Bossman reported on back in October. I finally made it over there to check out their fried chicken… and it was good. Although I’m not sure styrofoam containers are the best vehicle for fresh-out-of-the-fryer fried chicken.
Yes, those are holes in the container created by the hot oil. That can’t be good for you. Of course, I ate the chicken anyway. (Not going to let good fried chicken go to waste, right!) When Bossman checked this cart out, he got two pieces of the regular chicken, and two chicken tenders. On the day I was there it was chicken wings. Not sure if they have different pieces on different days, or maybe now they’re only serving wings? They fry the chicken fresh to order, so wings make a lot more sense for time purposes.
Pretty tasty overall, I had them add their vinegary hot sauce- which pretty much turned these bad boys into buffalo wings. The fries were surprisingly tasty, and made this quite the deal for $6.
A friend tested out their chicken over rice, which was fairly standard. Rice was a little overcooked for my taste (I prefer the dry basmati rice that you get at 53rd & 6th or XPL), and I can’t agree with her choice of BBQ sauce over hot sauce (sorry, I’m strictly a white sauce hot sauce kind of guy) but it was edible.
Overall, a tasty lunch… despite the fact that my lunch melted the container that was holding it. I guess I’m saying go forth at your own risk. Next up… the grilled hot dog cart!
Fried Chicken Cart, SW Corner of 55th & Madison
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:55 am, July 30th, 2009 under 55th btw. Mad+5th, Cart, Fried Chicken, Street Meat.
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10 Comments
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Seems like the chicken always melts the container at that cart. Meh–a little styrofoam never hurt anyone.
Also, it’s been strictly wings from there for at least a few months. I guess to save on frying time.
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Wax paper on the bottom of the tray will allow you to avoid eating expanded polystyrene foam, which can cause all sorts of health problems.
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Mmmmm… Expanded Polystyrene Foam….. Yet, I am already eating street meat so….
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That grilled hot dog cart is fantastic. Also they have knishes, which I never really want to eat a hot dog without. I haven’t tried their chili yet. Please report back.
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Lol @ Zach’s chosen occupation pretty much guaranteeing future health problems…
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Yea, that’s nothing new with the burnt up styrofoam – which is toxic? It happens when you order anything fried and they use cheapass styrofoam…at chinese take out and seafood/fish fry places.
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you guys are exaggerating. it’s perfectly safe in moderation!
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Okay, just got back from this cart. You should probably refer to it as just the “Wings Cart”. I asked the cart guy if he ever has any other type of chicken or just wings and he said “just wings”.
I had the wings over salad (instead of alongside fries), which solved the melted styrofoam problem (and I don’t mind a little wilted lettuce).
That said, for $6 for 6 wing pieces, there are plenty of other places I’d go for wings, and a cart isn’t one of them (I’d go back if it were legs/thighs…)
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Sometime in the last 6+ months they added aluminum foil to the styrofoam container, no melting. $6 midtown lunch sounds good to me.
Poor form on the styrofoam container.