Hallalelujia
Halallelujah
One busy corner, a shiny metal cart, and the best Halal food in the city.
With an estimated 10,000 of them spewing out the smell of burning chicken and day-old hotdogs, you might be forgiven for thinking New York’s street vendors are all the same. Also, with a plethora of warm and cozy restaurants to choose from, streets swarming with “can’t you see I’m walking here?” civilians, and an official 172 violent crimes a day, why risk a meal outdoors in this city? The answer, from 11:30 a.m. until 4 a.m., is on the corner of 53rd and 6th.
The vendor, “53rd and 6th,” otherwise known as The Best Halal, is run by an Egyptian family of brothers. Standing on this corner for over a decade, the cart recently achieved recognition for its carte du jour, when it came runner up in the Vendy Awards (or “Vendies”), also winning midtownlunch.com’s Street-Meat-Palooza. They are so popular that is seems impostors have set up shop nearby.
If, at first, you don’t see the difference between the two carts on either side of the street you’d be forgiven. The cart on the West side has bought almost identical yellow sweaters. But theirs do not have The Best Halal’s logo on the back, and nor do their bags. And their food does not compare.
The menu at The Best Halal is simple, as their website says: “Any combination of the following items: Chicken, Gyro, Rice, Pita, Salad, Hot Sauce, White Sauce, BBQ Sauce.” They have a loyal fan base for a reason; no gristle in their high-quality meat (Halal animals are vegetarian, not served hormones, and culled in a … friendlier way), the rice has just enough bite to it, and the service is friendly and generous. Just a sprinkling of their unique hot sauce is enough to make anyone sweat, any more and you’re likely to cry.
But despite the media attention and a loyal fan base, times are not easy. Moustaffa, one of the brothers who manages the cart during the day, sees hard times ahead. “We see a bad economy before anyone else. It used to be people would say hi, and smile. Now? No, too much pressure.” If business gets worse he won’t be able to afford the $77,000 a year for the rent, insurance and permit, the increasing cost of food, knives, forks, and plates, and have enough left for the three daytime employees. It is amazing, then, that you can still buy a heavy platter of tender chicken (and/or lamb), yellow rice, warm pita, crispy salad and their special sauce for $5.
After 7 p.m. the night shift takes over on the West side of 6th Avenue, moving the impostors on. Soon their dinner-crowd will brave the streets and weather in a line that can stretch most of the way to 7th Avenue, often until four in the morning.
If you’re still not convinced that the food can be that good, or still worried about buying street food, just talk to any of the hundreds of people who buy from them every day, including several families who drive there from as far as New Jersey or Connecticut. I normally buy a $5 platter on my way home from school, and eat leftovers cold for lunch the next day, and I’ve never had a problem. Although in October 2006, before they hired more people for the night shift, one teenager was stabbed after cutting the line at four in the morning.
Knowing that only makes me want to go there more often: it’s literally food to die for.
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