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February 27, 2006

 11th St @ 1st Ave - East Village Halal

This pushcart is as remarkable for its location as for the high quality of its food. Tucked away in the East Village, far from the commercial thouroughfares of 3rd Avenue and Broadway, you might wonder how it draws enough customers; that is, until you look across the street at the Mosque and Islamic Center, and see the need this Halal cart fills. And judging by the knot of Muslims hovering around the broad back of the vendor, it's filling that need admirably.

"Busy, busy" is how he answers the question "How are you?" He is, and it's clear why. His lamb is moist and laced with savory peppers and onions, his chicken is richly spiced, his platters come with special touches (like a few french fries thrown in), and his hot sauce has the marvelous unmistakeable smokeyness of harissa. It's good stuff, it's cheap, and it keeps 'em coming back -- even the non-muslims.

Posted by Sam on Feb 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments & User reviews (2)

February 24, 2006

 NY Dosas - All-Vegan Cuisine

Vegetarians and meat-eaters alike line up on the south side of Washington Square park during the lunch hour to get a taste of the all-vegan cuisine at this Indian food cart. The dosas which give the pushcart its name -- thin lentil pancakes rolled and stuffed with a variety of fillings -- are cooked to order until deliciously crisp, and served up with coconut chutney and a small dup of dhal, a savory lentil soup, at a cost of 4 or 5 dollars. But the menu doesn't stop there, offering a number of other indian specialties: samosas, spring rolls, lentil doughnuts, and more. For my money, though, the real delicacy isn't even listed at all: ask the vendor for the "veggie drumstick," and for one dollar a piece, he will give you a delicately flavored morsel of home-made soy protein, wrapped around one end of a small stick of sugar cane in imitation of a chicken drumstick. Fried in a wok until crunchy and golden and served with a translucent red hot sauce, this is what keeps me coming back.

Hours are 11 A.M. through 5 P.M. (unless he sells out earlier). Between noon and 1 P.M., the line gets long, so be prepared to wait (unless you only want appetizers, in which case just pull up to the window instead of waiting in line), or, alternately, phone in your order in advance @ 917-710-2092.

Posted by Sam on Feb 24, 2006 | Permalink | Comments & User reviews (1)

February 21, 2006

 Hester @ Bowery - Deep Fried Delicacies

This is a madly popular pushcart, possibly the most popular in all of chinatown, so be prepared to wait at least 5-10 minutes to get your food. Like most of the long-menu chinatown carts, there are fried noodles, fish balls, rice noodles, and stewed squid. But what really draws the crowds, though, are the deep fried delicacies. Peppers, eggplants, tofu, and taro root are slathered with a savory paste (maybe gluten?) and fried until golden. The resulting delicacies are a perfect combination of crisp and chewy. A squirt of sweet and savory sauce completes the taste, and at one dollar for 8 pieces, you can see why the line stretches down the block.

Posted by Sam on Feb 21, 2006 | Permalink | Comments & User reviews (2)

 Lafeyette @ Canal - "The Noodle Lady is Queen"

The Noodle Lady wins my nomination for cutest vendor hands down. When I asked to take her picture, she was all smiles and blushes, adjusting her hat -- and I had to remind her to charge me!

She also dishes up my favorite breakfast -- a steamed rice noodle crepe she makes right at the cart, studded with bits of pork (I think), sprinkled with sesame seeds, scallions, and doused with soy sauce and hot sauce. Also served at the cart (although usually sold out by the time I pull in at 11 a.m. or so) are congee and what looks like a flavored soy milk. I haven't tried the soy milk yet, and the congee -- a thick rice porridge with chunks of chicken, jewels of gelatinous agar, straw mushrooms and pieces of ginger -- is a little more than I'm ready for at that time of day. So, though other people may know her as the congee lady, to me, the Noodle Lady is queen.

Posted by Sam on Feb 21, 2006 | Permalink | Comments & User reviews (2)

February 19, 2006

 Submitting a Review

We're trying to make this a comprehensive resource for NYC pushcarts, so any input is greatly appreciated. Whether you want to add your thoughts, corrections, or updates on to existing reviews or review a cart that is not yet represented on the site, we'd love to have your contributions!

This site is for people who love pushcarts, so do we even need to mention that irrelevant or abusive comments will be deleted? Of course, critical reviews are fair game, but keep things in proportion.

To add onto an existing review, click on the "Comments & user reviews" link at the bottom of the entry.

To contribute a new review, please read over the following guidelines
before sending it to samcalvin47(at)hotmail(dot)com

To be included, a new review must have:

• Location: which street the cart is on, with the cross-street. In areas where there are many carts, try to give the address of the nearest building.
• Dishes: details of the food served at the cart.
• A brief description of what makes the cart special or noteworthy.

A complete review also includes as many of the following as possible:

• Pictures: up to 3 smallish (not more than 75 kb) pictures of the whole cart, the vendor, and/or the food.
• Name of Vendor(s)
• Prices
• Hours: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night, 24 hours, or any more specific information
• Days: 7/week, weekdays, weekends, or more specific info
• Anything else you think is worth a mention.

Posted by Sam on Feb 19, 2006 | Permalink | Comments & User reviews (1)

 About Us

Sam Talbot likes pushcarts so much he runs one. You can find him dishing Kimchi dogs and the rest of his signature grub late-night on the corner of Stanton and Ludlow Streets. For more info, visit http://www.kapshow.com/cart.

Matt Gross is an inveterate street-meat eater, a cart connoisseur, and a slurper of cheap noodles. He’s a regular contributor to the New York Times travel section and to New York Magazine, and he’s the editor-at-large for both Student Traveler Magazine and TripmasterMonkey.com.

The PushcartNYC logo was designed by Matt Dujnic.

Posted by Sam on Feb 19, 2006 | Permalink

February 18, 2006

 Welcome to Pushcart NYC

So much has been written about everything to buy in New York City. From a haircut to a book, guides lay out more or less systematically the whole terrain of what's out there. Why not about pushcarts?

The pushcart is one of the symbols of the City, and yet information about them is maddeningly partial, scarcely rising above the level of rumor. Many people are not even aware that there is an entire world of cuisine available from pushcarts that goes far beyond the ubiquitous hot-dogs-and-pretzels, knowledge of this cuisine is so scarce.

And yet, among the true fans, pushcarts are considered the height of urban cuisine, prefered even to fine restaurants, and the vendors who have committed their lives to them attain the status of legend. "The Arepa Lady," "the Jackson Heights Halal vendors," "Tony the Dragon" -- these names are spoken with respect bordering on awe.

We'd like to share that awe, to spread the word, to sing the praises of the pushcarts we love in whatever way we can. To make a record of the pushcarts of NYC and the excellent food they provide, day in and day out, to the people of this wonderful city.

Is there a pushcart that you love? Tell us about it! We're always interested...

The Pushcart NYC Team

Posted by Sam on Feb 18, 2006 | Permalink | Comments & User reviews (0)