The cool old guy who runs this stand is quite a character. He loves to chat with all the people in line, especially the little kids. He always has classical music playing from a small boombox he has at his stand. And yet, when I asked him to pose for a picture, he said to focus on the food, claiming he was "shy".

He only sells one product, and it's delicious. Tiny cakes, delicately flavored with orange, are cooked in a pan like a honecomb-shaped waffle iron. He scoops them into a bag and serves them steaming hot. Top that!

I should start this post out by admitting that this is a wildly biased review. The Vendly brothers asked me for some advice on setting up their operation over a year ago, and they're such awesome guys I've been totally rooting for these charming California boys ever since.

That said, their food is great, too. They keep their focus tight on the kind of California-Mexican food they grew up eating (Cal-exico, see?), and they really go above and beyond to make their offerings stand out from the crowd. Every dish has special touches, which means that even if you think you've seen it all in terms of Mexican-American cuisine, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Maybe you've had cabbage as a condiment in your tacos before (at least you have if you've been to Super Taco), but have you had red onions pickled with corriander seed?

The Carne Asada is the star of the show here, but all of the tacos are must-try. The stewed meats (chipotle pork and pollo verde) are particularly notable for the amount of care that goes into spicing them and braising them until they are perfectly tender. The Mexican corn, brushed with mayo, rolled in cheese, and dashed with cayenne, is good (and cheap at $2). The quesadillas and burritos are great, too, but personally, I rarely make it past the tacos. Everything comes with a generous amount of their excellent guacamole and none of the dishes are prepared spicy (but there is an excellent selection of salsas as spicy as anyone could want around the far side of the cart).

So, if you happen to be down in SOHO (say, at the Apple store, one block to the East), this is a no-brainer - you won't find anything half as good as Calexico, even if you spend twice as much. But I would say that it's worth making the trip down just to try the food. Then again, I'm biased.

The 2006 Vendy Awards were held on October 22nd.

The Finalists (official bios):

Piedad "The Arepa Lady" Cano
Location: Jackson Heights, Queens, Roosevelt Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets
Serving: Columbian Arepas

The Vendly brothers Jesse, Brian, and Dave from "Calexico Carne Asada"
Location: SOHO, Wooster Street at Prince
Serving: California Mexican cuisine

Thiru "The Dosa Man" Kumar
Location: Washington Square South, at Sullivan Street
Serving: Vegan Sri Lankan Cuisine

Samiul Haque Noor from "Sammy's Halal"
Location: Jackson Heights, Queens, 73rd Street and Broadway
Serving: Halal Chicken, Lamb and Beef over rice

Also in the house, Japanese TV:

I missed much of the food service, 'cause I leapt in to lend a hand at the Vendlys cart. What I got to taste was excellent, though. Eventually, all of the carts will be reviewed for pushcartnyc!

There was a nice vibe in the courtyard of St. Marks, though, even if there was quite a bit of waiting on line (I'm sure the open bar helped).

After the food, we went inside, accompanied, of course, by Japanese TV.

There were some presentations by the Street Vendors Project's executive council (here watched by the director of the SVP, Sean Basinski).

Then Reverand Billy raved and ranted some (to applause and laughter)...

Finally, the winner was announced: Sammy's Halal. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

All in all, a great evening. See you next year!

Step into Liberty Plaza (now renamed Zuccotti Park) and one pushcart stands out. Well, its line stands out, anyway. Nearly as many people are waiting in line for this one cart as are waiting for all the others put together. This food I had to try for myself.

Even thought the line is long, it moves quickly, and there is a tray of fried pitas to munch on while you wait. There is no time lost to wading through a lengthy menu becuase ther are only two choices: falafel sandwich or falafel platter. I decide on the platter.

Man, am I glad I came. This is a falafel to rival Moishe's, although they take the exact opposite approach. While Moishe makes a light, airy falafel, Sam's falafel is dense, almost meaty. The 7 (!) falafel balls they give with the platter are joined on the plate by a dazzling array of accoutrements: hummus, tahini sauce, baba gannouj, fried eggplant, fried onions, a stuffed grape leaf, lettuce, tomato, and pita. Every one of them is delicious, even the stuffed grape leaf, a dish I usually avoid, is wonderfully mild and flavored with mint. All together, they combine for effect which is as appetizing as any meal I can remember.

Barbara was my model when I was learning to be a vendor. Her cart is remarkable less for the range of dishes - she serves a standard (if expanded) run of traditional pushcart fare - than for the speed and efficiency of her operation, and the resultant consistancy and freshness of her offerings.

You can smell the piles of onions and peppers cooking slowly as you pass by, and to me this makes the italian sausage hero (loaded high with the savory vegetables) my number one pick, but anything you pick here will be a credit to her profession.

Has anyone seen the cart which used to be at Hester and Bowery Streets (NW corner)? I haven't seen it at that location since at least May, and I'm getting worried... A new store opened on that corner, with it's main doorway directly adjacent to where the cart used to be. A scaffold has been erected on the building (although the poles would be far enough apart to allow the cart to fit), and a fruit stand has been setting up where the cart used to be.

If anyone has seen the cart, in that or in any other location, please tell me... I'm craving their deep-fried delicacies!

This is a bit of an unusual entry. A few weeks ago I took my first visit to Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights -- or is it Rego Park? -- at any rate, near 79th Street, where the legendary Arepa Lady is rumored to hang out.

I was amazed -- here is another piece of the city, unlike any other, as throbbing and busy as Chinatown, and supposedly open later. Queens truly is where the city that never sleeps lives now. Service industry=all hours.

There are a great number of carts of varying degrees of sophistication strung out along the sidewalks flanking the elevated portion of the R. I have singled out two of the simpler ones for this first review, and I fear I haven't even done them particular justice...I'll have to go back soon. Of particular interest: a food-truck specializing in ceviche and the countless fruit salad and fruit-drink carts, particularly the ones that seem to use some kind of crisp pastry as a dish (almost like an sugar cone).

The first cart was under the entrance to the 82nd Street R station, selling chicken on a stick (called, I think, chuzos) - nicely seasoned in a way I'm not familiar with (cumin is one of the flavors)and sliced all along its length as it cooked (this is what the lady-vendor is doing in the picture) to give it a maximum of cooking surface.

I don't think this was the famous Arepa Lady. It wasn't anywhere near 79th Street, but I saw my chance to get an arepa.

This one was topped with butter (or was it I Can't Believe It's Not Butter?), and crumbled cheese. It was my first arepa, and it was delicious. Tastes like it was made with shortening or lard, and it had whole kernels of corn baked in. Nice.

That's all I have to report so far...more to come.]]> 2007-09-29T07:17:28Z 2006-06-26T07:40:11Z tag:www.kapshow.com,2006:/pushcartnyc/9.3404 2006-06-26T07:40:11Z

Vendy Award Nominee 2005

Location: Broadway at 30th Street, Astoria, Queens

Hours: 11am - 8pm ('til 11pm on Fri., midnight on Sat.)

Days: 7 (?)

Dishes: spiced chicken, shawarma, felafel sandwiches (in pita or hero) and platters, philly cheesesteak, shish kebab, kefta platter

Prices: $3-$4 sandwiches, $4-$6 platters

Continuing on my Astoria kick, this excellent pushcart has a number of notable features.

First of all, I have to touch on the pickles. There are 3 varieties of pickle that are included in every dish - pickled onion, clove-flavored gherkins, and turnip strips colored bright red with beet juice. I've never seen anything like this anywhere else, and they are both tasty and beautiful on the plate.

Second, the chicken. Really, really good. I've sampled everything else on the menu except the cheesesteak, and although the kefta platter (a grilled patty of ground beef flavored with, among other things, cinnamon) is nice if you want a bit of variety, nothing really touches the chicken. The fact that the menu refers to it simply as "The Plate" as much as annouces this fact. Plus they throw in a creditable felafel ball...

Which brings me to the felafel. Interesting, and unlike other felafel in several ways. They are football shaped and strongly orange colored. I'm not a felafel expert, and I have no idea what the difference in preparation is here.

Lastly, a general observation - this is the second heavyweight pushcart I've visited which is located right outside a supermarket (the other is Super Taco), which suggests a natural symbiosis between the two. It's much wiser to shop after you have a bite to eat, 'cause it cuts down on impulse buying.

So pull on up and fill on up!

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It is a testament to the vibrant energy of Astoria that despite being a relatively low-rise nieghborhood (3-4 stories at most) that it can sustain as many excellent carts as it does, and for such long hours.

This cart is the hands-down winner in the kebabs category, serving fresh-cooked meat from noon to 6 in the morning, 7 days a week. This is a hard-core operation.

The kebabs are cooked over natural charcoal and are beautifully tender and juicy. Ask for everything on it, and they'll give you barbeque sauce, hot sauce, lemon juice, and oregano. The meat is so perfect though, any way you have them they'd be great.

The sandwich is fine, but unneccesary. The tzaziki sauce, bread and salad are OK, but not worth 2 extra dollars, so you're better off sticking to meat on a stick. I don't know if they do platters.

By all accounts, the lamb is the star player at this cart. First-hand experience bears up the legend. I have never tasted lamb more tender, more artfully seasoned, or more delicately showcased than the lamb-in-pita I enjoyed from this cart. The slim roll may not be the most awesome to behold, but trust me, once you put it in your mouth you will know it is well worth the price.

Take extra napkins when you get this falafel sandwich. Consider taking a fork as well. I mean, I fancy myself a pretty proficient falafel eater, but this overstuffed, cannonball-sized sandwich posed a challenge. Sauce went everywhere, pickles were skittering, fragments of heavenly-light falafel were flying. Do not try to eat this on the run. There is a nice park just a few paces down the block on 46th Street -- do yourself a solid and sit down to eat, and take the time to savor the complex layering of flavors -- the fried chick pea, the squeeze of lemon juice, the hints of corriander, the tahini, tomato, lettuce, and chili sauce, all topped with a verty pleasant whole gherkin pickle.

Also -- tender-tounged individuals take note: they put hot sauce on the sandwich as a matter of course, so make sure to specify if you don't want it.

This guy impresses the hell out of me. He plies his trade around the corner from Carnegie Hall, and as far as I'm concerned he is talented enought to be on stage.

His cuts of meat are unseasoned when he pulls them out of his big white cooler, and wonderfully fresh. He throws them on the griddle for a minute, then on the charcoal grill, then puts them back on the griddle to chop them up for you.

It is such a dead-simple meal he doesn't even put salt on it unless you ask for it (so ask for it). The chicken breast, so easy to overcook, is perfect and moist.

And then he pulls out the rib steak! Yeah you heard me right - rib steak. "I can only cook what I like to eat," he says modestly. (He's so modest, in fact, he demures when I ask to take a picture, saying "I'm not ready").

Tender, fresh, mild, perfect. I'd skip the sandwiches and go straight for the platters, because the star here is the meat, and the bread somewhat overshadows. With yellow rice and a nicely dressed tomato-and-lettuce salad, the platters are ideal - and don't you dare ruin your steak by getting BBQ sauce!

The friendly orange truck parked near the Astor Place Uptown 6 Station is a familiar sight to East Villagers, and a pleasing alternative to the well-known corporate behemoth, which has occupied strongholds within eyeshot to both the east and the west. The coffee is better, the prices are better, the music is better, and you don't need to learn a new language to place an order (the sizes, refreshingly, are "small" and "large"). So if you find yourself undercaffinated in Astor Place, do yourself a favor -- drink orange!

Maria is a titan in the food-cart buisiness. Long-time owner of a commissary in Chelsea (which I learn she has, sadly, lost the lease to recently), she has also recieved numerous newspaper write-ups, which she proudly displays plastered to the side of her cart. She can often be found working alongside her son, who she brings along to do some of the heavy lifting her advanced years preclude. But this veteran troops on -- I'd be surprised if she ever stops.

Shish kebabs are the order of the day here, and she does 'em as perfect as I've ever tasted. So if you're in the area, pick one up -- for my $2.50, there's no better snack.

This modest-seeming truck is a heavyweight in mobile food vending. Four or five employees fit into the tiny workspace inside, turning out an impressive array of offerings. It being my first visit, I stuck to the tacos. I was not disappointed -- two slightly sweet, pliable corn tortillas topped with a perfect quantity of meat, lettuce, onions and herbs. Red and green sauces, radish, lemon, and pickled jalapeno were available to add at the self-service bar. Of the three I tried, the beef steak and spicy pork tacos were unbelievable -- it's really impossible to choose a favorite. The barbeque chicken was comparitavely bland although perfectly passable. I also strongly recommend the orchata, a cold, sweet, rice-based drink. (It may sound weird if you haven't tried it, but trust me, it tastes good! Especially with a spicy taco.)

AND THEY DELIVER! (although I don't know how far away)

This review is obviously incomplete. I'm dying to go back and try the daily specials, as well as some of the more exotic tacos like goat and tounge, not to mention the fried sweet plaintains I saw at the counter. And the tortas. But even though I've only scratched the surface of the menu (which is pictured in it's entierety above), I didn't want to wait for another trip to post about this great operation. Expect more info to follow.