‘Halal cart guy’ a New York original – Halal cart guy serves up the greasiest, sloppiest … tastiest pile of street eats in Manhattan
Islam Elsayed’s shift is from 7:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. During daylight hours, the cart operates with different staff on the other side of the street.
Muhammad Lila Special to the Star
NEW YORK CITY—It all started around 15 years ago. With New York’s endless, swirling sea of yellow cabs crisscrossing the city, cabbies needed fuel for more than their cars. Food, they needed food. Not just any food. Late-night food, the kind that’s cheap, fresh, hot, and (pardon the pun) wouldn’t eat into their driving schedules.
Enter Islam Elsayed and his tiny halal cart. At the corner of 53rd St. and 6th Ave., it was the perfect spot. Walking distance from Times Square, Central Park and Columbus Circle, he was smack dab in the middle of Manhattan’s shopping and nightlife. The cart itself was modest, the size of a regular hot dog cart, but with a larger, flat grill and room underneath to store pita bread and pre-cooked rice.
For $4.50, Elsayed fed his customers a feast: A bed of basmati rice, lamb gyro, shredded chicken, salad and pita — all smothered in his secret white sauce and crammed into a round aluminum tray.
Word of the “halal cart guy” grew. The cabbies came in droves. Then came the limousine drivers, then their passengers. Soon, tourists started showing up. After all, what could scream New York more than wolfing down a plate of deliciously greasy, messy street food? Before long, without spending a single cent on advertising, a New York City legend was born.
Today, the lineup is routinely an hour long, with hundreds of people standing and braving the elements — all for a taste of the famous platter.
Elsayed now counts New York’s rich and famous, including actresses and celebrity chefs, among his clientele. Queen Latifah is said to be a regular. It’s so popular that Tripadvisor users have ranked it as the fifth-best “restaurant” in New York City, putting him ahead of longtime Zagat-rated powerhouses like Per Se and Sushi Yasuda.
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Tags: Halal, New York City
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