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04Street Food

The best meal in New York might come through a window

A halal platter at midnight, birria tacos under the 7 train, a dosa in Washington Square Park — eating from a truck or cart is one of the most New York things you can do. Every vendor here was confirmed active this season, at a regular spot you can actually find.

If you only try three

The Midtown lunch line

Sixth Avenue and Park Avenue in the Fifties and Forties are the city's great office-lunch corridor. Come at noon and the queues tell you who's good; come after dark and the halal carts are still lit.

Downtown: Chinatown & the Village

Egg waffles at Canal and Mott, Tianjin skewers across from the Confucius statue, and a dosa cart that has fed Washington Square Park for well over a decade.

Roosevelt Avenue, under the 7 train

From Jackson Heights through Elmhurst to Corona Plaza, the elevated tracks shelter the best street-food walk in America: birria, fuchka, momos, Peruvian and Ecuadorian weekend stands, and Oaxacan tlayudas.

Neighborhood corners

Trucks that belong to their blocks — worth the subway ride on their own.

Before you go

  • Trucks keep their own hours and skip bad-weather days. Check the vendor’s Instagram the morning you go — it’s where they post.
  • Carry some cash. Many take cards now, but not all, and not always.
  • Weekend-only stands on Roosevelt Avenue come alive Friday evening through Sunday.
  • Hungry for a particular country instead? Browse World Kitchens.