The Halal Guys: Difference between revisions

53rd and 6th
A typical line at the cart
Restaurant information
Food type	Halal
Street address	Corner of 53rd St and 6th Ave
City	New York City
State	New York
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°45′42″N 73°58′45″W / 40.76180°N 73.97928°W / 40.76180; -73.97928

53rd and 6th or The Halal Cart or Chicken and Rice is a popular halal gyros stand on the south-west corner of 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in New York City. The cart is most recognized by its primary dish which is a platter of chicken and/or gyro meat with rice,^[1] while it also serves a chicken and/or gyro wrap. The cart has somewhat unusual hours as it usually opens at around 7:30 pm,^[2][3] and does not close until 5 am.

The menu is simple, and the two most popular orders are the $6 platter and the $4 sandwich. The platter is served in a tin tray and includes meat (chicken, gyro meat or both), rice, iceberg lettuce (or, instead, extra rice), slices of pita bread and sauce (white, hot and/or BBQ). The sandwich consists of meat (chicken, gyro meat or both), iceberg lettuce and sauce (white, hot and/or BBQ) wrapped inside a pita bread. The third, infrequently ordered, menu option is a platter that does not include rice, and this option costs $5.

Soft drinks range from cans which are sold for $1 to bottles sold for $2 along with Snapple and water

All of the food is prepared on site, in front of the patrons.^[1]

A second cart resides across the street from the original cart, on the south-east corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street. In contrast with the original cart, this cart is open both during the daytime and at night (approximately noon to 5 am, with a cook switch at 7 pm). During the day, tomatoes are sometimes included with the salad. The cart also offers falafel and kofta from time to time. Contrary to some skeptics, that cart is run by the same owner.^[4]

A third cart exists on the south-west corner of 53rd Street and 7th Avenue, and begins serving food at lunch time.^[5]

A different cart appears on the same location (the south-west corner of 53rd and 6th) during the daytime. It is not affiliated with the famous cart that appears at night, yet it seemingly attempts to confuse customers into believing that the carts are affiliated.^[6]

The stand is famous for its white sauce. The recipe for the white sauce is kept as a secret. Operators of the stand maintain that this homemade condiment is not mayonnaise, but have admitted that it may contain mayonnaise in some part as well as yogurt and claim that preparation of the sauce is extremely time consuming. Some people believe it is a form of lebneh-style yogurt mixed but this remains unconfirmed.^[7] The white sauce at Lamb and Rice is generally regarded as the main item that attracts people to the stand.^[1]

The stand originally catered to the late night taxi/cab driver crowds, but through the immense amount of popularity of the nightlife crowd, the lines grew to 2-hour waits. On a typical night, there may be 50 or more people on line between midnight and 4 AM. The typical average wait time for the food during these hours is between 45 minutes and an hour. ^[8] It is not uncommon for people to brave the elements and wait outside in the cold for more than an hour to get a platter.^[9]

As recently as 2003 the customer base was predominantly of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent. In more recent years a large influx of other ethnic groups have started frequenting the stand as well. Students from nearby (and some not nearby) universities, tourists, and business people all frequent the streetside vendor.

Chicken and Rice have their own sweatshirts and bags. The sweatshirts are bright yellow with two concentric red circles in the middle with words between the circles that read: "The Best Halal. Delicious. 53rd and 6th. Chicken and Gyro." Across the circle is a bar that reads: "The Best in New York." The same design appears on their bags, which are also bright yellow.

In 2005, Chicken and Rice was one of four finalists for the "Vendy Award" presented by a New York City street vendor advocacy group known as the Street Vendor Project. Chicken and Rice eventually lost out to Rolf Babiel from Hallo Berlin, a sausage cart on 54th and 5th.^[10]

In addition, the popularity of the cart has been further aided by high profile customers. Chef Christopher Lee, who was one of Food & Wine Magazine's best new chefs of 2006, mentioned in an interview with the magazine that he "can't stay away from it" and once was there on Christmas Eve waiting two and a half hours in the cold.^[11]

On October 28, 2006, a fight that started in line ended with 23-year-old Ziad Tayeh stabbing and murdering 19-year-old Tyrone Gibbons. The fight began after one accused the other of cutting in line.^[12][13]

The New York Times once reported that the owners have hired bouncers.^[14]

• Unofficial Website of 53rd and Sixth
• Review of 53rd and 6th
• 53rd and 6th profile on Yelp, Inc.
• New York Times writeup featuring 53rd and 6th