The 10 best street food vendors in NYC

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Stop by GG’s for a soul food fix—they’re serving up good vibes in the form of fried catfish and whiting alongside collard greens, candied yams, mac and cheese and rice and peas. For dessert, grab a strawberry banana pudding layered with cream pudding, crumbly cookies and fresh strawberries. The truck is always on the move (usually around downtown Brooklyn, but they’ve been spotted at the Bronx Night Market), so check their Instagram for the latest location. 

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From the outside, this taco truck parked on White Plains Road in the Bronx is easy to miss. But sidle up with $10, order the crackling lengua or spicy chorizo tacos, and prepare to encounter some of the best tacos you’ve ever had in your hands. At just $2.50 a pop, these tacos are beautifully unfussy, with just a sprinkling of fresh cilantro and diced white onions adorning the double-layered corn tortillas. Wash ‘em down with a Jarritos, and you’ve got dinner on the street for under ten bucks. 

Technically, The Kati Roll Company is a restaurant, but the Calcuttan casual fare served here certainly qualifies as street food because the interior is teeny tiny so most of the time you have no choice but to take away, and most importantly, kati rolls are the perfect on-the-go meal. Grab a mango lassi to sip alongside your kati roll and you’re all set for a perfect day.

Real New Yorkers know the best (only?) reason to go to Times Square is for Royal Grill: in a city chock-full of seemingly similar halal carts, Royal Grill is the cream of the crop. Its ingredients are fresh and flavorful, and every one of the siblings at the helm is gregarious, gracious and generous with their portions. Everything is fantastic, but a good place to start is with the staple lamb & chicken over rice platter. 

You can find rice rolls on dim sum menus and carts dotting Chinatown’s crowded streets. But Joe’s Steam Rice Roll sells our top cheong fun, the wide, translucent rice noodles filled with meat (pork, beef and shrimp are most common). You can squeeze into a narrow mall in Flushing to get a paper plate teeming with the springy noodles doused in sweet soy sauce, or stop by the hip Canal Street Market location.

Owner Eden Egziabher prepares dishes inspired by her Eritrean, Ethiopian and Italian heritage. Switch out your to-go salad for an equally healthful platter of squishy injera (sourdough-risen flatbread) that comes with a choice of veggies (we suggest the red-lentil stew and collard greens), protein (beef or chicken) and a side of rice. Plus, it’s one of the best trucks to check out if you have dietary restrictions: All dishes are gluten-free and can be made vegetarian or vegan.

Thiru Kumar, known as the Dosa Man, has amassed a loyal following since opening his spot in 2001. Every street-food fan (some of whom are penny-pinching NYU students) knows to beeline to his NY Dosas cart, parked on the southwest corner of Washington Square Park. Dig into the vegan-friendly dosas—a southern India–style crêpe, packed with fragrant vegetables—and the piping-hot samosas to see why a perpetual crowd buzzes around this college-kid staple.

Every time we’re shopping for hard-to-find condiments and snacks in Chinatown at Kam Man, we end the afternoon by treating ourselves to Ling’s sweet cakes (really more like pancakes) down the block. You’ll land a heaping wax pastry bag of the fluffy balls of joy, though their surprising airiness means you can finish them off without any help. You can get them covered in chocolate sauce, but true Ling’s fiends leave them as is.

In the ongoing debate about whether NYC or L.A. has the better Mexican food scene, Los Tacos No. 1 makes a strong case for the Big Apple. A trio of friends—one from Tijuana, Mexico, and two from California—started the eatery in Chelsea Market with a focus on family recipes and fresh ingredients. We can’t get enough of the adobada quesadillas, crispy corn tortillas topped with juicy strips of pork and refreshing pineapple. And, of course, we can’t resist any of the tacos.
Chelsea • Times Square (lostacos1.com). $3.75.

Godshelter Oluwalogbon’s food truck has a mission: to make dishes like dundun (fried yam fingers), efo elegusi (a green vegetable stew) and the West African breakfast favorite akara (fried bean paste packed with onions and salt) as well-known as New York pretzels. The gregarious owner takes pride in introducing customers to his country’s specialties, and it’s working: He won top honors for his cooking at the 2017 Vendy Awards (basically, the Oscars for food trucks). Spice lovers will love the hot Scotch bonnet peppers!