Street Food Memories. Sigh.

Cafe Society
1

I’m from NYC and I haven’t had a knish in years - I use to have one with mustard for lunch from a grouchy street cart vendor at least once a week. http://www.store.gabilas.com/category.sc;jsessionid=29BF1D3B8A209A3365E9DEC98003662C.qscstrfrnt04?categoryId=4

Another of my lunch favorites was falafel, but only from the street carts like http://midtownlunch.com/blog/2006/06/20/moshes-falafel/. There’s something about food on the run in Manhattan that I love.

Sabrett hot dog carts aren’t here in GA either. http://www.sabrett.com/. The closest I’ve come to the flavor I’m craving is Nathan’s at various malls here, but buying a #3 from a high school kid behind a counter isn’t the same as watching a *artiste *preparing my order.

I’ve had delicious chicken and potato roti from a street vendor too. http://midtownlunch.com/blog/2008/06/25/caribbean-spice-cart-jamaican-food-coco-bread-roti-new-york-city-nyc/

Is there any street food you miss?

2

I live in D.C. now but lived in NYC for 15 years. There used to be this guy on 14th and 8th Ave in Manhattan who sold hot dogs. Not exactly a rare occurence in NYC. Now, for the most part NYC hot dogs are horrible. Tasteless boiled dogs on stale buns with the same damn red onions, all over the city. But this guy was different. Grilled dogs with a choice of four or five toppings. Fresh onions and pickles, a choice of hot sauces. I haven’t been by that corner in 2 or 3 years, but I hope he’s still there, and please be on the lookout if you ever are down that way.

edit: And how could I forget: delicious homemade chilli!

3

Hot dog vendor here, too. He was on the corner diagonal from the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus. The university forced him out during my sophomore year. I haven’t seen him since reading about his exile in the campus newspaper.

4

Oh man - I hear you. There’s a vendor who was on 54th and 6th who had the BEST cheap, great-tasing Middle Eastern food. Grilled lamb and chicken over rice, shish kebab, gyros - a variety of sauces and just wonderful. They did dirty-water dogs, too, so I would order a mustard n’ kraut while waiting for my lamb-over-rice to finish grilling…drool.

And on a warm day, eating that food and hanging out on a bench with a buddy, watching all the pretty girls go by - sometimes its the simple things…

5

Seattle doesn’t have much in the way of street food but there’s a few open air stalls at the Pike Place Market that come pretty darn close. My favorite is a place that sells wonderful humbows. I especially love the curry beef. Yum! The barbecue pork, not so much. I don’t get down there as often as I used to but when I do, I always have to get one, even if I’m not hungry yet. I think it’s called Mee Sum Bakery, if anyone is interested.