28th & Madison Halal Stand

This is the kind of food that tastes «just O. K» when you’re sober, but can have a heavenly taste after a few drinks. There are a few bars nearby, which might explain the places’ success.
The gyros, in my humble opinion, have the best taste out of any order there. And it is great that you can get full with like $ 6dollars. So all in all great value. Try them after visiting any bar that’s in the neighborhood.

I think there are two Halal carts that occupy this space. I’ve been here a few times and I’ve seen a gray cart in the afternoon and a yellow cart at night. I’ve tried food from both and both are pretty good. The gray cart is a dollar cheaper. Yellow cart = $ 6 and grey cart = $ 5, for chicken and rice.
Standard Halal fare with your choice of brown or yellow rice. I chose yellow. Good amount of flavoring and its served pretty fresh. Serving size is medium. Its not a ton of food like Halal guys, but its enough for one sitting.
I think the thing that separates this cart from the rest of them, is that this cart serves fries and sometimes a falafel with your platter. I’m not so sure I’m a fan of fries with chicken and rice. But recently, I ate it with the meal. In the past, I used to separate the fries and eat it at the end of my meal. To me, fries just don’t seem to go along with chicken and rice. I guess I’m on the fence about that.

I have been eating late night Halal from this truck for years. Delicious food especially the mix plate over rice.

While the untrained eye might see all of the endless Halal Stands in New York City as being indifferent from one another, know that the particular stand on 28^th and Madison is a good one, with good quality eats at reasonable prices.
Star 1: How were the service and atmosphere?
When it comes to a food stand, there’s not much more you can ask for besides expedited service and a friendly face, and you get both of those things at this location. My buddy lives not far away and is a local of sorts, and the two of us are always met with a friendly face and a question as to whether or not we want the usual. From there, food is out the window in under five. What more could you want? Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
We’re not talking McDonald’s cheap here, but know that the Halal Stand is above that level of quality anyway. For $ 7 I got a sizable portion of mixed chicken and lamb with rice, and while that’s only a few dollars away from say a Chipotle Burrito, it was also 0230 in the morning. These prices are fair. Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
Good. Very good, actually. The meats are fresh and of high quality, with good flavor across the board. The rice is cooked to perfection and flavorful in it’s own right, and the sauces bring everything together in a way that reminded me of late night kebabs, which is very much a good thing. My one gripe would be that the veggies were a little bit on the weak side with just boring olé lettuce and some other chopped veg, but that’s a small issue in the grand scheme of things. Single Star Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
I love simplistic affordability, and that’s exactly what this halal stand is. I’d gladly come daily. Star Granted.

The chicken and lamb is really good, however, the rice does not compliment the meat at all. Also, the white sauce is a bit runny.

Another halal cart that I think is amazing and infinitely better than Halal Guys… this place is def in my top 3 favorites, up there with Casbah and Rafiqi’s. The portions are HUGE, the sauces are great, rice is delicious, and the chicken is quality chicken pieces, and tender plus flavorful. On top of that, they are open for dinner, which allows me to get my chicken on rice fixing even after lunch time. Also, any halal cart that gives cucumber in their salad also automatically gets extra points from me. Delicious!

Been going here since 2003, always glad the old Yellow truck is still around. Friendly staff and no one beats their halal mixed combo.

Unlike the little street carts you find all over Manhattan, this one is actually a food truck that is parked on the corner of 28^th Street and Madison Avenue all day. As a result, it is much better quality. The lamb is actually cut from a spit like in restaurants and tastes fresher and is juicy — not dry and old like carts that store their meat in coolers. The rice and veggies are also more freshly prepared. And, the chicken or lamb with rice is still only $ 5.
Also, as a bonus, the guy here usually gives you french fries and a falafel ball when you get a platter. This is easily the best halal food in this neighborhood.

If you’re working in flatiron, this is your spot for halal street meat, apart from the 5 or so inadequate trucks nearby (ehem Rafiqi’s). Request an alternation in your order, he will do it. I do the large combo with garlic and black pepper. This will be your fix!

Night truck is far better than the day truck. Mixed with yellow rice and an order of fish on top is my usual and never dissapoint. Far more flavor than the rest of the trucks and carts in the city.

Lack luster. Sad face. I don’t know why this place has such high reviews or that it can be even closely comparable to Halal Guys! I was really excited that there may be a closer alternative to my Halal cravings but this place really came below expectations. Maybe that was the problem!
We came here and prices are about right… $ 5 for chicken, $ 6 for combo. The man working was very nice and put together all of our fixings. The food was just not up to my expectations. The size is smaller than expected. The rice was very bland and mushy texture… The meat was flavorful but maybe just overcooked? Also, I’m used to being able to take to-​go containers of the white sauce and spicy red sauce but this joint will ONLY pour directly onto the food.
They do add a unique idea of adding french friends to the whole mix but when you want Halal food, you really just want that juicy well seasoned slow cooked meat that just melts in your mouth with «crack white sauce.» I want more!
Oh well. I did try and now I know.

Street meat! Very good lunch for $ 6 with a can of diet. Lamb and rice with a little white and a little red, a little salad, all jammed into a 6×9 styro box! Filled this big eater up good. The guys are very friendly, «I’ll take care of you real good», I even tried a felafel (sp), it was good, not sure about the other posts issues. He was on today.
The post about being clean… I looked all around it looked clean enough…, but lets be fair folks, you are eating from a truck on the side of the road in new york. If you are that picky… dont eat Street Meat!

Chicken over rice ($ 5) — greasy, decent, it comes with carrots, the chicken taste a bit odd. Somehow it just don’t taste like chicken. It wasn’t bad. It was just different. Portion is smaller than some other halal carts. White sauce were just alright, not as flavorful as others. As for the hot sauce, it’s definitely not spicy. If you like spicy food, you might want to tell them to add extra hot sauce. They don’t charge extra if you want to add pita bread. The pita bread that we had was hard & crunchy! Not good!

One of the worst chicken rice carts I have ever been. I think guys here who are even comparing it to 56^th St cart need to be sent to mental asylum and have electric currents pass through their tounge which might put some life back in their taste buds.
I got the Apart from the rice itself (which has a decent and differrent flavor) nothing is tasty or flavorful. Worst white sauce, no punch or taste in the chicken or lamb either,
Verdict — SUCKS

My old job was right by the infamous 53^rd and 6^th Hala truck. Having moved to an office in the Flatiron, I was worried my street meat days were over.
But today I tried the 28^th and Madison truck (after reading the Unilocal reviews) and I was not disappointed! Cheap, fresh, and delicious! I recommend the yellow rice and lots of white sauce. The hot sauce is hot but not overly so. I challenge you to find a lunch half as good for $ 5 in this neighborhood.

My friend had heard about this place pretty often as he works around here. We decided to get some food from here after a night of drinking at a bar nearby. There was no line at the time and the guy working there was really friendly. We ordered the combo over rice and I also bought a can of V8 after showing delight that they even sold it at the cart.
We took the platter to go and ate it in the comfort of our apartment. I liked that they gave fries along with the platter, which I’ve never seen before. They were pretty good and a nice pleasant unexpected surprise. The chicken and lamb was good, but I really liked the rice here for some reason.
I’d definitely recommend this cart if you’re in the area.

A coworker introduced me to this halal stand one day for lunch and needless to say I’ve been pretty much hooked ever since.
You can debate the merits of cart food or even notice the variations that come with each trip here: will I get fries this time, will they include a falafel, am I getting lettuce with no tomato/​olive/​pickle/​jalapeño/​pepper medley, are they gonna be heavy handed with the white sauce or hot sauce? Regardless, this is one of the better if not best halal carts around NYC, drunk or sober.
For a $ 5 lunch, I can’t argue too much with the quantity or quality of the food and you’d be hard pressed to find better bang for your buck around this area. It’s not a well oiled production line like 53^rd and 6^th, but it’s worth any 3 – 5 person wait (5 – 10 min) and there’s even a retaining wall to sit on if you want to bask in your experience.
If you’re a cart food enthusiast or just looking to sample, it’s worth a taste and I highly recommend the lamb.

Since starting my new job in this neighborhood this guy is my go-​to lunch. I keep trying to walk further afield, but then I get a whiff of street meat and it’s all over.
$ 5 gets you chicken over excellent rice (I like the «spicy» brown rice personally) with a little iceberg salad, a falafel ball, and some gratuitous french fries included. Oh and a soda. It is an offer I can’t refuse. Cover it in that beautiful white mystery and holy chicken that is delicious.
Chicken in a pita makes it perfect for a park trip, but I sure do love that brown rice man… it’s got that little hint of sweetness in the spicy that I just go nuts for. Highly recommended.

When I first moved to NYC I had an obsession with food carts. So diverse in their offerings (cupcakes, tacos, noodles.) but nothing compared to the wonderous Halal cart. For five bucks, all over the city patrons receive piles of savory rice, lettuce, falafel, and shwarma in under 60 seconds.
Now, despite my intense love for this meal my patronage waned and I stopped going to halal carts. Call it snobbery, call it healthfulness but I just stopped craving it. I’d pass by and struggle through moments of «maybe I can have a second lunch» and my feet would keep going on.
Today, I returned to the man who started it all. At a colleagues suggestion, we walked the few short blocks over to the «World’s Best Falafel» cart and after perusing the short menu of combo items I went with the chicken kabob plate that came with yellow rice (buttery, addictive), savory chopped chicken (drool), lettuce (I’m a carnivore, I fed this to the rabbits), one falafel (good but the last bit was crunchy in a buggy way… ick), and french fries (odd addition but I don’t ever dis a fried potato). All in all, I struggled to not pour the entire thing into my mouth in one fell swoop.
Knowing now that for $ 5 I can have a meal like this and only a few blocks from my office made me realize why I selectively blocked it out: self preservation.

From at least a block away you can smell the aroma of sizzling goodness wafting your way. This street meat’s so good you’ll want to shovel it in your mouth. But really, try to show some restraint.
Order the combination platter and they’ll load up a box of rice, salad, french fries and a slew of meats for six bucks. Take this puppy back to your desk and it’ll keep you company all afternoon.