The Halal Guys' Chicken And Gyro Platter Is NYC’s Most Legendary Street Food | Legendary Eats (2023)

Introduction

The Halal Guys first came to the streets of New York City in 1990, when the three founders opened up a hot-dog cart in Midtown. They realized there was a demand from Muslim cab drivers looking for a halal meal, so they began serving American halal food from the cart.

The Arabic term halal means ‘lawful’ and is often used in Islam to describe meat that is permissible to eat based on specific religious guidelines. But in New York, many people know halal as the affordable food they can find at many street carts across the city.

At The Halal Guys' original cart on 53rd Street and 6th Avenue, people wait in line for the iconic combo platter, a foil dish packed with chicken and gyro over rice, accompanied by lettuce, tomato, pita, and the famous and secret red and white sauces.

Editor's Note: This episode was filmed in January 2020. The Halal Guys' carts in New York City are currently open for takeout while restaurant locations provide both takeout and delivery. Check with your nearest location for details.

For more on The Halal Guys, visit: www.instagram.com/thehalalguys/

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The Halal Guys' Chicken And Gyro Platter Is NYC’s Most Legendary Street Food | Legendary Eats

Content

A generous helping of golden yellow.

Rice, sits underneath 12-hour, marinated, chicken seared until tender roasted, gyro meat, sliced straight from the vertical spit, packed together with crisp lettuce, tomato onions and peppers along with a few delicate slices of pita, served soft and warm from the stove, but it's, the extra creamy secret white sauce and notoriously spicy red sauce that made the halal guys chicken and jar platter and new york legend, the word halal refers to a specific way of butchering meat in the religion of islam, but in new york, because of this one food cart, people also use halal as shorthand for a whole collection of street, meats sandwiches and combo platters.

The most famous of which is a platter with only five key ingredients, it's like one of my favorite foods to eat.

So I came the first time I remember and I ate it and I was in love instantly.

And it was like one of the best things I've ever in my life.

So now, yeah, they're egyptian just feels like feels like home.

Yeah, combination sure the combo platter starts with a layer of golden yellow rice, which is made from scratch off-site before heading to the cart.

This basmati rice takes the longest to make stirred for over 45 minutes and prepared in 40 pound batches enough to fill 60 to 70 platters, but really it's the chicken that takes the most care and attention it's always marinated for 12 hours.

And although the recipe is secret middle eastern street, meats generally use a marinade of herbs, lemon olive oil salt and pepper, the halal guys, wait to chop the chicken until it's fully cooked this way.

It stays tender and becomes as juicy as can be after we cook it and well done.

We cover up by the bitter bread.

You will get the flavor of the chicken and the pita bread.

Next comes the beloved beef gyro, which is half cooked on a vertical spit.

Another secret recipe, the seasoning likely has a mix of traditional gyro spices like salt pepper, paprika and oregano cooks, shave it.

As soon as the meat becomes a dark brown color using a mechanic slicer, rather than a knife because it's quicker and more consistent back at the cart, the gyro shavings are placed on the stove and chopped into even squares.

Initially the halal guys serve gyro meat in long, shavings like many other halal food vendors, but they switch to smaller pieces in order to keep up with demand.

And finally, but maybe most importantly, comes this question, uh, white sauce all over.

Yeah, just like just all of the chicken.

Okay, no problem like a lot of it.

Yeah, you have to get the sauces.

Most importantly, the white sauce.

I personally never asked the exact name of it, but that really makes the meal it's just white sauce.

Right? I think we all call it white sauce carts across the city have tried to mimic the recipe.

But the halal guy says, no other place has cracked the code based on the to-go packets of white sauce.

This creamy, substance is a combination of mayo, black pepper vinegar, salt and a few other ingredients.

But one thing we're sure about the red sauce isn't for everyone.

We call the high sauce 9-1-1 because it's, very very spicy.

I personally have not tasted it.

What ever never.

I don't eat spicy.

I cannot tolerate spicy.

The sauce has a scoville rating between one hundred thousand.

And one hundred thirty thousand, which is over forty times hotter than tabasco, hot sauce.

The cart, guys won't let you walk away without telling you just how spicy it can be and recommend taking a couple of packets to go rather than drizzling too much on your platter.

I love the white sauce and I love spicy.

So I definitely love the red sauce, too recommend.

Both next time we'll get barbecue.

Okay, wait this barbecue.

Oh, dude, 30 years ago, there were few halal carts in manhattan until the halal guys opened one on west 53rd and 6th avenue.

It didn't take too long to win over customers, particularly cab drivers, looking for an easy way to eat halal at that time.

They didn't find any halal food in new york city.

So they came up with the idea there's a lot of muslims here.

Why can't we provide full halal meal for muslim cabbies? And it started that way now street meat is everywhere, but those cabbies have spread the word about the platters and gyros specifically from the halal guys.

We have deals for cab drivers.

Okay, like better pricing, couple of bucks cheap or something discount not to mention there's, even an express taxi line for drivers.

Only it's unfair.

But this is their policy that if you're a cab driver, you don't have to wait in the line you just skip from here.

And we give your your santa show, whatever the me and you keep going so halal street food has become a staple meal for new yorkers in a rite of passage for visitors.

The cart has been praised by magazines, radio stations and celebrities.

Just something you have to try it's like you can't go to new york and not try guys.

What does it remind you of home? Love sweetness, not sweetness, spiciness, oh, my god, the chicken is so tender, the rice is exquisite and the white sauce I would die for the white sauce, just how the white sauce complements the chicken.

And the spices that it's marinated in I really loved it.

I regret not trying it sooner now, I'm going to spend the rest of my life eating more of it, hot sausage, yeah, you have it right now right? Yeah, all right? No problem.

Enjoy your food.

Sir.

Thank you so much.

Thank you have a wonderful day.

Thank you.

Thank you.