Rafiqi’s

Now, I’m no NYC halal cart expert, but I do secretly love good street meat. This is my fav halal cart in the city, by far. Better than the over-​hyped halal Guys by a long shot.

Packed and fresh. Cilantro peppers olives lettuce tomato rice chicken Mmm. 5.75 for chicken over rice. Nice people too

I love halal meat and I don’t give all carts 5 stars. I don’t even give all Rafiqi carts 5 stars because as any native New Yorker knows, not all street meat is created equal.
This location (now on 24^th street, unless they move around a bit) has some of the better meat I’ve had from a street card or from a Rafiqis in general. Juicy, flavorful, well-​seasoned and really nicely grilled.
I don’t trust any street cart rice ever and always opt for a chicken and lamb combo on a pita with extra white sauce.
My only gripe with this location is that they were kind of stingy with the meat (see pics) and the white sauce. but it was still delicious and I was left stuffed without feeling gross.
For a quick $ 5 lunch, this is a good bet… then I took it back to the office and used some Red Hot sauce. Saucy street meat perfection.

First they only give you a paper bag so you would have to carry it awkwardly without spilling your food out the side. Next they charge $ 0.25 more than what others charge around here. Then they give you so little, so little that the sauce don’t even touch the top of the box (you know that sauce that gets stuck on top of your chicken over rice). To the worst part they give me dirty napkins that you probably think that they used it to wipe the bottom of the grill!

Sublime… Chicken over rice OR Falafel over rice. You have to have hot sauce/​white sauce. I don’t know what’s in the white sauce but it works. Just get everything for all the bits and pieces that come with. And at $ 4for the Falafel platter, its hard to go wrong.

Decent food, their bowls are more like Chipotle, with rice, meat, falafel, corn, lettuce and black olives. Nothing great but decent.

CHICKEN ON RICE LOTS OF WHITE SAUCE AND SOME HOT.
SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD.
I used to eat here every day for lunch, $ 5.25 for the best street cart food I know of! Chicken is cooked perfectly and the sauces are soooooo good.
Go go go you can’t go wrong!

You are not a tourist. You work in the middle of boring Curry Hill. You’ve been having Indian buffets at least every other day and ordering Thai the every other days from Seamless Web, in between you got the huge deli/​cafetaria like Bread and Butter, Silo, Guy & Gallard, Europa or Pret-​a-​Manger. What more options are out there without much walking and maximum relaxation in an one-​hour lunch period?
I go back to the basics and found Rafiqi’s.
Previously praised by a few coworkers, I found new hope in lunch options again. The cart was run by two guys with big smiles, which I particularly appreciated after another cloudy morning at the office. I got chicken over rice with lettuce, corn, black beans and some cilantro, topped with white and some hot sauce. The quality of my meal was solid. Meat was cooked perfectly, not tough at all and was plenty juicy. With the crispiness of the fresh lettuce/​corn mixed with the creamy white sauce and the kick from the hot sauce. All the textures and flavors worked together effortlessly.
I don’t want to compare this with all the other street meats in the city, but this was indeed filling and satisfying. $ 5.25 chicken rice big enough to last me for two days and an alternative lunch option in this area, not bad.
3 ½ stars.

1. Order a chicken and lamb combo rice
2. Put lots of white sauce, medium amount of barbeque and very little hot sauce
3. Walk across the street to the park
4. Dive in and forget the rest of the world. Enjoy and just enjoy the pure bliss!

I decided to try this based on the reviews and its really convenient right by my school.
Positives:
1. Great customer service, he was very funny and really nice.
2. Cheap food a lot of toppings.($ 5.25 meal)
Negatives:
1. Toppings like beans are just plain canned beans, The peppers can be cut way better!
What I had:
Chicken with rice along with corn, peppers, black beans, lettuce tomato. (I wanted to try most toppings in one shot). It was a lot of food. The chicken was well seasoned. The hot sauce was spicy not like the vinegar based hot sauces.
In all, for a food truck great service, he wore gloves which was another plus. Great prices for a broke college student! I would come back here occasionally simply because the calories here add up!

I’ve held off reviewing Rafiqi’s because of an internal debate. Then I landed in Porto, Portugal and dined at a kebab place. The debate was resolved. At Rafiqi’s the meat was good, but the supporting cast of ingredients was weak whereas this Portuguese place featured great bread, crisp and crunchy vegetables. At Rafiqi’s you could almost taste the water as if their vegetables came from cans. That is not a great way to support the great tasting meat.

I’m convinced I’ve found my lunch spot for the next month at Rafiqi’s. Why?
1. Bread & Butter — you are way too expensive. I bought a salad that consisted of romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes and a little chunk of tuna with an Honest Tea on the side and it came out to a little under $ 10 (Probably 9.57 or some bullshit like that)? GTFO!
2. Gregory’s — Your sandwiches are so expensive for the measly two slices of bread with ham, cheese and chipotle mayo between it. The chipotle mayo was worth it. The ham and cheese? No.
3. Midori Sushi — More like Do Not Sushi. Do not remind me of that horrible experience again.
4. McDonald’s — While your fries call out for me, my waistline and arteries say no.
On the other hand, at Rafiqi’s, I can get a chicken and lamb on pita bread with all the toppings (strange toppings for a street cart, but I’m not complaining!) you wish for, such as lettuce, tomatoes, corn, black beans and their lovely white sauce or hot sauce if you are of the feisty nature for $ 4.50. However, 53^rd & 6^th Halal has conditioned me to never get hot sauce from a street cart ever again due to the severe numbing of my bottom lip for over 10 minutes. The lamb is flavorful and not dry. Same goes for the chicken. I do suggest not getting too many toppings if you get a pita since it’ll just all fall out of your pita onto the foil. I guess they anticipated that since they include a fork in the paper bag they gave me. How considerate of them! Take that chicken&lamb gyro over to Madison Square Park a few blocks down on a sunny day and you’ve got yourself a splendid lunch.
P. S. — The guys that work the cart, especially the one who isn’t the one to cook, is so charming. When they asked me if I wanted this or this topping, I kept saying yep and he intimated the way I said yep just for fun. Love that personality!

Had a chicken-​gyro pita. It was great! Would come again.

A cut above the rest, if you’re hankering for a few pounds of savory-​scrumptious halal chicken shoved into a pita. The meat stays juicier than most stands, and my impression is that the cooks actually care about the product quality. Saucy but not overly so, mostly free of tumors*, these protein bombs will have you licking your paws and lips with a satisfied Cheshire grin.
*Chicken tumors: Any ligament, fat nodule, or disturbingly unidentifiable non-​protein rendering the chicken-​eating experience foul. (Not fowl.) (Not funny, sorry.)

Not sure if this is the exactly the truck since this one had no name and no signage aside from the menu board, but it was definitely parked on the corner, and a regular spot I hear.
We were in search of good late night eats, and my new friend EC took us to a popular street corner where taxi drivers regularly flock to get food. We were debating between grabbing a gyro or falafel but then saw how everyone was ordering the combo platter. It had a bit of everything — a little salad, some chicken, some lamb gyro (with none of that gamey taste), and even 2 falafels with rice and pita strips. The entire meal is topped with some mystery white sauce that’s squirted on and then red hot sauce — likely the siracha variety. For $ 5, it was superb! Hits the spot. And the guy inside the truck was nice to me. Added bonus.

While the location for this says 28^th and Park, I encountered a Rafiqi’s at 24^th and Park, so I’m going to guess that they migrate…
Officially, some of the better chicken I’ve ever had. Can anyone explain to me how it’s prepared? Because it seems like it’s far more tender and juicy than one would expect for sitting on a grill for an unknown amount of time. Perhaps some sort of brining? Though the quantity is less than the halal cart at 28^th and Mad, I’d guess that the quality’s slightly superior in flavor and texture.
$ 5 nets you a sizable volume of chicken and rice with an optional «salad.» And by «salad,» I mean a few strips of lettuce and two slices of tomato. Still, it helps ease my conscience about the amount of calories I’m shoving in my pie-​hole by devouring everything offered to me in this styrofoam container.
While I dig the combination of white and red (hot) sauces, I noticed a mysterious green sauce on the rack. It wasn’t offered, and I didn’t know what it was — perhaps someone would enlighten me so I can decide if it’s worth requesting at some future point?

I’ve been satisfied when I’ve paid five times more for chicken that tastes like this. This chicken is good chicken. Best $ 4.75 I’ve spent in a moon.

I really like these guys. They’re friendly, and the prices are great. The chicken + gyro over rice with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, olives is a winning lunch, especially for a shave over four bucks. It’s the only deal cheaper (and of comparable quality) to Tip Pio’s lunch combo #1. The hot sauce is serious hot sauce– it’s actually hot, and has some gravity to it. Quite good.
Though I’m not a huge fan of cart food, I definitely like these guys and will be going back, especially when I’m broke and payday seems all too far away…