

There’s a new cart in town–it’s brown.

There is a new halal cart by my school, and for the past few weeks people have been telling me to check it out. This week I finally had an opportunity. Far and away my favorite part of this cart is the LED Sign Board. It says, very simply, “LED Sign Board.” Way to cut to the chase. Don’t let this fool you. They mean business. The cart, which is brown, is parked about eight feet away from a green cart that is also fairly new. I love a good turf war. I was standing in between the two carts, marveling at the balls it took to set up shop so close together when a lady (about 50) wearing an Adidas sweatshirt and sitting on a milk crate called out to me, “you come here.” I had no choice anymore. “They all go there first, then they come here.” She said, pointing to her green competition. “They see. They see.” I just thought, “Well I guess I have to try this now.”

There were a few red flags, but I decided to ignore them. The first was there were no prices posted on the side. The cart says what they serve, but not how much it costs. Given the fact that the LEDs weren’t programed, however, I’d say there’s a good chance they just haven’t gotten around to it yet. The second was the self-promotion. I don’t usually go to carts where they try so hard to hook you in, but there was something interesting about the lady, so I figured it was worth a shot.

I asked the guy behind the counter (They had some sort of tag-team going on) for a lamb over rice, which is my usual. He flipped the ends of his du rag (the closest thing to a hairnet I’ve seen in a while) and started chopping up lamb. The meat was pretty well seasoned. The lettuce was mesclun, which is a sign of a good cart. And the rice was flavorful and cooked well, with some onions and peppers mixed in. I always like judging cart hot sauces. I think you can tell a lot about somebody by the way they use hot sauce. This sauce was just the right amount of heat. A good hot sauce doesn’t taste like hot sauce. I felt like I was eating spicy lamb. Not lamb covered in spices. The meal came with a drink, although the options were fairly limited (mostly cokes and ginger ales), and some fries thrown in (though they were a little on the mushy side). Altogether, this cart didn’t do anything special, but it was good. The deal, a plate plus a soda for $5, puts it on par with (or a little bit above) any other cart on the block.



Stick to what you know. Carts just aren’t worth the risk.

Once I had my food, the lady, who introduced herself as Sherri, offered me a seat on one of her milk crates. I took it and ate while she smoked a cigarette in my face. If a cart owner offers you anything, take it. That means you’re on your way to becoming a regular. We talked, but neither of us really understood the other, so the conversation involved a lot of nodding and pointing at nothing. The next day I came back to get another meal. I asked Sherri what I should order, and she told me fish. I don’t usually eat fish, since I’m pretty allergic to salmon and all fish are a gamble for me, but I felt like I had to. Sherri is good at making you feel like you need to do something. She told me she’s a mom, so I think that’s where it comes from. I got the fish over rice, and my friend got some samosas. The fish was quite good actually, but I broke out almost immediately. It was crunchy and worked well with the rice. After about 6 bites however, my right eye started swelling up, and I decided I needed to abort the mission. I’ve never left a man behind like that before, but the circumstances were just too much to overcome this time.

The samosas were plain bad, and also $5. They were cold in the middle and overpriced. It was clear they don’t get ordered often, since Sherri and Mr. Du Rag spent about five minutes trying to open the bag, which still had the $3 price tag on it. If you’re gonna tip your hand like that, at least follow the directions. I don’t know why I continuously feel the need to prove the point to myself, but at halal carts, stick to what you know.



I’m allergic to fish lol.

Any charm for this cart comes from the owner. Sherri is a gregarious lady. Anybody who even stops for a second by her cart gets barked bark in. I’ve barked a lot for comedy, and it is not easy. This lady is a pro. Without her the cart is very average, if not a little below. There aren’t many ways to reinvent a halal cart, but having two people work it (one on the grill and the other on the customers) comes close.

The cart is brown and located on the north corner of 68th and Lex.



Me and my friend Dan eating.