New York Street Food

Yes, I’m crazy. It’s one of the hottest days of the year and I get a deep-fried schnitzel sandwich for lunch.

It’s been a while since I went to Schnitzel & Things, who were the first food truck I ever went to back in the summer of 2009.  That lunch gave me the idea for New York Street Food, and here we are two years later still eating street food for lunch nearly every day.

I’ve had several schnitzel platters, but never a schnitzel sandwich, so for Today’s Lunch, I got a pork schnitzel sandwich ($8) .

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If you love street food, one of the biggest stories of the year just happened last week – the return of the Hallo Berlin cart to 54th St just west of 5th Ave.

Hallo Berlin was founded by Rolf Babiel, who emigrated from Germany and opened the cart here in the early 1980′s.  Hallo Berlin always had a reputation for serving excellent wurst, and Rolf was the very first Vendy Award Winner back in 2005!

Although Rolf passed away in 2009, the cart was resurrected by Rolf’s son Peter and brother Wolfgang.  In fact, Wolfgang told me he was there at the 1st Vendy Awards, assisting his brother in serving that historic day.

There are two Hallo Berlin restaurants, but the cart is where it all started, and it’s great to have it back.  You can find more on the history of Hallo Berlin here.

They have 10 different sandwiches at the cart, which includes 9 different types of wurst (!) plus a Bavarian meatball sandwich.  You can get platters too.  Check out their full menu here.

(left to right) potato salad, wurst, even more wurst & grilled onions

I decided to get bratwurst and weisswurst sandwiches, which were $5.50 each.  The sandwiches run from $3-$6, but most are in the $5-$5.50 range.

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Yes, this guy looks like he's having a heart attack (but he's not)

Back in January, we told you about a storefront at 182 Bleecker St with a Currywurst Bros sign, who were bringing the most popular street food in Germany to New York.  This sounded like an excellent candidate for our Honorary Street Food category, so we kept checking on their progress.  (Also, one of our best friends lives on the same block).

Currywurst Bros finally opened 2 weeks ago, and we had an opportunity to get there over the weekend.  After perusing the wurst menu and the extensive curry menu, it looks like we’re going to be there on a regular basis…as long as the food is good.

They also have a nice outdoor patio in the back with plenty of room, so it will be a good place to sit outdoors and enjoy some currywurst, 6 different types of bratwurst, 3 types of potato salad (including wasabi) and more.

outdoor patio

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The news that Mexicue is opening a restaurant this summer was a reminder that I hadn’t yet been to the Schnitzel & Things restaurant at 723 Third Ave, between 45th & 46th St.  It’s still relatively new, having only opened about a month ago.

As I’ve said in numerous interviews, reading about and then trying the Schnitzel & Things truck in the summer of 2009 is what got me interested in street food in the first place.  It’s fair to say at this point that S&T changed my life, or at least laid out a new path that I am still happily traveling down.

It was great news about S&T opening a restaurant, even though it’s nowhere near my office for lunch.  But I gladly headed over to the new S&T restaurant for Today’s Lunch.

Everything on the truck is available here, and there are some new items as well on the main and salad/dessert menus.

Now you can get most of the schnitzels cut up into a salad with your choice of toppings.  They also have a new grilled ginger chicken dish, and some new side dishes, like sweet potato fries, which I usually love.

They also sell desserts from their fellow Vendy Award winners, the Treats Truck, and just this week have started importing Robicelli’s cupcakes from Brooklyn.

Today’s Lunch is one of the new menu items, eggplant schnitzel ($9.95 for a platter with 2 side dishes or $8.50 for a sandwich).

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A good friend of ours lives on Bleecker St, and when we went over there for New Year’s Eve, we got a big surprise.

On their block, in the old Red Mango space (between Macdougal and Sullivan St) was a sign for Currywurst Bros – The Original From Berlin.

Currywurst is the most popular street food in Germany, and we had it at the Hallo Berlin restaurant on 9th Ave about a year ago.  If you are not familiar with currywurst, it’s a bratwurst, usually cut into slices, and served with a curried ketchup-type sauce.  The Hallo Berlin version had more of a brown curry sauce, but in Germany, they seem to prefer a ketchup-y curry sauce.

We’re not sure if currywurst will fly in New York, but placing it among the many bars of Bleecker St and near NYU certainly gives it a fighting chance.

I guess they missed the Fall 2010 opening date on the sign, but it did look like progress was being made when I went back today to take this picture.  We will keep you informed of any new developments.

Currywurst Bros in New York – I feel another potential Honorary Street Food vendor in the air.

currywurst & bauernwurst combo from Hallo Berlin