There’s something magical about finding the perfect street food during a creative sprint. We asked the team at Hueston, a Buffalo-based marketing agency, about how they incorporate NYC’s food scene into their work process. When deadlines loom, their office fills with sketches, digital mockups, and the occasional NYC food delivery—but nothing beats the real thing. In this post, as part of our food marketing section, we’ll explore how Hueston regularly organizes company field trips to New York City specifically to inspire their creative team. These visits are strategically scheduled during important brainstorming sessions or extended project sprints. The team finds that immersing themselves in the energy of the city – and especially its food scene – sparks fresh thinking and new approaches to client challenges.
“We started noticing that some of our best campaign breakthroughs happened right after grabbing street food,” says Bridget Sholes, Growth Manager at Hueston. “There’s something about stepping away from the laptop, standing in line with New Yorkers, and experiencing the city’s energy that sparks creativity in ways our office can’t match.”
The Marketing-Food Connection
Great street food and effective marketing campaigns share common traits. Both need to grab attention quickly, deliver on promises, and leave people wanting more. The guys at Hueston find NYC’s food variety refreshing and inspiring.
During tight deadlines, their ritual of breaking for street food helps reset their brains. “Sometimes a creative block just needs a good taco,” Sholes explains. “We’ve turned our food runs into a strategic part of our process. I’ve seen team members grab napkins to sketch ideas while waiting in line at food carts.”
Hueston’s Top NYC Street Food Spots for Marketing Inspiration
1. The Halal Guys (Midtown)
What they order: Chicken and rice with extra white sauce
Why they love it: The Halal Guys taught them about building a consistent brand. Their food tastes the same every time – reliable excellence without fancy frills. The long lines show they’ve built customer loyalty simply by delivering what they promise.
Marketing insight: The guys once had a client who wanted to rebrand completely every quarter. While eating at Halal Guys, their creative director mentioned, “Notice how they haven’t changed their recipe in years? That’s their strength.” They convinced the client to focus on consistency instead, which boosted their customer retention by 40%.
Watch this video to get a glimpse and maybe some marketing inspo:
2. Los Tacos No.1 (Chelsea Market)
What they order: Adobada tacos with all the fixings
Why they love it: In a city with thousands of taco options, Los Tacos No.1 stands out by focusing on authenticity rather than gimmicks. They don’t try to be everything to everyone.
Marketing insight: The team was stuck on a campaign for a small clothing boutique competing against big retailers. Over Los Tacos, they realized their client shouldn’t try matching the big stores’ broad appeal. Like Los Tacos, they needed to own their niche and communicate authenticity. The resulting campaign emphasized handmade quality and personal service, increasing foot traffic by 65%.
Watch this video to learn more:
3. NY Dosas (Washington Square Park)
What they order: Special Pondicherry dosa
Why they love it: The fusion of traditional South Indian cooking with New York street food culture creates something unique yet familiar. Plus, watching Thiru Kumar (the “Dosa Man”) work is a master class in personal branding.
Marketing insight: For a software client struggling to explain their product, the Hueston team got inspiration watching Kumar interact with customers. He explained unfamiliar food in simple terms while maintaining cultural authenticity. They rewrote their client’s technical jargon into conversational language while preserving their expertise, which doubled their demo sign-ups.
Watch this video to learn more about Thiru Kumar:
4. Wafels & Dinges (Various Locations)
What they order: De Throwdown waffle with spekuloos spread
Why they love it: They turned customization into an art form. Customers build their own experience, but within a framework that ensures satisfaction.
Marketing insight: When Hueston had a financial services client who wanted a completely open platform, a late-night waffle session inspired a new approach. They suggested guided customization instead—like Wafels & Dinges offering choices but with expert combinations. The new approach led to 52% higher conversion rates because it eliminated customer decision fatigue.
Watch this video to get a glimpse of the brand:
5. Nuts 4 Nuts (Street Carts)
What they order: Candied almonds, still warm from the cart
Why they love it: Simple concept executed perfectly. The smell pulls you in from blocks away, and they deliver exactly what they promise—no more, no less.
Marketing insight: Hueston’s most successful email campaign came after a team member bought Nuts 4 Nuts. “The smell does 90% of their marketing,” she said. They created a “sensory marketing” strategy for a bakery client, focusing on describing smells and tastes rather than just visuals. Open rates jumped 28%, with customers mentioning they could “almost smell the bread” through the email.
Watch this video to learn more:
How Street Food Culture Influences Their Marketing Approach
NYC street food changed how the Hueston team thinks about marketing in several ways:
Meet people where they are. Food carts go where the hungry crowds gather. Good marketing appears on platforms where your audience already spends time.
Bold flavors make memories. Nobody remembers bland food or boring ads. Street vendors know this, and so do effective marketers.
Value matters more than fancy packaging. New Yorkers happily eat amazing food from aluminum foil and paper boats. Substance always beats style.
Cultural stories add depth. Many street vendors share their heritage through food. The team helps brands tell authentic stories that connect with customers’ lives.
Word of mouth beats advertising. The best food carts don’t need billboards—locals tell their friends. They build campaigns that people want to share.
While the agency calls Buffalo home, they sometimes take short creative breaks to places like NYC, Chicago, and Toronto to find fresh perspectives. “Different cities have different energies,” says Sholes. “NYC’s street food scene happens to be our favorite source of marketing inspiration, but we’ve found that changing our environment, even briefly, helps us see client challenges with new eyes.”
What They Learned
Buffalo has its own food scene (wings, anyone?), but NYC street food taught the Hueston marketing team lessons they couldn’t learn elsewhere. The vendors who succeed there understand their customers, deliver consistent quality, and create memorable experiences—exactly what good marketing should do.
Next time you’re working late on a project, maybe skip the vending machine. Find your local version of these street food spots instead. You might just solve your toughest work problems over a perfect taco or plate of chicken and rice.
