No, I'm not being inflammatory, I'm just not eating off of carts.

As Rosanne Rosanna Danna would say, "Never Mind!" and "Eat Up."

To be even less "inflammatory," I offer this guide to “destination” food carts I found on line:

Gyro Truck, on the corner of Wall and Pearl streets, doles out killer chicken and cheesesteak sandwiches. Nearby is a Sausage Truck with Italian sausage sandwiches and grilled cheesesteaks (Whitehall and Pearl Sts.). Dosa Man fills rice and dal "shells" with heavenly spiced veggies at the southern end of Washington Square Park (4th and Sullivan Sts.). At Daisy Mae's BBQ chili carts (E. 50th St. near 6th Ave.; Broadway and W. 39th St.; 40 Wall St.), be sure to order the chunky Texas chili.

People rave about the goat stew and jerk chicken at Yvonne's Mobile Jamaican Restaurant (E. 71st St. and York Ave.). On weekdays, Hallo Berlin restaurants stock "the 'wurst' pushcart in New York" with bratwurst, Hungarian kielbasa, and other treats, in addition to red cabbage and potato pancakes (5th Ave. and E. 54th St.). Street-side falafel varies considerably in quality; look no further than Moshe's Falafel, which sells some of the crunchiest fried chickpea balls in town (6th Ave. and W. 46th St.; lunch only). At dinnertime, the well-reputed Taco Truck parks near the corner of West 96th Street and Broadway. If you want caffeine, the bright-orange Mudtruck sells upscale coffee drinks for less than most cafés (at Astor Pl. on 4th Ave.).

Missypie, don't worry too much about sanitation in these carts. If something is visibly dirty, obviously avoid it. But you could go to a pricey restaurant with white-glove cleanliness and wind up with a waiter who doesn't wash his hands after he goes to the bathroom. (And just because a restaurant has access to "cleaning facilities" doesn't mean they're breaking out the scrubbin' bubbles every day!)

I've eaten plenty of cart grub and haven't gotten sick, knock on wood. Even if they're not spotless, it doesn't seem to be anything my immune system can't handle!

I actually am not concerned about the cleanliness of a cart-if it looks dirty, no dice. I was just concerned about the quality...whether the food is actually decent. I remember seeing Rachael Ray at some cart that I thought was near Central Park, eating some kind of meat filled pocket things. Looked very good.

I found this on Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels Episode RY0405

The Dosa Man
Washington Square Park
West 4th and Sullivan
New York , NY
Tel: 917-710-2092

The dosa, is a savory South Indian crêpe. This food, high in carbohydrates and proteins, is a typical South Indian breakfast item. It has a 2000-year history in Tamil Nadu.

In 1994, I ate a dosa at a street café my first night in New Dehli. What a mistake!

Washington Square is in Greenwich Village, an area of NYC you may want to visit. From there you can walk to SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, etc.

I love this!!! We are now asking Rachel Ray where to eat in New York!!! And for her advice on food carts, no less!!! PLEASE!

But ek, the dosas looked good! Last weekend, DD watched Rachel when her show was in Dallas. She actually picked good places...they would not have been my #1 choices, but she did find good spots.

missy... what did she pick in Dallas?

All right, Missy, I conceed. The dosas at that cart ARE good. I laughed because of the RR reference taken with all the other comments made by Happy here...like eating a dosa in New Delhi and getting sick has any relevance to eating one here.....

The dosa man was also listed in the "destination" food cards I posted earlier:

Gyro Truck, on the corner of Wall and Pearl streets, doles out killer chicken and cheesesteak sandwiches. Nearby is a Sausage Truck with Italian sausage sandwiches and grilled cheesesteaks (Whitehall and Pearl Sts.). Dosa Man fills rice and dal "shells" with heavenly spiced veggies at the southern end of Washington Square Park (4th and Sullivan Sts.) At Daisy Mae's BBQ chili carts (E. 50th St. near 6th Ave.; Broadway and W. 39th St.; 40 Wall St.), be sure to order the chunky Texas chili.

People rave about the goat stew and jerk chicken at Yvonne's Mobile Jamaican Restaurant (E. 71st St. and York Ave.). On weekdays, Hallo Berlin restaurants stock "the 'wurst' pushcart in New York" with bratwurst, Hungarian kielbasa, and other treats, in addition to red cabbage and potato pancakes (5th Ave. and E. 54th St.). Street-side falafel varies considerably in quality; look no further than Moshe's Falafel, which sells some of the crunchiest fried chickpea balls in town (6th Ave. and W. 46th St.; lunch only). At dinnertime, the well-reputed Taco Truck parks near the corner of West 96th Street and Broadway. If you want caffeine, the bright-orange Mudtruck sells upscale coffee drinks for less than most cafés (at Astor Pl. on 4th Ave.).

TxTravelPro, Rachael Ray had breakfast at La Madeliene, lunch at Sonny Bryan's, dinner at Monica's, drinks at the Reunion Tower ball, and dessert at Dragonfly.

like eating a dosa in New Delhi and getting sick has any relevance to eating one here..... Your wit never fails to delight all those who are blessed to be the recipient of it. You light up the internet with your charm. Everybody loves you. Thanks for sharing. See you in church.

Wow... what a job

Oh... PS... Missy, thanks for posting that info.

htty, point taken. Thanks for posting those good cart tips you found.

Mudtruck coffee is great! There's one on Wall Street, too. (Maybe I love it so much because it's everything the Starbucks a block away with the queue of starched-shirt types is not... Bright orange, good strong not bitter java, and lots of reggae coming through the truck's speakers at any hour!)

The Dosa Man does make good dosa - for a cart. If you're interested in the true full experience of dosa or other South Indian cuisine, head to Lexington Ave in the upper 20's. Iddly, dosa, uttapam, pongal: yum! (South Indian food is more rice-based, less heavy sauces and *spicier* than most North Indian dishes; what we generically call "Indian" in this country tends to be the latter...)

missypie, NY Magazine has a whole section on street food in this week's issue! (NY Mag is a great resource, BTW.) It even includes "The Complete Road Map to NYC Street Food".

nymag.com/restaurants/features/33526

From the article:
" 'Cartography' is something like a contemporary field guide to mobile comestibles. ... All of our reports, we’re happy to say, lead to an inevitable conclusion: The state of the cart remains strong. And why not? Street food is fast, convenient, and, ever more rare in this gilded era, a bargain. But those are practicalities. The mojo lies in the smell of beef sizzling on the grill, the sound of spatulas slicing and dicing onions, and the whole crazy Kabuki ritual of it all. Walk down the street devouring your Afghan chicken kebab or Italian sausage. It’s urban culinary bliss."

Enjoy!

All this sounds great, but will the street vendors be there in mid January? We are going for our first visit to NY in 2 weeks time-I know it will be cold, but love street food.

You might go to the excellent website chowhound.com and search around in the Manhattan board.

There is ALWAYS street food available in NYC.

Welcome to thw world of dirt water dogs, a long standing NY tradition. A dirt water dog is frankfurter which has been waiting all day for you in hot water rather than a grill.

here are some hints:

If you see a long line with weary looking people, that are office workers and know what is good and/or cheap. Just get on the end and then find out what they are selling when you get to the front.

Franks and pretzels are maybe 50% near Rock Center, Broadway and 34 Street. I always ask if the rents are higher.

For the truly adverturous, there is a truck on Water near Maiden Lane which sells roti Pronounced WROT-ee, a West Indian goat dish.