Rafiqi’s Delicious Food

Chicken over rice is now the classic New York street food. Rafiqi’s takes that formula and homogenizes an already homogenous product and scatters them all over the city, especially around the working areas. While it proves cheap, it is only middling in quality.
Rafiqi’s is everywhere in Midtown, with multiple carts serving their homogenized version of chicken over rice with an oddball blend of toppings from cheese to cilantro, an uninspiring «unique» quality. Their food is mediocre even for street cart food standards and lacks the deliciousness that better carts like the famous 53^rd and 6^th Avenue Halal carts have. Their only upside is downright cheap for the amount of food you get ($ 5.25 for a rice platter, which is cheap for the area), proximity (for me at least), and quality control. Their homogenous version of chicken over rice ensures that across all their carts, you at least hit a minimum standard of quality unlike the wide inconsistency of other carts across the city.
While it serves mediocre food, if you’re looking for some quick, cheap and filling food for the lunch rush, you could definitely do worse than Rafiqis.

Great Halal chicken and rice here and very friendly service. This place is different from other Halal carts in that they let you add fresh toppings. You get a good variety of extras like peppers, carrots, chickpeas, cheese, etc. all included in the price. Found the chickpea topping to be especially good. The falafel is also really good here and they put can put it in a nice piece of hero bread, too, if you like.

This cart is almost as good as the Rafiqi’s truck farther south on 37^th and 3^rd, but they don’t have chickpeas for one of their toppings. They have tilapia on Tuesdays; it is perfectly spiced and goes very well with rice and their tasty sauces.

Not only they are friendly, clean, and generous with portions, the food stands out from the usual lamb/​chicken on rice. You can taste the difference in the flavors as the rice and the meats are spiced perfectly and distinctively, (it reminds me Moroccan spices) and the ingredients are always fresh. The cheese steak is amazing! My favorite lunch truck in midtown.

Just your average street meat

My friend Tony introduced me to this cart, mostly because of the super-​cute guy who works at it. Tony was sooooo right about the guy, and — to boot — the food was pretty tasty, too.
it’s a few avenues over from the office, but worth the trip — one of the better food cart experiences I’ve had in Manhattan.

For me, this is another staple Midtown Lunch destination, albeit, one that I hold close to my heart (pssst! its right outside my office — don’t stalk me please). At first glance, this may seem like a typical chicken and rice franchise right? WRONG. This is perhaps the best value you can get from a chicken and rice cart, actually I’m confident you get the most chicken/​penny from this particular cart. This cart pretty much answers everyone’s question on Rafiqi’s: Are they all the same? No, not at all.
Food: The usual suspects show up at this cart — yellow rice, chicken, lamb, lettuce, tomato, olives, cheese, corn, and peppers. Yes I get everything with white sauce. I know people are hesitant about ingesting raw materials from a food stand, but think about what you’re actually eating. You’re eating grilled chicken off a grill. How clean is that grill? Do you think my man, Hassam (yes that’s the tall dude! «Want a drink?»), actually scrubs that grill? No offense to him, but for a c&r cart, you need to suspend your belief that the cart would actually pass DOH standards. What you CAN count on is my boy, Hassam, to hook you up! He’ll stack the rice with corn and then piece of chicken, marinated in that great halal sauce, then drizzle/​deluge (paradox) the whole meal with white sauce. And for this cart, I pass on the hot sauce, which isn’t hot at all. So for my white&hot lovers, you really got go to with the chimichurri-​esque GREEN sauce, it has a little bit of a kick.
Wait: Get there early. Like every other chicken and rice cart, the line usually forms by 11:59. Sneak in at a little after 11:30 if you can, that’s when my man, Hassam, unwrap the chicken and work the magic. It’s nice to see the brown halal sauce sizzle on the hot plate or the juice drizzle from the gyro.
Value: Hassam does not skimp on the food — Not All Rafiqi’s Are Created Equal.

Simply the best! The most outstanding «Street meat» on the western hemisphere! When I go to the city, I make it a point to get lunch at this fine establishment! Keep up the good work boys!

Great option for a cheap lunch. $ 5 buys you seasoned rice and chicken and lamb. I ask for hot and white sauce in moderation but enough to coat the meat. I always opt-​out o the salad, something that’s not cooked from a cart sends warning bells off in my head. The guys that man this cart are great. The one on Park and 50something stay away from. I ate there once and had a stomache after.