Zak’s Halal Cart

Needed to grab a quick, inexpensive lunch and Zak’s cart fit the bill. The line was short and for $ 4, got a very serviceable lamb gyro. It was tasty, not too greasy and had a good mix of greens mixed in with nicely seared lamb chunks, white sauce and hot sauce.

I”m looking forward to getting back to THIS food truck for a gyro. OMgoodness, best gyro I’ve ever had, tender, lots of meat and lettuce and tazilki sauce. Red or green sauce they asked… I got green because it was mild and it was an amazing extra touch I was not used too. I chose this truck because it had a line, only way a non-​local can tell. Really, not exaggerating here, good truck. Was nice because the truck was right across the street from a park too, losts of places to sit. Can’t wait to get back and see if it is still in financial district in September.
./Users/janetkent/Desktop/IMG_0777.jpg

You don’t know what a vegetable is you slimy food truck guy. I saw you get an order wrong right in front of me — I should have scurried away back in to the park when I had a chance! French Fries are not a vegetable. A potato is a vegetable but french fries are not! I Also I asked for LAMB and vegetables but you put Bok BOK in my ORDER. NO BOK BOK.
It was probably pigeon.
Step up your game food truck dude and read wikipedia about vegetables because french fries are not a vegetable.
Gave two stars because I could eat it even though it was sub par.

Your typical food cart. It extremely convenient as it right outside of work.
I got chicken salad, which is lettuce, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, falafal and of course chicken (which seems to be thigh meat which is fine by me)
It is about $ 5 or $ 1 extra if you get extra meat like i do
I add «white» sauce which is the typical arab cart sauce and hot sauce.
All carts also have other meats, rice, and veggie options. The guy is very friendly and loves to talk and fast to prepare it
As a quick grab and for $ 5 its worth it.

BOMB philly cheesesteak! So so so good! Great flavors from the medley of spices and toppings. So delicious. Would definitely go back for his halal cart in particular!

Chicken and Rice
For a quick cheap meal, this truck is a pretty good option. Five dollars gets you a lot of rice, chicken and some token amount of lettuce and tomatoes. I just wouldn’t eat it on a regular basis.

Great street meat with unbeatable prices. They give pretty generous portions of lamb and chicken, and if you buy a plate over rice for $ 5, they give you a free soda. There is a reason that Zak’s consistently has longer lines than all of the other food carts in this area.

GYRO WAS AMAZING!!!
best gyro i ever had, i had a really bad experience with Gyro over here the meat had no flavor and was rubber. but the Gyro here?! FLAVOR! everywhere very good! brought my joy back in gyro’s!

Can’t go wrong with a $ 5 meal with a free drink. The food is fresh and good. I have no complaints about this Halal cart.

I was really looking forward to my street meat lunch today as I had been craving it for days. Out of all the carts on that block I saw that Zak’s had the longest line so I thought that for sure this was the cart to go to. The guy taking my order was friendly and offered me fries with my meal and when I asked for a falafel with my platter he gave it to me for free. The best part of the meal was the green sauce and the fries which added more texture to the platter. The lamb was your typical gyro meat and they cut it into huge cubes which was not appetizing at all. There was no flavor and wasn’t crisp on the outside. The chicken was the worst part. It was dry, cut into large pieces and had no seaoning or flavor. The rice was OK and a bit on the soft side. The entire platter was very dry and not even the white sauce helped. I will not be coming back again and I am sure there are better halal carts nearby.

This was our first Halal food cart experience.
Zak’s cart was next to 3 other carts, and we chose it to the (2) reviews that were on Unilocal.
Service was friendly.
I ordered the chicken and rice.
Chicken was tender and delicious. Rice was standard. Came with veggies and a salad with chickpeas and your choice of sauce: white sauce (delicious!), BBQ, green chili sauce.
I also got a drink and the total was $ 5! Can’t beat that .
Good food and friendly service.

There are two main downsides to this cart. One, you don’t get as much of the tasty yellow rice as I’d like. And two, the line is always much, much longer than any of the other halal carts.
I really don’t know if in a blind taste test, Zak’s would be so much better that it justifies waiting in line, though by the end of a ten minute wait, you’re probably already under the placebo effect of «This cart food is going to be pretty damn good if I had to wait this long.» I always get the chicken and lamb combo with soda for $ 6 and it’s always tasty.

Just in front of the Brown Brothers Harriman building on Broadway (east side of the street), is Zak’s halal cart manned by two guys (inside the cart). For those not familiar with the area, the cart is just slightly in front of the building with a large red/​orange cube on one of its corners. Lines vary here but expect there to be a line at this cart for lunch, as compared to the several neighboring carts. The main attraction is that these guys sell a meat platter and a can of soda for $ 5, where others usually charge $ 6. A few have neon/​LED signs but you may notice that this cart has a small (2 ft.) LED sign that scrolls the prices of some of their items (knish, hot dogs, platter, etc.), and it will eventually say «Zak’s Specials».
I don’t know what made me get Halal a second day in a row, but I just couldn’t find anything that was within budget. That free can of soda really enticed me, so I jumped in line with 6 – 7 people in front of me. The line moved fairly quick averaging about 1 – 2 minute/​person. As I waited on line, I was trying to decide between chicken or lamb. The combo platter with a can of soda is $ 6, which was $ 1 more. When I finally made it to the front of the line, I saw the chicken stacked up in a pile on the grill and was not able to see the donner lamb kebab anywhere, so I decided to go for the Chicken over rice platter with a can of Fanta soda ($ 5.00). What a deal?!!
The older gentleman taking my order seemed pretty bored and aloof, as he grabbed my food and put it in a standard-​size white styrofoam tray. Without even asking (which I didn’t mind), he put the salad on one side of the tray, the usual concoction of chopped lettuce, and slices of tomato. He then put 2 scoops of yellow rice on the right side of the tray, and topped it off with chicken. What caught me off guard was what he was about to do next. He then placed some sliced green peppers, onions and jalapenos on top. Yum!!! I asked for white sauce which he overly-​generously covered my whole platter up, leaving the food beneath barely visible. I also asked for a little hot sauce which he did a quick squeeze over my platter. He displayed my tray as if in acknowledgment, which I gladly nodded my head, and he proceeded to close the tray and let the other gentleman know that I wanted a Fanta soda. Styrofoam tray, can of soda, a few napkins, and a fork in a white plastic bag, and I was on my way. It was a cold day today, in the low 40’s but going into the high 30’s with the strong winds. I scurried back to my office as fast I could a couple blocks away hoping my food would not get cold.
I opened my artery clogging tray of street meat and feasted. The food was steaming (not literally) hot! The chicken (dark meat) was tender and moist. Mmmm, I was also quite surprised at the slightly generous portions of chicken. The pieces of chicken were also pretty sizable compared to the small round bits at other carts. That sure put a happy smile on my face. The green peppers and onions were fresh and crisp, though the 2 – 3 small jalapenos tasted ever so slightly old without any of its jalapeño juice inside. No biggie. The lettuce in the salad was slightly browning but still had a nice crisp, and the tomatoes (some sliced in burger fashion) were fresh and juicy. The yellow rice was nicely seasoned, though portions were noticeably small (only seemed like 1 large scoop of rice as compared to the usual 2 standard size scoops at other carts). The white sauce was familiar, thick like mayo, and the hot sauce had quite a bit of heat. Yum!!! I was actually enjoying my dish quite a bit, and let’s not forget the free can of soda. When I finally finished my platter, I noticed there was a small pool of orange grease (oil) sitting on the bottom of the tray. Yuck, but in all it’s goodness!!! Let me remind you, this is street meat so it’s not exactly the healthiest.
$ 5 for a single meat platter and a can of soda is quite a deal, especially in these tough economic times!!! The meat portions were larger than I was expecting, and delicious! Though the highlight was the large slices of peppers, onions and jalapenos thrown on top. Yum! Oh boy, was I one happy lunchgoer!