Halal cart chicken and rice is sliced grilled chicken thigh over yellow turmeric rice with lettuce, tomato, white sauce and chilli sauce. A New York City street-food default since 1990.

The Halal Guys opened a single hot-dog cart at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue in 1990. The three Egyptian founders (Mohamed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abdelbaset Elsayed) switched to halal-prepared chicken and gyro within months to serve the area's Muslim taxi drivers. The yellow rice, the chopped grilled chicken, the lettuce shred and the chilli-and-white-sauce squeeze bottles all set the template that every halal cart in the city has copied since. The original cart still operates from the same corner; the company now franchises globally, but the editorial answer remains the cart.

4 editor picks for Halal cart chicken and rice in New York City, ranked by editorial score. All New York City signature dishes · Halal cart chicken and rice across every city.