America's Best Street Food

Jessica Shea July 16, 2009

 

It's not just soggy hot dogs anymore

Sometimes a city’s best food isn’t at that five-star, impossible-to-get-a-reservation restaurant. Instead, it might be located just down the street—literally the street—from your hotel. From public health concerns to a presumed lack of choices, street food has traditionally gotten a bad rap in the United States. In fact, the thought of street food may conjure images of dried-out pretzels and waterlogged hot dogs, but that’s not true any longer. Across the U.S., curbside chow has been taken to a new level in many cities, while long-established street food staples elsewhere in the country are still gobbled up with gusto.

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As the unofficial street food capital of the country, options in the Big Apple range from fresh tamales to exotic gelatos. New York’s streets are a serving platter for all ranges of ethnic food. The city’s Street Vendor Project estimates that more than 80 percent of the street vendors in Lower Manhattan are immigrants hailing from more than 20 countries on four continents. The purpose of the Street Vendor Project is to ensure that street vendors have fair representation in court and to advocate on their behalf, making sure there are enough permits available, for instance.

With about 6,500 vendors, street food is such a large part of New York’s culture that there is even an award ceremony organized by SVP to name the best of the best, the Vendy Awards. “The competition is to honor and celebrate street vendors in New York City,” explains spokesperson Jaclyn Kessel, “And to recognize the fact that some of the best food in the city is on the street.” Last year’s Vendy winner was a cart called Calexico Carne Asada, stationed on the corner of Wooster and Prince Streets in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. The cart is owned by three brothers who cook Mexican food California-style.

See our slideshow of America's Best Street Food.

Farther north, Seattle has traditionally lagged behind in the street food department. However, a gourmet food cart on wheels, Skillet, is helping to change the city’s mediocre rep. Skillet serves up what co-owner Josh Henderson describes as bistro-style food. Choices include dishes like handmade gnocchi or a fennel and rosemary roasted pork sandwich. Henderson decided to get into street food after years of working in the restaurant business, where he got tired of the monotony. “There’s more flexibility in street food,” Henderson says. “If sales aren’t going the way you want, you can pick up and move.”

Although moving Skillet’s aluminum trailer isn’t always that easy. Henderson says one challenge of selling street food is dealing with restaurant owners who may not like the sudden competition on their street—some even call the police or the health department. Seattle’s restaurant owners may be fighting a losing battle since the city is planning to loosen its regulations. “In the next year or two I think there will be a pretty strong explosion of street vendors,” predicts Henderson.

See our slideshow of America's Best Street Food.

In Miami, street food has a different flavor—Cuban that is. There, the most popular street food is actually a drink. Across the city, people order Cuban coffee, or cafecito, at walk-up windows. The practice is very much a social affair with people standing at the counters talking and sipping the strong, concentrated brew.

Another city with a storied street food tradition is Philadelphia. Choices are diverse in the City of Brotherly Love, but the city’s ultimate street food is the one that carries its namesake: the Philly cheesesteak. The hearty sandwich is overloaded with grilled chipped steak, caramelized onions and gooey cheese on a thick, crusty Italian sub roll—a true testament to the idea that the most delicious foods are also the messiest.

See our slideshow of America's Best Street Food.

Cheesesteak-serving stands are all over Philadelphia but are especially concentrated in the area of University City. One favorite of students and tourists alike is Abner’s at 38th and Chestnut Streets. “Cheesesteaks are as much of an institution in that part of town as the Liberty Bell,” says Philly-based restaurant critic David Snyder. Snyder believes that street food is such a large part of the city’s eating culture that it’s not viewed in a special way, rather it is just accepted. “People don’t look down on carts here as they might in other cities,” he says.

Next time you’re strolling city streets and are tempted by aromas coming from a curbside cart, go ahead and indulge in the simplest form of al fresco dining. Rediscover the simple joys of a bag of roasted peanuts or treat your taste buds to something new and regional like a reindeer sausage. You might take a bite of something that will keep you coming back to the city—and that stand—for years.

See our slideshow of America's Best Street Food.

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