Laughter warmed the air around us as we waited huddled in line on the sidewalk next to the food cart. The sweaty man looking down on us barked our orders in hoarse Arabic to the cooks working in the back of the truck. After only 30 or so seconds, the plastic containers with our meals were ready to go.  

“What sauce?”

“Extra white, extra green, and red.” - my go-to order.

I handed him a crinkly $5 bill and scooped up a Coke from the cooler, students got a free soda at lunchtime back then. After everyone had picked up their platters we turned back down the avenue, shoveling the hot food in our mouths as we rushed to get back to school before the bell rang.

This memory sticks with me not because of the food, but because the food was just a part of growing up in New York.

Before I know it, I’m back in my dorm room and all the food has disappeared from my platter. As I sit with the empty container in front of me, I can't help but think about how this dish that I don’t really know the origins of ended up in a store on State Street here in Ann Arbor.

The first halal carts popped up in New York in the 1990s, where the original Halal Guys pivoted from selling hot dogs to chicken and lamb platters in order to feed Muslim taxi drivers who needed a quick and religiously permissible meal (Chester, 2017). These delicious platters quickly started to gain attention outside of the New York Muslim community. According to Anne Chester in her thesis statement on the rise of Halal food in media, “Halal Guys credit their initial success to an “influx of Muslim cab drivers” in New York City; 40 however, their global expansion was due to the buzz within the Muslim and non-Muslim foodie communities”. 

Over time, halal food in NYC became something more than just a religious affair. It served not only as a taste of home for over 750,000 Muslim immigrants but also as an introduction to Muslim food culture for the millions of people that called New York home  (Chester, 2017). The carts, usually run by Egyptian, Yemeni, or Bengali workers, brought warmth to cold sidewalks and fed people from all walks of life (Wissa, Phiong, and Rippo, 2025). The combination of rich meat and tangy sauces is a perfect analogy for New York - a melting pot of culture (and flavor!).