New York street food has come a long way since the days of mystery-meat hot dogs and over-salted, stale pretzels, and the people at Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center‘s are taking notice! Enter, the sixth-annual Vendy Awards. The coveted Vendy Cup is bestowed upon the greatest street food vendor serving up the most delicious (and sanitary!) grub around.
This year’s finalists include two of our favorite Latin food trucks: Patacon Pisao and El Rey del Sabor.
Patacon roams the streets of Elmhurst Queens (202nd St., between Ninth and 10th Ave.) peddling the most sabrosas cachapas de queso this side of Maracaibo. For those who haven’t sampled the Venezuelan classic, think a warm, corn pancake topped with melted queso blanco and drizzled with sour cream. It’s a little messy for sidewalk sampling but the sweet-and-savory cachapa is worth parking it on the curb and grabbing utensils for.
El Rey del Sabor in Manhattan reigns over the street food scene in Midtown. (They have three trucks parked at 49th St. and Park Ave.; 43rd St. between 5th and 6th Ave.; 60th St. and 3rd Ave.) The smaller-than-most food truck (well, a cart really) offers the hungry high-rise employees of New York an assortment of taco options, quesadillas, flautas, enchiladas, burritos and more. If you’re looking to satiate your craving for good Mexican food without paying premium prices, this is the spot. We suggest ordering the tacos al pastor for their delicious tender pork and simplicity.
Suerte to our favorites during this Saturday’s Vendy Awards finale in Governor’s Island where five finalists will face off before a panel of judges, which includes Aarón Sanchez.
The event’s sold out so grab a map, scrounge some cash and scout the trucks!