Sammy’s Halal Food
“I will be back to try it with the hot sauce and the green sauce next time my cravings strike.”
“Hearing this was an award winning cart at the 2006 Vendy Awards, it was definitely a Chicken and Rice food truck/ cart worth checking out.”
“This is the Indian part of Queens so this cart has a bit of an Indian flavor – i.e., cumin added to the chicken and rice.”
Sammy’s Halal Food
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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The 53rd and 6th of Queens.
Smack under the 7 train, allows for easy access as well as double parking right on the street haha.
I never really knew of this spot until I got introduced by someone else.
It was safe haven for best halal you can get with your 6$ change after drinking
Meat, rice, iceberg lettuce. All of it is there & for some reason has a consistent and abundant amount served unlike other halals, where they try to minimize servings to make a profit.
They have GREEN SAUCE. which is a hint of spice and delicious savory addition to your gains. It really makes the difference compared to your normal halal elsewhere.
I'd prefer to make the trip here rather than go locally a block or two down. Much worth.
Pretty good chicken over salad. I ordered double chicken, no rice, over salad. Got it pretty quick and it was 3$ extra for double chicken. Not a bad deal.
I should have gotten the green sauce. As someone unfamiliar with Sammy's at the time of purchase, I had no idea there was a gamechanging option available to me. Alas, they did not tell me about it, and I got my lamb over rice with only the standard white/red sauces.
It was just okay. Yes, the lamb was meted out in chunks as opposed to the ground variety you find at a Halal Guys or whatever. But that's nothing special to me; go to viritually any street cart variety and you'll get the same kind of meat. People talk up the rice because it's different than the standard orange/yellow pillars of halal plates, but honestly I felt the seasoning (cumin?) didn't mesh well with the other ingredients. I prefer my halal rice on the bland and oily side, if only because that allows for optimal showcasing of the meat and spices.
For $6 and no drink, I don't feel like Sammy's was worth the walk from Woodside. Good portion sizes and acceptable food, but I'm not in a rush to return unless/until someone brings me that green sauce for me to try. (Why don't they outwardly offer or advertise it to folks?????)
Best late night food in USA. Go here. Get the Combo. Sammy doesn't have to be cool to rule my world. Ain't no particular type of food I'm more compatible with, I just want Sammy's extra chicken and his: Combo.
Yet, a missed opportunity. "Whammy's Halal" would be better. Not Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Mammy, which sounds incestuous (what? just me?). But if you arise from slumber at 3am and head out to Sammy's, you "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." "I don't want your freedom, I just want your Combo." Last Christmas, I gave you a combo, and the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I'll give one to someone special. Like Sammy, who makes "special white sauce" for me. It's thick and salty.
Moving on.
Get: Combo with all sauces
Why Sammy's is #1: It just is. The seasoning. The rice. The sauces
And?: The chicken, especially. Marinaded to perfection. Incomparable. Uniquely and spectacularly spiced. Juicy as a motherf***er. Heavenly. Just… wow
Service: Lovely, and open nearly 24 hrs a day!
Prices: Dirt cheap, $6 for a combo with drink!
Portions: Enormous, like, even bigger than my oh is that the time
Tips: If it's for later, skip the salad
Nationality?: Sammy's Afghan, maybe the food is too?
Better than Halal Guys?: Oh hell yes
I know Halal Guys (famous Halal Carts near Times Sq.) is yum. I even gave it a 5. But they're vastly inferior to Sammy's (#1), Zaiqa in Flushing (2nd), and Biryani Cart's Chicken Tikka on 6th Ave in Manhattan (a little different).
I tried to make small talk with Sammy, asking "how's business?" His response? "Brother. Want to increase your penis size naturally without surgery?" Hence the name: "Spammy's Halal."
Sammy's is my #1 meal in NYC: home to Halal Carts. Carts elsewhere are inferior, meaning Sammy's is the best Halal Cart… ever. Try HG, but don't skip places in Queens like Zaiqa and Sammy's. You'll miss NYC's best street food. You may go to Mecca for your Hajj. My Hajj is on Broadway & 73rd in Queens, just north of Roosevelt, on the NE corner, served by a little neon-lit cart known as Spammy's.
I tried to make small talk, asking "how's the family?" The response? "My friend. I am of WEMA BANK PLC, LAGOS NIGERIA. My late Grandmother arranged a TRANSFER OF ($19,780,000.00 USD) (URGENT & CONFIDENTIAL). To facilitate this transfer I NEED ($30,000.00 USD)." Living up to his rep: "Spammy's Halal."
Spammy's is worth a pilgrimage to Jackson Heights, in fact, after being stuck for months in Europe last Autumn, once "home", I detoured up here (incurring extra MTA charges), popped my head up to street level for a couple of these Combos (it's right by a subway entrance), then headed back underground and over to Port Authority for the Buffalo bus, while consuming every morsel of the heavenly Halal, and planning a very long run-on sentence.
I tried to make small talk, saying "weather's been… weathery, eh?" His response? "YOU HAVE WON! We happily announce to you the draw of UK-LOTTO Sweepstake Lottery International programs held on 27th of March, 2014. Your e-mail address drew lucky numbers: 19-6-26-19-35-7." Again: "Spammy's Halal."
Give me George Michael and Whammy's Halal any day of the week. Actually, scratch that. Ow! Not literally, Starlight! Put the claws down and step away from the food plate! I'll take Spammy instead. I'll send all my money to Nigeria. I'll invest in penis enlargement pills. I'll accept that I won a non-existant lottery that I never entered. I'll do it all for a taste of the most wonderful Cart food on Goddess' Green Earth: the Sammy's Halal Cart Combo.
But back to "Whammy's" possibilities. My gf. "Everything She Wants" is Sammy's. Well, that, and George Michael's bum in the "Faith" video. Sammy is her "Father Figure." She sang "I Want Your Sauce" to him (more incestuousness?). She found "Monkey" in her Combo, and still gave it "One More Try."
"Whammy's" could sell a "Combo Tropicana". You'd accidentally, quietly ask for extra mint sauce (a Careless Whisper, if you will). Warning: there's another cart on "A Different Corner", it's vastly inferior.
If you want 80's reviews, I'm Your Man. I'm a Young Gun, having some fun. Crazy ladies got me on the run. Sammy's takes me to the Edge Of Heaven, and George's beard pushes me off the proverbial precipice. I land in chilly, choppy waters off the coast of Newquay, Cornwall, England, on a surfboard, no less. Just like the "Son Of Albert" once did (look it up). But all of this is a filament of my proverbial lightbulb. Speaking of lightbulbs, there are too many in my fave Chinese place (Xi'an). Too bright. Leads to an instant proverbial headache (worse than Wham! Rap – Enjoy What You Do?). I think they should Dim Sum.
Get it? No?
This is review #2,499 (penultimate before hiatus). I like to save the best for last. Speaking of which, wanna be my final gf/bf? I sent all my $ to Nigeria but I know where to get great Afghan food and there are other, "significant", non-financial benefits of dating me.
My favorite food cart now–nothing much to add to others' raves. They cut up the meat into small pieces which is nice. The rice has much more seasoning than your typical halal cart and the combination of red, white and green sauces is awesome.
The best halal food in queens. The chicken is my favorite. The lamb is the basic lamb everyone has in queens. It's not different like the halal guys lamb. Its a bit hard. But the chicken is flavorful and delicious. Way better than the halal guy's bland chicken. Sammy's sauce is yogurt based (you can taste it), and the hot sauce is HOT. They also have BBQ and free sauce. The chicken is the BEST hands down. The rice is flavored with cumin seeds (zeera). It tastes like Desi rice. The chicken and rice is a great combo. The people in line tend to be pretty happy as well. I've always ended up striking up convos in line. Last time a nice guy was joking around about which cart is best and we all had a good laugh. It's nice to see smiles instead of the usual aggression of NYC street cart lines.
I was a big fan of Sammy's halal early on but after trying it again recently, it's not as good as I remembered. I ordered 3 combinations with white, hot, and green sauce. The lamb meat is what I found disappointing. It's too charred and tough. The chicken taste pretty much the same as before. I usually finish the entire combo but today, I found myself eating just half of it. It's $7 now for a combo, $6 for just chicken or lamb over rice. Halal food is getting pricier nowadays but they still offer up a large amount of food.
Verdict – The badly cooked lamb meat wasn't a complete deal breaker. There's just nothing really special about Sammy's anymore. I remembered when they use to sprinkle I think chopped cilantro on top of their chicken and lamb. I didn't see any of that today. The food itself wasn't even served that hot. I rather get halal from Shah's outside of Queens College instead. Back then, whenever I bought from Sammy's, the aroma was so strong, it would stink up my car. Today, it left no smell at all.
After hearing about the famous Sammy's cart for many years, I finally got the opportunity to come here late Sunday night after the blizzard. Right on the north side of Roosevelt and Broadway, I'm surprised I've walked and driven by here so many times but never noticed it. There were two carts side by side, but given the late hour, I think one of them just "closed" because there were two guys in the open cart chatting it up. They were all smiles though and really nice when they saw us. (I'm used to the Halal Guys just getting down to business like, "What do you want? Okay, $7. Here you go. Thank you. Next!")
Apparently there are four types of sauces you can get here: the standard white sauce, red sauce, BBQ sauce, and green sauce. The green sauce (a mix of green chili, cilantro, and something else that's slipping my mind) came highly recommended on any of their rice platters. Given that I'm not a huge fan of cilantro, I opted to only get a little bit…and regretted not smothering the whole platter with it. That green sauce is so good! The cilantro isn't overpowering at all, and there's a nice tangy kick that goes so well with the dish. Their other sauces are great too (I need to get more red sauce next time; I thought it'd be crazy spicy like the Halal Guys'), although I thought the concept of the BBQ sauce on halal meat was a little strange. I'll have to give it a go next time.
I was quite surprised but impressed with their combo rice platter. The rice is a long grained basmati rice, different from what the Halal Guys serve, and is also flavored differently (read: not yellow), but in a great way. Their meat is different too: they're cubed instead of grounded/chopped up, so you get more flavor out of each bite. In summary, everything just WORKED. One friend and I split one platter and were perfectly satisfied (we weren't too hungry) while another had one platter to himself and was stuffed. That was $7 definitely well spent.
I think it's safe to say that I've found my new favorite halal cart. If you're ever in Jackson Heights by the 74th Street Roosevelt stop, definitely give Sammy's a go!