Rafiqi’s

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“The best part for me is that this is not as greasy as most other street meat I've had.”

“By the way if you're willing to venture out of Manhattan, then you must go to Sammy's Halal in Queens.”

“The veggies are fresh and meats are very tasty.”

Rafiqi’s

Take-out: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes

Price range.

$ Price range Under $10

2 reviews

  1. Did you know this place has been Fiq-tured on the Food Network? Okay, not really, but honestly it should be.

    What to get: Combo with all the sauces – skip the salad unless you're finishing it right away.
    What else: Would you like to taste my sauces?

    I have tried four or five different Rafiqi's locations and I've had similar experiences at all of them, with a couple of notable exceptions.

    (a) One time a Rafiqi's in Koreatown made me really sick, but the food still tasted great and Cart food tends to go right through me anyway, so I'm not going to downgrade their star level for this. I know other people would.
    (b) One time the cart at Union Square tasted absolutely awful.

    Despite that, the Union Square location is my fave. But this review is about the one in Greenwich Village, which was I think only the 2nd one I ever visited, back in the old days. This is an underrated Rafiqi's, I think because it's in a more trendy area so the locals are really trashing it. Shame.

    This location of Rafiqi's is pretty standard. Service is fast – as at all the others – and not particularly friendly, nor is it unfriendly. The guy that served me was businesslike. It's not as popular as the Midtown one I reviewed, but is about level in terms of volume of clientele with the Koreatown one, in my experience. Halal Guys and Biryani Cart get more business (and rightly so, in the case of Biryani), but if you want to sample all the best of NYC street meat, you have to give one of the Rafiqi's a try.

    From this particular location I ordered the combo (which is gyro meat and chicken, with rice, covered in sauces). At this one, I had yet to learn my lesson, and I got it just the way it comes, which is with Salad. If you get it, I recommend skipping the Salad, which is often a little old and nondescript anyway. The salad tends to go bad if you save some of the food for later, and besides, it's next to all the piping hot stuff so it kind of gets weird quickly, and doesn't microwave well at all. Not that I like to microwave stuff, but how else are you going to re-heat a combo?

    I think it's pretty awesome that the guy has a huge Rafiqi's empire and so many trucks all over Manhattan. I wonder when (if?) he's going to expand into the other boroughs. According to my notes I have tried 5 Rafiqi's total, but there are about 15 of them… it really is an empire. I like to try different locations so that I can decide which ones are better, if any. So you can look forward to reviews of the others at some point.

    By the way if you're willing to venture out of Manhattan, then you must go to Sammy's Halal in Queens. But if not, then try Halal Guys (the famous one), Chicken Tikka at Biryani Cart (my fave by far in Womanhattan), and any of the Rafiqi's too.

    There's a movie about this place by the way. It's called "American Rafiqi." It's about Rafiqi art on Subways and overpasses and such. It's a beautiful movie, but watching it could probably get you arrested these days, given what some of the NYC cops have been arresting for lately.

  2. This place is overrated as hell.  The standards for carts like this are so low its scary, especially in Manhattan, but they don't even meet that bar.  The chicken is oddly spiced, has a sizable amount of nerves, and is frequently undercooked.  I've gotten sick from it when I've had it.  The people in the cart also don't always listen to how you want your order and screw things up.  The extra stuff they offer like the olives and carrots sounds good in theory, but doesn't really go with chicken and rice.  I've given this place several tries as some swear by it, but to me its garbage.  Go to Sammy's on W4th & Broadway

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