Tony ‘The Dragon’ Dragonas
“The chicken platter is made with some of the best grilled chicken you've ever tasted..”
“I got my sub topped off with BBQ sauce and extra tzatziki sauce and was in HOG HEAVEN every bite of the way.”
“Truly a metropolitan delight that one can find the marriage of haute couture and "street meat" on the same corner in happy unison.”
Tony ‘The Dragon’ Dragonas
Take-out: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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The food truck guys were sooooo nice and speedy I had been wanting to try this place for its amazing cheap menu but the Italian sausage sandwich with hot sauce was not a good first date.
Will try again…
In a place with not so many quick and delicious lunch options, Tony Dragonas food truck is a great find. I got the grilled chicken with double meat over a salad with tzatziki, and it was stellar. And cheap!
Very satisfying meal and it took all of 5 minutes to get it. As for where to eat it, there's one slim counter attached to the truck that you can use, or you can be a degenerate like me and sit on someone's stoop. Either way, it's all good.
Quick and filling..just what you want from a food truck. He was friendly and the food tasted good. Chicken gyro had nice large chunks of tender charred chicken. The gyro was loaded with veggies so you can feel less guilty afterwards.
The first time I tried Tony's I didn't like it cuz it was way too greasy. I swore the food truck off forever. However, today all my coworkers wanted to go to Tony's and then eat in central park so I decided to give it another try. But this time, instead of adding the white sauce and dressing on my salad, I chose to have them on the side. I also asked for the grilled peppers and onions. I ordered the grilled chicken platter which was $8 and comes with a huge portion of food.
I was so pleased to discover how tender the chicken was and the grilled veggies were so good as well. Everything was so flavorful that I didn't even have to add any white sauce, so the meal tasted super healthy. Nothing was greasy, like my first experience. I would suggest not adding any sauce on your platter if you want a light and healthy lunch. Try to get there before noon, otherwise the line gets a little long. Great, fast service.
My friend Anthony insists on taking us to Manhattan on a regular basis, and dragging us all over town to try different Halal Carts. This concept has become so famous among the cart owners, that one of them has actually named his cart after it. "Tony Draggin'us." Of course because he's a Halal Cart owner, he spelled it wrong, hence "Tony Dragonas."
What to get: Shish Kebab Plate
What else: Combo or anything
Anything else: My bum bum is on fire, and the next paragraph will explain why
So I know the real reason for the name of this cart. Which is that if you put too much hot sauce on this thingy, then your bottom will be on fire. Hence "Dragon Ass." Get it? Now you understand.
So NYC is full of absolutely amazing Halal Carts. And when you say Goodbye, I say Halal. Halal, Halal. I don't know why you say goodbye, I say Halal. And this one is one of the very best there is. It's definitely top 10 in NYC, and may even be top 5. It's a little behind Sammy's Halal and Biryani Cart, and it's competing with the likes of King Of Falafel (Queens), Halal Guys, Uncle Gussy's and Halal Guys. So I'd say yes, it would just about make the top 5.
I don't know why the owner is so angry though. You should come here with us some time, if only to hear "Tony Rag-on-us." He really does. Except that I don't appreciate that expression, so please don't use it at home, kids, just because you saw me do it. Damn I feel like Eminem right now. Y'all act like you never seen a white person before.
The reason Tony is so good is that he has a huge p***s. Oh wait. That's a different Tony. No, the reason it's so good is that it's made with wonderful high quality ingredients. The salad is well put together and fresh. The rice is delectable and buttery and tasty. And the meat is the absolute star of the show. I'm not even a huge Shish fan, but Tony said I should try his Shish, which is cubes of lamb or beef steak, marinaded and cooked on a skewer. He was damn right. This is some of the juiciest, tastiest meat I've tried before. I was absolutely floored by how damn good it was. Bravo, Tony. Bravo.
If this place sold Argentinian food, it'd be renamed to "Tony Patagonias" but it doesn't. Which is a shame because Argentinian food is f***ing awesome.
I want to send a massive shout out (as usual) to my friend Kashif for recommending this particular cart so vehemently and emphatically that I ended up finding my way here, and absolutely loved it. I will be back again for sure, and Kashif definitely earned Tony another customer, so well done K.
And if this were "Tony Slagonus" it would be about me and several male friends with a rather rough, rather promiscuous British girl atop us. But it's not. Which is probably a good thing? Or?
If you love Halal Carts, or if you love Kebab, make your way over to TD and give this a try. It's one of the very best there is, and you need to try it for yourself.
And if this were "Tony Sharonas", I'd have the knack of coming here more often, and then it'd be all like:
Ooh, my little tasty one, my favourite one
When you gonna give me Shish Kabob, Dragonas
Ooh, you gimme growling tum, my growling tum
Got it coming off o' the line, Dragonas
Never gonna stop eating, chew it up, such a delicious cart
I always eat it up, for the taste of the younger Sheep, Dragonas
M-m-m-my Dragonas
For about $8-10, you can get a really delicious chicken platter. Chicken is very juicy and is slightly charred so it tastes even better. Their tzatziki actually seems very healthy to me, as it's of a thicker consistency and is quite clearly made with yogurt and cucumbers. They also give you some salad on the side with balsamic vinaigrette, which is a step above the naked salads that typical Halal carts sell.
The wait can get ridiculously long during prime time lunch hours, and they close up for the day at around 6pm, so try to either go right before or after lunch time. Fortunately, the guys are fast with the orders so the lines move relatively quickly.
From a value/quality standpoint, its tough to beat this food truck. I have been several times and the food-particularly the grilled protein (chicken/fish/beef) is always wonderful. the chicken is cooked perfectly- tender but cooked fully– and is so well seasoned. I assume they marinate all the meat before hand. Recently, I've been adding in the salmon and its delicious. The portions are reasonable to generous and the food is fresh. For the amount of business coming through this small truck everyday, I have to believe that they get additional deliveries of ingredients mid-shift. There is always a line from 11:30 to 3 and while it moves steadily, you are often in for a 10-15 minute wait. I recently heard that you can call in an order and pick it up at the back of the truck but on a gorgeous spring/summer day, standing on the sunny corner of 62nd and Madison, with great people watching, doesn't stink.
I'm a big street meat connoisseur and although this is technically street meat, it definitely does not taste like it.
I talked to Tony, the Dragon, himself and he explained to me that his business is unlike the other food trucks out there, not only in his style, but in the quality of meats that he uses.
I tried the chicken and ribeye platter for $10 and I'm a fan. The quality of meats are definitely better than the other carts out there. These are chicken breasts, not chicken thighs and they taste delicious. The ribeye steak is also delicious. The garden salad appears to be field greens, served with oil and balsamic. The rice is fluffy. I think its a rice pilaf. The tzatziki sauce is very creamy.
It seems like this truck serves the businesses in the area and unfortunately it closes early @6pm on weekdays and @5pm on Sat. Closed Sundays. Would be nice to have as a late night snack, but alas its not meant to be, not yet at least.