Rafiqi’s

Portion size is small. You would expect them to at least fill up the styrofoam container. Right? My container was only half full, most were bits of lettuce.
The flavor is pretty good though, not as good as halal guys of course.

My main problem is portion size – not enough. As another girl wrote a review here, I finished the portion in one, very fast sitting. The container is your regular food container so I think they are also wasting perfectly good styrofoam containers that people are going to throw out anyway. There were barely any black beans or tomatoes, more lettuce and the onions weren’t fully cooked. The rice was minimal and not great, the chicken tasted good but a lot of it had ‘fatty bits’ so it wasn’t like a full chicken piece many times. I work near the Rafiqi’s on 51^st and 3^rd Ave and I will never go back there because while telling the guy i wanted NO HOT sauce, he ended up putting in hot sauce and I only realized when I started eating back at the office. Too bad because with some improvements they could be really good. For the amount of food you get, the price of $ 5.50 maybe good for the area, but is NOT worth how little sub-​par food you get.

Good food, but the Rafiqi’s truck two blocks away, on 50^th Street and 3^rd Avenue, is 25 cents cheaper. What gives?

Delicious I tried the lamb and chicken combo with the works. Enjoyed my lunch especially the hot sauce. Will definitely have for a quick lunch take away again.

I used to manage an office on 52^nd and Lex so for lunch I popped on out to hit up these guys 3 – 4 times a week. I’d always get chicken over rice, extra hot sauce, hold the white sauce and a can of Coke for $ 5. That was early 2000s but I heard they haven’t raised their prices that much. It took less than 10 minutes to run out, get my order and return. That’s how you manage an office in Newyawk, yo. Fughetaboutit!

With a Chipotle style menu on a food truck, they give you a decent amount of options for a decent price, so good in that sense. I’m an avid patron of the original halal guys on 53^rd and 6^th (now also 52^nd and 6^th) so the taste still doesn’t beat theirs.

I’m hooked.
My usual order is chicken over rice with lettuce, tomatoes, chick peas, pickles and grilled onions with white/​hot/​bbq sauce. It’s all only $ 5.50?!
Something about the hot sauce is very addictive, I think it has cumin or cinnamon? it’s definitely not the typical «hot sauce» you’d get at other Halal trucks.
Needless, to say my co-​workers and I go every week. The line varies, it’s usually a 5 minute wait but it goes by pretty quickly.

I came here looking for some Fiq Newtons, but by the time the guy had served the woman in front of me, I had changed my mind. I’m very Fiqle in that regard. I fiqet what I ordered next, but it was delicious. In fact it was fiqing delicious, one of the most delicious fiqing things I’ve had. I’m glad that I braved rush hour traffiq to come here.
What to get: Combo with all the sauces — don’t get any salad
What else: The Brian Setzer Orchestra are the Devil’s Minions
I was feeling kind of Raf and wanted some food that didn’t taste iqi. So I came to Rafiqi.
This was the Rafiqi’s that I tried most recently, on my last trip to NYC. It’s one of the better ones I’ve tried, but not the best, which is Union Square location. It’s typical NYC Halal Cart Street Meat and it’s delicious. Highly recommended to everyone.
There hasn’t been food this good since the days of Queen Fiqtoria.
I was last here about 3 months ago, and I’m not sure if I’ll try it again soon because I still have other locations to try and while I liked this one, it was only my 2^nd fave. The guy running this cart was nice, and it took less than 5 mins from getting in line behind 2 others, to having my food which I thought was excellent. It never seems crazy busy here except maybe during lunch hour.
As an aside, I have to admit, I do like the products sold at Fiqtoria’s Secret.
As I said, 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.
I’ve been with Rafiqi’s through Fiq and Thin. So I’m not going to abandon them now.
From this particular location I ordered my usual combo (which is gyro meat and chicken, with rice, covered in sauces). I learned my lesson at several previous Rafiqi’s, and finally asked for no salad, and extra of all the sauces. 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?
If the owner was a singer, he’d be Fiqaro.
And again I will say, 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. I’m looking through my notes here and I have now reviewed all the 5 Rafiqi’s I’ve tried in NYC and still have roughly 5 more to try (I like to try different locations so that I can decide which ones are better, if any). So you can look forward to those in the future.
However a warning: eating Rafiqi’s will mean it is harder to stay Fiq. You’ll have to go to the gym more or maybe Cross-​Fiq. Join LA Fiqness or something.
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 Frankfurt-​Am-​Mainhattan), and any of the Rafiqi’s too.
And if a girl has nice curves and plenty of booty, then some people will describe her as «Fiq.» And she might end up in a video with Robin Fiqke. Oh wait, she’d have to be anorexic for that. And to the reviewed that said this food tastes like Fiqal Matter: you’re wrong.

I was quite excited to come, because the review said they were better than Halal Guys… But I have gotta say, they are pretty much the same…
I came here with a coworker for some chicken over rice; this place has been on my bucket list since I saw a bunch of positive reviews. So, to be true to what I wanted, I got their Chicken over rice and my coworker diverged and got the combo — Chicken and Lamb.
To be honest, the balsamic rice isn’t all that special, not as flavorful as I would have expected, and the chicken was tender, but not all that. I do however, like how it is bigger chunks of meat, instead of the chopped up shredded chicken meat like Halal Guy’s. My coworker (who was nice enough to let me steal a piece of his lamb) said the lamb was ok, doesn’t taste like lamb; in my humble opinion… It wasn’t all that good, tasted kinda funky, but it might also just be because I don’t like lamb? Though I also, didn’t think it tasted that lamb-​y. As for the white sauce, it sure ain’t better than Halal Guy’s, but they evened the score out with their chili/​spicy sauce; instead of just spicy, has some real flavor.
For the amount that you pay, the portion is quite small. However, on the other hand, they do have some nice sides, which includes chickpeas, olive, lettuce, tomato, cheese, black beans, etc. So that is a nice add on. But I have to say, there are so many other (much better) halal food carts/​stands/​trucks around that, I’d say I’d had enough experience this one time.
I am happy that there are people who would swear by this truck. But I am sorry, I’m not on the same side…

Amazing food truck in midtown area. And it is even better than Uncle Gussy which is about a block away. Their meat is sliced thinly to allow sauce to marinate inside. The sauce itself was flavorful enough yet not too savory. They gave you enough lettuce, corns and tomatoes to accompany the platter as well. I have been eating at this place many times recently myself and am still not tired of it at all. My favorite food truck year to date!

Unilocalers led me astray on this one!
This definitely does not deserve more than 3 stars:
1) it is NOT better than The Halal Guys (or Sammy’s) what are you ppl smoking???
2) its more expensive than THG
3) the portions are ²⁄₃ less than THG… I’m a petite girl and one combo plate from THG can be turned into three meals but I finished Rafiqi’s in one sitting
4) the basmati rice is not good! there’s absolutely no flavor to it whatsoever!
5) the portions are small, half of your plate is lettuce and toppings
6) they need to work on customer service– the guys at this truck just weren’t friendly!
7) fast service
All in all a decent fast meal but won’t be back!

so some say this is better then the halal guys on 6^th and 52^nd. I had to try it to believe it! I was open to it. I bought a few played for everyone. And believe it. Everyone have it awesome comments. The dishes were offered so many different things. Like olives. Beans. Corn. Theirs awesomeness on homemade sauces where great (just needed more spice) but I won’t lie to you. Theses guys will deff beat halal guys in a heat beat. Cause these guys are hungry and know how to feed up with their skills in cooking! Don’t believe me? Try it your self!

this is so much better than Halal Guys… meat are actual chunks rather than shredded, hot sauce is delicious (i always ask for extra), and the veggies make the meal seem somewhat healthy… ha… and it is really reasonably priced, my chicken over rice is about $ 6. Also there is always a crowd here but the line moves sooo fast so I don’t even mind ordering in the cold. thumbs up!

You can’t beat a $ 5 lunch in midtown — I’ve been here about four times, and the first three times it used to be a big red truck on 52^nd. I came here last Friday and it was a little food cart — same guys working there, just without the big red truck. I always get the lamb gyro with rice ($ 5.25) with all the vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, olives, red onions, garbanzo beans, corn and some chopped green peppers), white sauce and extra hot sauce. I usually come here for lunch after a night of weeknight drinking — for some reason I always crave Rafiqi’s and take my lunch break early: P

The street meat quest in the blistering heat of New England’s summer wave of swelter brought me to Rafiqi’s at lunch for their combo platter. An interesting effort in product differentiation occurs here. They allow virtually full customization of their platters. You can select all kinds of toppings and salad/​veggie fixings. Cheese was one topping I opted out of to keep things «true.»
The most interesting of which is olives. This unexpected flavor surprises the taste buds with that musty, tang which is black olives. That flavor accompanies the kebab lamb and chicken surprisingly well. The kebab meat are strips n’ chunks and neither the jalapeño sauce or the hot (red) sauce are very hot, just spicy enough.
The chicken was juicy, flavorful, medium sizes bits of delish. But were sparing in comparison to the load of kebab meat. Perhaps the fillers in the kebab meat are more economical than the chicken?
The quantity vs. price equation is not best in class, probably in the lower half of the pack, but it is only $ 6 after all. This styrofoam box is smaller in nearly every dimension when compared to their nearest competitor, but it is 33% cheaper than the competitor also… it’s all the calories you need unless you’re doing a halal street meat marathon like myself. :P
All said, flavors are better than their cross street (n’ up one block) neighbor’s ultra-​sour halal plate, but Rafiqi’s is still not in my top three. My favs are closer to Rockefeller center.

This is now a food truck! I’m guessing this used to be food cart according to the pictures and now they’ve upgraded. They have a lot of topping options such as olives, black beans, lettuce, and tomato. They also have a few sauce options. I ordered lamb over rice with all toppings. It’s easier to say all toppings than to say each topping I want and then get disappointed if something is missing. I’d just pick out what I don’t want. I got it with the traditional hot and white sauces. I’m guessing because there were so many toppings that they skimped out on the lamb and rice. Plus the guy didn’t put enough sauce. Since the food is being prepared in the food truck, I can’t see how much of what they are putting in the container. If I come back next time, I would have to ask for more sauce.

Ok I think the picture is a bit off here because the rafiqis on 52^nd and park that I know is a giant red truck that you can’t miss instead of a food cart…
In any case. This is probably hands down my favorite chicken and rice truck in the city. Yeah forget about the «official chicken and rice» halal guys on 53^rd and 6^th. Mad overrated imo.
What distinguishes this cart in my opinion is that you can get so many awesome toppings such as onions, olives, cheese, chickpeas, grilled onions, green peppers… etc etc etc. They also have a variety of sauces which was awesome. I really wish they have like grilled mushrooms though… that would be like icing on the cake for me.
I usually go for chicken and rice or the tilapia on rice. Yes I know getting fish from a food cart is pretty shady but the tilapia here is very good! And no you don’t need an iron stomach to avoid potential upset stomachs later… I’ve never gotten a stomachache eating here!
In addition to the typical white sauce hot sauce, try their jalapeño sauce here. It’s not too spicy and adds a lot of flavor to your chicken.
By the way, the chicken here is awesome… It’s not super chopped up or ground up like all the other places and the chicken here is mad tender and juicy compared to other places I’ve tried which is usually a bit on the drier side.
Woohoo for Rafiqis!

I broke down and finally tried Rafiqis with my coworkers. Got the chicken/​lamb combo with white and hot sauce and everything. Solid meal for a little over $ 5.00. I’d grab lunch from there again.

Not bad– it was fast, cheap and pretty good. Tzatziki (or white sauce) was a bit too creamy… I always love my Tzatziki extra garlicky with some bright lemon flavors. Opt for the wraps: they put a lot of meat and it’s only 4.75 which is incredible being in the city. They put on a little spicy sauce in a perfect amount so that it wasn’t overly spicy. Not sure if it was just me but I felt as if everything was a bit underseasoned. The chicken on its own was bland, as was the white sauce– I wished every bite had more of the spicy sauce because the flavors were stronger.
Great place to grab something if you’re short on cash and want something good and filling.

OK, folks — let me just say that I am NOT usually into cart-​food. I am scared and skeeved by it — but Rafiqi’s is good and thus far seems safe. I got a HUGE chicken ‘n rice platter with tasty tzatziki sauce. And fresh grilled pita.
So good and so cheap!