The Casbah (New York, NY)

West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023

The Casbah is a (halal) food cart on the Upper West Side, at the corner of 66th St & Columbus Ave, close to Lincoln Park. They serve mainly chicken and falafel. 

I get a falafel sandwich ($4): four very tasty falafels with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, chick peas, white and spicy red sauce, on a thick pita. It is remarkably good for a food cart, particularly the falafels.

VERDICT: 86/100

The falafel at The Casbah would be good for any Middle Eastern restaurant, but is great for street food.

Gray Papaya (New York, NY)

2090 Broadway, New York, NYC 10023, T: 212-799-0243

Gray Papaya is a New York institution. It’s a dumpy-looking fast food place that serves hot dogs and an odd selection of tropical juices. It used to have a couple of locations, but now seems to only its Upper West Side location left, at Broadway and 72nd.

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I order 2 franks & a drink for $4.95. I get one with sauerkraut and brown mustard and one with chili (+ 0.50) and onions. The franks are good size, snappy, and tasty. The buns are a bit crusty at the bottom (perhaps because it’s not busy on this very hot day), the onions are big and grilled, and the chili tastes good but a bit particular. The papaya juice is refreshing, bit like a (Brazilian) suco.

 

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VERDICT: 89/100

Not the best hot dogs in New York, but an NYC institution, which serves good and very affordable hot dogs.

Howard Beach Bagel Cafe (New York, NY)

162-54 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, NY 11414, T: 718-843-5700

Howard Beach Bagel Cafe is the Howard Beach location of a local chain of some ten bagel cafes. It is a large bagel cafe/deli that opened up about a year ago on the main street of Howard Beach, on the same block as the established Old Country Bagels. It serves the usual: homemade bagels, sandwiches, and spreads.

 

I have a bacon and egg salad on an Italian hero with sesame seed. The bacon is crispy and the egg salad chunky; perfect combination on this soft hero with a nice chewy crust. As a side I get coleslaw, which is very creamy. I also get a veggie tuna salad on a poppy seed bagel ($7.39). The bagel is fresh, chunky, and not (too) sweet. The veggie tuna is creamy without being overly mayo-ish and has fresh crunchy veggies in it. As a side I get cucumber salad, which is chunky and fresh. M. gets an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese ($3.55). The bagel is solid and the cream cheese yummy.

VERDICT: 87/100

The Bagel Cafe is an excellent bagel place and a real competitor for the also excellent and well-established Old Country Bagel further down the road.

L’Arte del Gelato (New York, NY)

Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue & 63rs Street, New York, NY

L’Arte de Gelato is a gelato restaurant on Chelsea Market in New York, which also has a couple of carts in Manhattan (May to August/October). I visit the small cart at the plaza of Lincoln Center.

 

I get a piccola (small), which means a decent size cup with one flavor. I choose nocciola, which is a creamy flavorful hazelnut. Perhaps a tad too creamy and too few pieces of nut, but very good! The next day I go back and get another small, but this time with two flavors: pistachio and limone (lemon). The pistachio is very creamy and tasty, the lemon is fresh, but misses the zing of real Italian gelato.

VERDICT:  91/100

L’Arte del Gelato serves some of the best gelato I’ve had in the US.

Zack’s Hamburgers (Charlotte, NC)

4009 South Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28209-2616, T: 704-525-720

Zack’s Hamburgers is a Charlotte institution. It’s a beautiful old-school fast food place, which has hardly changed since they opened in, I assume, the 1950s. They serve the classics: burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, shakes, etc.

Obviously, I get the Zack’s Special ($5.25). It is very similar to the Big Mac, but much tastier and fresher. The fries are thin, but tasty too. I get a side of Onion Rings ($2.60), which are fresh and thinly battered, but sometimes more batter than onion. I dip them in homemade Tarter Sauce ($0.95), which is thick, fresh, and tasty. Afterward I go back to get a small banana milkshake ($2.59), which is fresh and not too sweet.

VERDICT: 86/100

Zack’s Hamburgers is among the best and most affordable, old-school fast food I've had in the US.

Daddy Joe’s BBQ & Grill (Gaffney, SC)

1400 West Floyd Baker Boulevard, Gaffney, SC 29341, T: 864-487-7427

Daddy Joe's BBQ & Grill is a shack-like structure in a classic restaurant/gas station strip of motorway. While it looks like a chain, it is not. It advertises that it has been featured in Southern Living.

I get a Combination Platter with ribs & chopped Pork ($13.15), which comes with hushpuppies and two sides. The chopped pork is soggy and quite gross, the BBQ slaw is absolutely gross, the wedge fries are ok but lukewarm, the ribs meaty but quite dry, and the hushpuppies taste like fish (probably fried in same oil as fish).

VERDICT: 61/100

If they are truly featured in Southern Loving, it must have been a really damaging review, as this was really poor.

Central Avenue (Anderson, SC)

150 E Shockley Ferry Rd, Anderson, SC 29624, T: 864-224-9028

Central Avenue is a tiny drive-thru, only a hut really, in a poor strip mall in Anderson, South Carolina. It serves burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, French fries, and cheese sticks. They are very slow!

I get a Slaw dog ($1.99), which comes with mustard, ketchup, chili, onion, and slaw. It’s all quite standard, but the slaw is quite tasty. The Hamburger ($1.79) is an old-school burger with mustard, ketchup, onion, lettuce and pickle.

VERDICT: 73/100

Central Avenue is a tiny drive-thru that serves old-school American fast food for a very decent price. Would always prefer it over McD, etc.