Battle of the Best Street Food: NYC's 2010 Vendy Award Finalists

Thousands of street food vendors drive into New York City every day to compete for the appetites of millions of New Yorkers. But, every year, only five get a special shout out, a shout out that puts their cart or food truck on the map, a shout out that proves that they are one of the very best.

Meet the just-announced finalists for the 2010 NYC Vendy Awards. Food. Curated. had the opportunity to film and interview them over the past few days to see their dishes and their small kitchens up close. Come learn about their secrets and find out what drives their passion to create memorable, I-can't-wait-to-come-back-for-more street food.

1. Schnitzel & Things

Owners: Oleg Voss & Gene Voss
Type of Food: Austrian cuisine with a new American twist
Location: Check their twitter for location

2. Patacon Pisao

Owners: Liliana Velasquez and Adolfo Gonzalez
Type of Food: Venezuelan street food
Location: 413 W. 202nd St. between 9th and 10th Avenues, Manhattan

3. The King of Falafel & Shwarma

Owner: Fares "Freddy" Zeidaies
Type of Food: Middle Eastern
Location: 30th St and Broadway, Astoria

4. The Bistro Truck

Owner: Yassir Z. Raouli
Type of food: Moroccan-Mediterranean Bistro
Location: 5th Avenue between 16th and 17th Street, Manhattan

5. El Rey del Sabor

Owners: "Rosa" Ofelia Cardoso and "Vilio" Viliulfo Cardoso
Type of Food: Puebla-style Mexican
Location: 49th and Park, Manhattan

Tickets to this year's Sixth Annual NYC Vendy Awards can be purchased on the website: http://streetvendor.org

Happy eating and thanks for watching food. curated. http://www.foodcurated.com

 

Follow Liza de Guia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SkeeterNYC

Comments

[UhOh1]

11:45 AM on 08/16/2010

hats off to all the street vendors. great food. good work ethic. new york loves you.

[JerseyHooligan]

02:57 PM on 08/12/2010

im a foody, but i am partial to ANY gyro stand.. well not any but most

[tomkaye]

11:24 AM on 08/12/2010

Schnitzel & Things is pretty good, but Wafels & Dinges should be on the list.

[U of Joes Bar and Grill]

09:52 AM on 08/12/2010

Wish we had more food trucks here in Minneapoli­s; I'd rather spend my money to support local businesses than large corporatio­ns and I think food vendors are a good place to show my support for the little guy.

[kynycmbp]

05:13 PM on 08/11/2010

I'm partial to the Dumpling Truck.

[eahce]

03:08 PM on 08/17/2010

location?

[kynycmbp]

05:23 PM on 08/17/2010

Right now 86th and Lex.

You can follow on twitter...http://twi­tter.com/r­ickshawtru­ck

[CintiBlue]

10:55 AM on 08/11/2010

I need to have them all!

[karela]

09:12 PM on 08/10/2010

Oh My Gosh! I watched all of those videos and I want to take a guided tour of New York City food wagons. I wonder how many days a person could eat at those for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm sure that at least a three day tour would be great. I want a taxi drop off at each wagon and then a rest until the next meal. I live in a small mid-wester­n town and the only way to get most of these foods within 200 miles of here would be to learn how to make them and send away for the ingredient­s. I've never had a huge urge to visit NYC---unti­l now!

[jpeters100]

09:50 AM on 08/11/2010

Take a trip to New York. You'll love it!

[CintiBlue]

11:03 AM on 08/11/2010

Treat yourself to an NYC trip. An eating trip is every bit a valid as a museum trip.

[farm2family]

05:09 PM on 08/10/2010

Awesome!! I'm starving watching these!