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Vendys Finalists Announced!
By
Jacob Dobkin
Published Oct 25, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jacob Dobkin
Published Oct 25, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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In August, we told you about the Vendys, the first annual streetfood awards sponsored by Streetvendor.org. The awards are a wonderful idea-- they celebrate the hard working people that produce some our city's most delicious food, and help dispel those old notions that everything you buy on the street is poisonous, tastes bad, or both. From the looks of it, the four finalists are tightly matched:
Thiru “Dosa Man” Kumar -- "the fresh made dosas are healthy, still relatively cheap, delicious" ... " He works rain or shine and always has a smile on his face. He isn't just a vendor -- he is a role model for us all.”
Tony “the Dragon” Dragonas -- "There are many chicken men, but only this chicken man has a line running the whole block - practically all the way to Central Park."
Rolf “Hallo Berlin” Babiel -- "Forget your standard pushcart hotdogs, nothing beats this guy's brats. The food is cheap and fantastic. He offers his wares with a really crusty bun, two types of kraut, the BEST sauteed onions and homemade mustards and curry sauces."
"The Best Halal" Team (Mustafa, Mohammed, Islam, Sam) -- "The tastiest food in the city! The line always borders on epic, and people are fanatical about the food. Five dollars for the choice of chicken and rice or lamb and rice. The white sauce has an almost cult following. I've talked to people in line there who had driven from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. "
You can buy tickets for the finals and view all the action in person- Thursday, November 10, 7pm. Our very own Laren Spirer (editor of Gothamist Food) is one of the judges-- along with Adam Kuban from SliceNY!
Now Gothamist intends to fully handicap this race for you, and that means eating at each of these four places this week. There's only one problem-- StreetVendor.org didn't include addresses for each of the finalists, so we don't know where to go! Can you help us out? And if you've been to one of these great stands, can you recommend what we should order when we get there?
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Jacob Dobkin
Jake Dobkin co-founded Gothamist with Jen Chung. In 2019, Jake released Ask a Native New Yorker, a book based on his Gothamist advice column.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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