Best Street Food in New York 2026 — Hot Dogs, Pizza Slices and Markets in New York City

New York City's Best Street Food 2026

New York City has one of the world's great street food cultures — built on wave after wave of immigrant communities each contributing their street food traditions to the city's sidewalks, markets, and food halls. The pretzel cart, the hot dog stand, the halal food cart, the pizza-by-the-slice shop, the Flushing Queens dim sum parlour, the Jackson Heights arepas, and the Brooklyn taco truck are each authentic NYC street food institutions with decades of history. This guide covers the best street food in New York City in 2026.

Must-Try NYC Street Food

• New York Pizza Slice: a single foldable slice of thin-crust NY-style pizza from a by-the-slice shop — USD 3-5; Di Fara (Midwood, Brooklyn) and Joe's Pizza (West Village) are institutions; Halal Cart Chicken and Rice: the legendary street food of NYC — chicken (or gyro) over yellow rice with white garlic sauce and hot sauce from the thousands of halal carts across Manhattan; USD 7-10; the original Halal Guys (53rd and 6th Ave) had lines for years; NYC Hot Dog: a natural-casing boiled hot dog from a street cart topped with mustard and sauerkraut or onion sauce; USD 2-5; a New York City sidewalk institution; Knish: a baked or fried Eastern European Jewish pastry stuffed with potato or kasha (buckwheat); from knish shops like Yonah Schimmel on the Lower East Side; USD 4-7; Arepas: grilled corn cakes stuffed with cheese, meat, or avocado — from Venezuelan and Colombian street vendors in Jackson Heights (Queens) and Washington Heights; USD 4-8; Pretzels: large salted soft pretzels from street cart vendors across Manhattan with yellow mustard; USD 2-4

Best Street Food Markets in NYC

• Smorgasburg (Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO, Sundays April-October) — NYC's most celebrated outdoor food market with 100+ vendors; excellent quality across all food categories; Flushing Main Street (Queens) for the best Chinese and Asian street food in the US outside of Asia; Jackson Heights (Queens, Roosevelt Avenue) for South Asian and Latin American street food; Chelsea Market (Meatpacking District) for an indoor food market in a former Nabisco factory

Street Food Prices in NYC

• NYC street food ranges from very affordable to moderate: pizza slice USD 3-5; halal cart meal USD 7-10; hot dog USD 2-5; arepas USD 4-8; Smorgasburg vendor food USD 10-18; Flushing market food USD 5-12

This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.