I Tested Street Food in NYC vs LA

New York has the best street food in the world, but is it really better than the street carts in L.A.? Today, I'm flying between New York and L.A. and putting five iconic street foods head-to-head, starting with round one, hot dogs, at Dominic's Hot Dog Truck in Queens. And I brought my friend and New York food guide, Greg, along for this one. Greg, the average tourist envisions a dirty water dog in Times Square, bright lights, but we're in front of a cemetery. Why this spot? This truck's been here since 1959. This is a real local favorite. People just pull up, hop out of their cement trucks, and grab a hot dog. Let's go classic here. We're gonna do real classic, okay? Classic. Can we do two old school, one chili cheese dog, please? Absolutely. We placed our order, and these dogs came out fast. Mustard, onions, and sauerkraut, nothing fancy, except for one thing. These were massive. And just wait until you see what L.A. does to its hot dogs. Well, Greg, they made this really easy. Old school hot dog, they got it listed on the menu, no questions asked. First of all, this thing's huge. It's the biggest hot dog that I've seen, maybe ever. I've heard of places where you can order a jumbo dog, but this is the standard hot dog, so you're giving New York a real edge in this video. We're going to L.A., we're gonna do something a bit different there. I'm a New Yorker, that's what I gotta do. Native New Yorker, I gotta put on for the city. You were telling me that the onions are a little different here, right? So there's tomato onions, they're actually homemade. They steam the buns, and I think also just the jumbo sides of these. All right, after you. Let's do this. That's a big frickin' wiener. Let's go, cheers. Oh, that's good. Great snap. The onion's doing it for me. That is the standout by far. Yeah, I love the onions, love the tanginess of the sauerkraut, but definitely the snap, I agree with you on that. The snap is excellent on this bun. And you've got so much hot dog to play with here. Little spicy mustard there, it's fantastic. I thought this would be too much just looking at it, but if we weren't visiting a lot of other spots, I can do three of these, no question. Oh, easy, yeah. I can easily take down three. I'm eating the chili cheese though, too. Do you find it irony that we're standing, filming in front of a cemetery? Like, is this gonna lead you to an early grave? Or is it so good you can die happy? I don't know. It's definitely one of New York's most unique locations for hot dog, I gotta say. By far. All right, Dominic's definitely hit the spot. L.A., you got some tough competition. Let's see what's up out there. Now round one heads to L.A. to see their take on the street hot dog. At Tony's Hot Dogs, and they do things a bit differently here than in New York. Tony's cart may not look like much, but this guy is a local legend. When regulars drive by and honk, he spins his umbrella and waves back. And that was only the beginning of the show. To guide me through our first few stops, I brought along L.A. street food expert Jorge from Mexipapa Adventures. Jorge, what makes an L.A. hot dog traditional? To start with, bacon wrap. You got the green peppers, you got the red peppers, you got the onions, and of course, your choice of mustard and ketchup. Ooh, ketchup. That's a dirty word where I come from. One thing that you gotta have in every hot dog in L.A. is one of these. You gotta have it. Are you ready for one of those, bro? It looks pretty hot. I let Jorge order for me, and he went straight for the works. A bacon-wrapped hot dog buried underneath so many toppings, I completely lost count. And then Tony started dancing around the cart like a bullfighter, adding a little tableside theater to our street food experience. All right, Jorge, that was a lot of firsts. I've never seen a vendor dance like that when he makes the food. And then the spinning of the top when people come by. It's like he was made for TikTok way before TikTok existed. He said he's been here for 17 years. Crazy, and that's what happens when you love what you do. And once you love what you do, and everything goes in the food. So this hot dog, man, I'm salivating. I love how he sliced them, and then he puts them back in the plastic. That's not normal. I haven't seen that, but it makes more sense. We got some toppings here that I think your traditional New Yorkers would lose their mind over. Most notably the mayo and the ketchup on the hot dog. This is nothing like a New York hot dog, but I'm all about it anyway. The first thing I noticed was the smokiness of the bacon. I don't know if I've ever had a bacon-wrapped hot dog before. There's not a thing in New York at all. What is wrong with you people? And then Jorge dared me to try the chili. Ooh! A little punch? More than a little punch. This has been a big surprise. I gotta thank you for bringing me here, man. Jorge, he knows his spots. This guy knows LA. We're off to a good start. Round one is officially complete, and both hot dog vendors delivered. I love the spice, the performance, and the absolute chaos of Tony's. But there's something about the simplicity of a classic New York hot dog that still wins me over. Round one goes to NYC with four more rounds to go. Round two starts in New York for breakfast. At Nathan's Coffee Cart in Midtown Manhattan, this is the kind of breakfast that fuels New York office workers. Breakfast is one of New York's biggest street food options, and nothing beats a bacon, egg, and cheese. Somehow, after almost 25 years in business, this cart has a perfect 5.0 on Google. Can I get a bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll with salt, pepper, ketchup? And I quickly started to understand why Nathan gets so much love. He might be one of the friendliest street food vendors I've ever met. How long have you been here? He sent us a picture 24 years ago. The most classic New York breakfast you could possibly get, bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll. Coffee with the Greek columns. You get this at bodegas, at diners, when you take it to go. You know you know. That was an amazing interaction with Nathan. He said he's from Uzbekistan, the former Soviet Union. And man, this guy is a character. He's exactly the kind of character I like to visit in the morning. No relation to the hot dog cart. Now let's take a bite of this. He said that his bacon was really popular. Crispy, delicious bacon. Probably some of the better bacon I've ever had on a bacon, egg, and cheese. I really don't have too many notes for this. And this is also one of those foods that you can get them at street carts like this. They're probably even more popular at bodegas and delis around the city. And they'll make them any time of day. I understand the 5.0 on Google. And when I've learned about people's ratings, it's not even always about the food. This food's fine. It's good. It's about the person. Vendors like this become part of the community. It's tremendous. Now let's head back to the West Coast because LA has its own handheld breakfast institution at Big Arts Tacos. And we're going to try an LA breakfast icon. Jorge, how important is the breakfast burrito to LA street food culture? Huge. Perfect thing in the morning is stop by, grab yourself a burrito. And this place makes them delicious, bro. Jorge ordered us an incredibly ridiculous breakfast burrito topped with chilaquiles, cheese, eggs, carne asada, and even tater tots. And for only $13, this calorie bomb felt like a steal. I kid you not. I think if I dropped this bag on the ground, it would dent. It's like a bowling ball. And Jorge came prepared with his own folding table and chairs. Clearly, this man takes his breakfast burritos seriously. What do you think so far about the burritos? Visually, they look humongous to me, like, I don't know if you can get a burrito this big in New York. I think half of this could be enough for me. So as far as size, we got you guys so far. Okay, let's do it, man. Feel that crunchiness? I'm just trying to comprehend what just happened. I went through like four different layers there, the chilaquile, the scrambled egg, even a little tater tot. How's the spice level for you? I can handle medium. All right, so let's go a little bit. You're in LA? I'm in LA. You're in my house. Mi esposa Adriana would be very proud of me for doing that. How big in the LA street food culture is setting up in front of a parking lot? Like, is this a trend we're gonna be seeing in this video? A lot. Now, this is a comparison video, and we gotta compare this to the bacon, egg, and cheese, and I think the fact that they're both breakfast foods is like the only comparison we can make. I mean, in New York, the type of meat, the ingredients, different animals completely. And I gotta admit, LA's starting to win me over on this. LA, we drink these things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All right, salud. Salud. A little Coke at 10 in the morning. Oh, yeah. Oh, that is good. We have Mexican Coke in New York, but it actually doesn't taste quite like it. There's something different about it, I don't know. Round two in the books, and as much as I love a classic bacon, egg, and cheese, New York is simply no match for the glory of an LA breakfast burrito. LA takes round two, tying this battle at one apiece with three rounds to go. One thing you probably don't think about is just how much walking goes into these videos. When I'm flying cross-country from New York to LA comparing street food, that means long travel days, on top of being on my feet for 8, 10, even sometimes 12 hours a day. So before we keep eating our way through LA, I wanna thank the sponsor for today's video, Bombas. I've been wearing their socks lately, and honestly, for trips like this, they're a no-brainer. They have built-in arch support, a seamless toe so nothing rubs, and cushioning that keeps them comfortable without feeling bulky. I can throw them on in New York, wear them on the flight, and then spend the rest of the day running around LA shooting. I also picked up one of their Pima cotton T-shirts, and it's a great travel basic. It's soft, comfortable, holds its shape, and it's the kind of shirt I can wear on the plane and then go straight into filming. And another reason I wanna partner with Bombas is what they stand for. For every item purchased, Bombas donates an essential clothing item to someone who needs it. Since launching, they've donated more than 200 million items, including socks, underwear, and T-shirts, through thousands of giving partners across all 50 states. So if you're looking to upgrade your socks, T-shirts, or everyday basics, head to bombas.com slash John Barr, and use code John Barr for 20% off your first purchase. Feel good and do good with Bombas. Now, let's get back to eating. For round three, we're heading back to New York to compare how both cities put their own spin on Mexico's most iconic street food, because both cities have huge Mexican communities. We're starting at Tacos El Lobo. Greg, visually, that's just a mountain of meat staring at us. Tell us about this truck. All right, so this truck actually got started out of their house like three years ago. And then fast forward, they got a truck there. They have this truck. They have four trucks now. One of the only trucks in New York I know that has the big taco. All right, we're gonna see how this does. New York's got their work cut out for them. We placed our order, and the guys inside immediately went to work. And at El Lobo, very little of the pig goes to waste. This is crazy. Oh, what is this? If New York's gonna put up a fight against LA, this is the contender to do it. It definitely is. We started with a sortita, a mix of lean pork, skin, ribs, stomach, tongue, and ear. Greg was already pushing my limits. Let's do this. It's not just a lot of flavors. It's a lot of textures, too. What I like about here, you really taste that porky flavor there. Everything is absorbed. You get that crunchy bits from the ear, that silky, gelatinous skin in there. I like how it's everything together. This is definitely for the more adventurous eater, I'm not gonna lie. And one thing that's really impressed me here is I think this is the longest taco menu I've seen in New York. It's gotta be at least a dozen options. Next was a campechano. Steak, chorizo, and al pastor all piled into one taco. Very juicy. You took the words right out of my mouth. Noticed how juicy that was from the get-go. Right off the trompo, they were ready for us. Yeah, juices came right out. These are good. This is great. This is a good taco. Then came one of the things El Lobo is known for. Doraditas de sesos, crispy fried quesadillas stuffed with pork brain. Oh, I taste it right away. I love the texture of these. Very crunchy on the outside, there's creamy inside. The brains have like an herbal flavor. That's fair. The brain part is like on the interior, right? On the, okay, on the tortilla, I see it. I don't mind the carnitas on top. I think it's one of those foods where it's like I hear the name and it's scaring me off more than the actual texture and flavor. I don't hate this, but I don't necessarily know if I'd run back to order it. I think if you didn't tell somebody it's brains in here, they wouldn't know. That's what I would say. After pork brain, I needed something a little less intimidating, a classic al pastor taco. You know, what's crazy is we had that campuchano taco first and it had the steak and the chorizo as well. And I thought I was just a purist for al pastor, but I actually like that one better. I like the mixture of flavors. This is really good too, though. I'm gonna stand by what I was saying. This is some of the best al pastor I've ever had in New York. It's really good. Very juicy. This area, the Mexican community in this neighborhood, a lot of people from Puebla, I'm included, the family are included. A lot of times people call this area Puebla, New York. I feel like nine times out of 10, if I ask a food vendor in New York where they're from, and they're Mexican, they're from Puebla. But Greg wasn't finished with me yet. He'd apparently been planning one final surprise for weeks, blood sausage tacos. Oh, it's bloody. Blood is one way to look at it. It's like a really distinct flavor. Blood sausage has a distinct kind of taste to it. It does. I can't really put it into words. Envision it. Now we're heading back to LA to find out why it's taco scene has become so legendary at Angel's Tijuana Tacos right next to a Target parking lot. To guide me through LA tacos, I brought along a local food expert. All right, Alfred, how common is a setup like this in LA, taco stand outside right on the street? It's very common. You'll see them like on every street corner. But if you see a line like this, they got that fire. Oh, let's check this out. Angel's is basically an open air taco machine. You get in line and watch the entire operation unfold. Tortillas pressed fresh, meat ready to go, and a massive trompo spinning in the middle of it all. We ordered everything con todo, two kinds of salsa, guacamole, onions, and cilantro. Calling these fully loaded might be an understatement. Alfred, I mean, watching them work, that was like a conveyor belt of tacos. They were just a well-oiled machine. And the Al Pa's store, I think that is the nicest looking trompo I've seen in my entire life. Some trompos you see, they're just like sloppy. The meat looks cooked to perfection. Homemade tortillas, I mean, look at them. First, the Al Pa's store. Bursting with flavor, man. Oh my God. Juicy Al Pa's store, right? That tortilla, what do you rate it? Tortilla's incredible too. Incredible. This complete package here, easily one of the better tacos I've had in a very long time. Oh, really? Just one bite, yeah. I mean, look, we're comparing New York and LA, but LA's reputation precedes itself. Now for the carne asada. How we do it out here, boss? Show me. You gotta get one of those jalapenos, bro. You like jalapenos, right? Oh! Take a bite of your jalapeno. Has any juice in there. All right, you know what? What the hell? You know what I mean? Ooh. Juicy asada, man. Ooh. So is this like the most LA thing you could possibly do? Go out at night for tacos? It's a normal thing. See, the thing is, is that a lot of things close early. It's like the New York equivalent of the halal truck. That's our late night food. You know, something that I've been wondering, why is it in LA that all the best street food is located, let's say, outside of like a Pep Boys or outside of a Target? I've seen two different vendors outside of Target today alone. Foot traffic, being on a popular corner. So get them sales in, you know? So you're gonna find that, that's common, you know? That completes round three. New York's taco scene absolutely on the rise, but Los Angeles is still one of America's undisputed street taco capitals. This round goes to LA. For round four, we're flying back to New York to settle another street food rivalry, halal food. At Sammy's Halal Food. And this is the one street food you'll find in every neighborhood of the city. Greg, for years, you've told me this is the best halal truck in the city. Well, here I am. Yeah, I've been coming here over 15 years, it's been. Yep, he agrees. I've been coming here over 15 years, they've been around over 20 plus, they've won awards. Yeah, this has been my number one favorite for a long time. Let's see. A 24 hour halal truck, Greg and I went super simple, chicken over rice for $9. If you like food adventures like this and you wanna know where to go in New York, follow Greg on TikTok, I promise you, you're gonna learn to eat like a local, trust me. Yeah, come follow me. All right, Greg, honestly, is there anything more synonymous right now with street food in New York than chicken over rice? No, the number one street food in New York by far. You're gonna find more of these and you'll find hot dog carts. At this point, yeah, maybe not 40 years ago, but now. Honestly, the halal guys say what you will about them. They brought this to the city, they made this popular. They did. And now there's a lot of other spots like Sammy's which Greg has been telling me for the last 10 years is the best. I never came. It's funny, we're just completely ignoring the salad right now. This thing is bursting with flavor and spice too. It sneaks up on you a little bit. Even the chicken itself has quite a bit of spice to it. I can't believe I never came here. This is like, I'm kicking myself. Chicken's so tender. The rice is really fragrant too, it's moist. Yeah. No, seriously, I've tried a lot of chicken over rice in New York and this is going very close to the top for me after just a couple bites, man. It's so tender, that chicken. You order from Pakistan, so it's more of a Pakistani flavor halal cart. The thing about chicken over rice that many people don't realize, it's not like one country does it. You've got Bengali, you've got Egyptian, you've got Pakistani here, you have Indian. You've got Syrian, you've got all types, yeah. I've had this plate, I don't know, hundreds of times. It always tastes consistent to me. The consistency is really good. Now, I haven't investigated it much yet, but I have been told that chicken over rice really isn't a thing in LA. That's a much different style out there. I'm really curious to see what's gonna come up. Me too, yeah. Because in New York, I'm very curious. Let's head back to LA to see how their halal street food game is at Navat Halal and they do things a bit differently out here. You'd have a tough time finding a halal menu like this back in New York. One side had familiar Turkish street food, while the other featured dishes from across Central Asia. Hi, how are ya? Can I order one chicken rice bowl, please? About 10 minutes later, our LA halal dish was ready. Time to find out how LA does halal. Go to a halal truck in New York and it's whipped up in like two or three minutes. This took about 10 minutes. So it's either positive or a negative, I don't know. I ordered a rice bowl. I'm trying to get the closest that we got to New York. So it's chicken, rice under here somewhere, and then some other ingredients that when I looked at it, my first impression, I swear, was this looked like chipotle a little bit, even though I know it's not. Very different ingredients. And you can see the style is different. Also, the countries are different. I believe they're from Uzbekistan, where the majority of the New York halal vendors are either from Bangladesh, India, or sometimes Egypt. So I don't know, it's just tzatziki sauce, which anyone who eats Greek food knows what that is. All right, let's see. This actually, this looks really good, though. This is like the chicken that's cut right off the roast. Like, you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of when we filmed street food in London, the Turkish kebab style, the way that it's sliced. This is completely different than New York. Like, the rice bowl is about as close as we're gonna get here. Chicken's very tender. Something else I have to point out to you is the price. $16.95 for this. I found halal plates like this in New York, maybe a little lighter. $7, $8, $9, 10 max. So it's funny how in different cities we've seen it. Prices can be cheaper for some things and more expensive for others. Round four complete. Honestly, these were two completely different styles, but between the lower price, the spicier flavor, and the undeniable charm of eating from a New York halal cart, I have to give this round to the Big Apple, and we're tied at two-two. Let's fly back to New York for our final round, Asian barbecue. Both cities put their own cultural spin on grilling meat over an open flame. At After Work Barbecue, a little skewer cart on the side of the road here in Elmhurst, Queens. Greg, for some Asian barbecue right on the street, you insisted on this spot. If you've been to Elmhurst, if you're here at night, there's always at least three or four skewer carts out. Selling Chinese barbecue, usually two bucks a skewer. Sounds fun. This place is pretty simple. You order your skewers with the wife, and then her husband gets to work grilling everything right here on the street. She brought the skewers and we paid at the table. Waiter service with our street food, that's a first. I feel like we're dining at some outdoor restaurant right now. We're comparing two cities. This is definitely the most LA vibe, sitting outside next to a parking lot. We're on the low plastic stools, we're at the table, this is great. All right, so I got beef, lamb, you did? Lamb and chicken gizzard, because I continue to be adventurous. After the taco shoot we had on the New York side, I'm like, you know what, we're gonna make this nice and easy for me. For you. That's a lot of spice. Yeah, very tender. You can taste the lamb in there for sure. Cumin flavor, a little chili. Yeah, there's beef. Chewy, and that cumin is just front and center. I love the flavor of cumin. Me too, it's one of my favorite spices in the world. Let me try the lamb now. Lamb's a lot easier to get off the stick. A lot juicier, a lot more tender. I like the smokiness you get from the charcoal. You really taste the charcoal smokiness coming off the grill. But Greg apparently decided meat wasn't enough and had one more surprise coming to the table. What do we got here, chives? It's actually like a pack of these, so they grill them in this foil. It's got like chili, sesame seeds. We need our veggies today. Mm, these are fantastic. Tasty vegetables. Some of the tastiest vegetables you're gonna get really. Now for the final battle to crown our street food city champion. We're heading back to L.A. for a late night grilling situation like no other at Dollar Hits, where you stand outside and grill your own Filipino barbecue. I decided to bring an L.A. local along who's also Filipino to do this right. All right, EJ, how big is the Filipino community out here? It's grown so much over the years. There's no other business like this one that lets you grill and have the real street feel of the Philippines, so pretty cool spot for you to choose from. Let's check this out. I gotta go. The smoke is calling me. Yes. The second we walked in, there were dozens of skewers just waiting to be picked. I had no clue where to begin, so I let EJ take the lead. Chicken and pork barbecue, chicken hearts, seafood, even intestines. We went wild, and at the end, they doused it all with barbecue sauce. But this isn't your typical barbecue spot, because now we have to grill everything ourselves. I like how communal this is, like you're cooking with strangers next to you. Everyone's always cool, man. It's the closest you get to being in the street in the Philippines, man. Usually I pay people to grill my food for me. Now look at me. Each of these is about $1.75 to $2 each, so it's actually pretty affordable if you ask me. First of all, amazing grill work. In about 10 minutes, you got this all ready. Thank you, thank you. This place is a complete vibe. I would say it's like 90% Filipinos here. Oh yeah, for sure. 80s music blasting. The only thing we're missing is karaoke, right? Karaoke. Now I've seen videos of people karaoke out here. This place is huge on TikTok. We have a variety here. We've got like intestine, heart, hot dog, barbecue. Fish ball. Time to try some barbecue pork. I love the flavor. Just taste the smokiness right from the barbecue. He drizzled barbecue on everything inside. Insisted we dip everything else in here, and this is impressive. Like in New York, we don't have, I don't know if we have any Filipino barbecue. Maybe one spot, but you definitely can't do it outside like this. Is this the only spot like this in all of LA? Yeah. Wanna try a hot dog? Let's do the hot dog, man. Even on a regular day, and you just want something real quick, rice and the red hot dog, man. That's a move. I tried the fish ball, which was juicy, bouncy, and mildly fishy, and the intestines, honestly, kind of chewy. After five rounds, everything comes down to this. New York brought bigger flavor and the stronger individual skewer, but Dollar Hits had the variety, the atmosphere, and an experience unlike anything I've tried back home. But the final round and the title of Street Food City Champion goes to Los Angeles. Who should I compare next? If you like comparing cities, in this video, I rank New York versus Naples pizza to see who does it best. Head here next.