Top 5 places where waiting in line is worth the time.

I got to know these five places because of my parents and my brother.

My family lived in New York City when I was little.

Well, I can't say I used to live in New York because I was a baby.

So here are my top 5s.

5. The Halal Guys Food Stand

"The Halal Guys" It was not a fancy restaurant. It was instead a food cart located on the corner of 56th and 3rd Avenue. We had to wait about 40 minutes to finally eat. It is famous for its white sauce.  The white sauces differ from cart to cart and some may have a mayo base while others are yogurt.

My brother, who knows a lot about New York and it's food introduced this place to us and said it is the best one is  the Halal Guys cart located on the corner of 56th and 3rd Avenue, and that locals vote number one in the street-meat reports. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word 'Halal' means sanctioned by Islamic law or fit for eating.  So the Halal restaurants serve food ritually fit according to Islamic law.  Honestly, I do not know what it exactly means.  I just think the food is delicious. That's all that matters.  Never underestimate the food carts.

4. Magnolia Bakery 

The Best cupcakes I ever had!

People who have tasted the cupcakes here know it’s worth it to spend a few minutes waiting for Magnolia’s cupcakes. Magnolia Bakery is a bakery opened in 1996 at 401 Bleecker Street in Manhattan, New York City.

I don't eat cupcakes too often because of their unnecessarily sweet icing. I think they just taste like melted sugar with some food coloring.  Magnolia's cupcakes, however, were different. They tasted almost like whipped cream.  One down side of this place is that it was pricey. The price of six cupcakes varied from &20 to $40. But it was totally worth it!  After tasting their cupcakes, I don't really want to eat cupcakes from local groceries. It spoiled my taste buds. 

3. Shake Shack

I am not really a big fan of hamburgers but I must say I fell in love with the mini cheese burgers at Shake Shack. They started as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park in Manhattan was created by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Then as the cart got really popular, they open a permanent kiosk in the park.  They built many more to welcome people from all over the neighborhood, city, country and worlds to enjoy this modern day roadside burger stand.  I have not tried other food except for their burgers yet. So the next time I go, I want to try their hot dogs, frozen custard, shakes and well, not beer or wine.

I went to the one located in the Battery Park City at 215 Murray Street with my brother.  We bought six mini burgers for me, brother and our friends.  I still regret we got mini burgers.  It was about 10p.m. when we lined up at the store and it was also after we had eaten dinner.  we came back to our hotel and started eating at the lobby at about 1 in the morning. We thought eating another meal was crazy after eating so much food during the day but we finished it less than 10 minutes.  No New York trip is complete without stopping by here!

2.  Momofuku Noodle Bar

Founded by David Chang, a Korean-American chef and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group, which includes Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York City, Sydney,and Toronto. He is one of the biggest names in food right now.  The one I went to opened in August 2004 and it is located in 171 first avenue, between 10th and 11th street.  This one was the first Momofuku restaurant. It serves ramen, which is the main dish, and a list of dishes that changes with the season. His restaurants tried to combine western and eastern cuisine, particularly Japanese.  The atmosphere is very retro and cooler people go there. His pork buns are praised as one of the best finger food.  But, my brother and I decided to try the Momofuku ramen and they tasted very smoky.  They serve one of the finest cuisines with a twist to it.

1.Benjamin Steak House

 Peter Luger is famous steak house in New York but Peter Luger is always full of reservation. On the week My brother and I were there we could not get a reservation so we asked our hotel concierge about an alternative and he recommended Benjamin steak house.  He said the owner of Benjamin steak house used to be the head chief of Peter Luger. So we gave it a try. It was located in 52 E 41st St., and It was a very dark and cozy environment. We ordered different plates and the steak was the best steak I ever had from a restaurant.  Their porter house steaks are dry aged to perfection and their mashed potatoes were one of the best mashed potatoes I ever had. The only thing bad about this place was a check at the end of the meal. We had to wait for an hour in the cold but it was worth it!