Ligaya Mishan Mostly Likes the Halal Guys for the White Sauce

Ligaya Mishan checks in on the brick and mortar outpost of the Halal Guys in the East Village. It's not so different from the cult favorite food cart on 53rd Street, just a little more expensive, and with a few more options. But really, it's all about the top secret white sauce:

Get ready to taste it, America. It is tangy yet mellow, creamy yet deceptively light, with vague and probably spurious allusions to ranch dressing and tzatziki, a strong implication of garlic and lemon, and maybe even (wild card) tahini.

For Mishan and fellow white sauce-lovers, that alone edges the East Village outpost ahead of the original, since the brick and mortar has a self-serve operation going, with squeeze bottles housed in a refrigerator.