That’s why comedian, actor, and showrunner Ramy Youssef decided to make the father in his new Prime Video animated series, #1 Happy Family USA, a halal cart owner, which premiered in April. Hussein Hussein, voiced by Youssef, embodies the nuances of being Egyptian Muslim Americans following the attacks on September 11, 2001. It’s a familiar refrain for many immigrants in New York City: The patriarch had been a doctor in Egypt, but moved his family to America.
“The idea that someone would come to this country and also have to deal with not being able to practice medicine and having to do different things,” Youssef says, “which is something that I think a lot of immigrants get caught in, where they don’t even realize, especially in that era: They didn’t know. You show up and think you’re going to do one thing, and then it’s like, ‘Okay, well, are you going to go back after you moved or are you going to just try and figure it out?’” Later in the season, Hussein sings a stirring song about making “money for the meat,” as he’s setting up his cart for business.
Creative director, executive producer, and writer Mona Chalabi points out that the halal cart is a signifier of the family’s socio-economic status, which was important to the duo. “It so efficiently does so much of that work: a family who has that cart parked out front — you know this isn’t a wealthy family, there’s no question about it,” says Youssef.
Designing the cart was fun for Chalabi, who based them on halal carts from 2001. “They haven’t really changed a whole lot,” she says, “which is amazing when all of the other visual languages of the city have changed a ton in the past 25 years, but not the cart. Iconic. Why change it?”
Hussein’s Hussein’s Halal Cart is a recognizable sight to New Yorkers. The yellow-wrapped metal cart has the name of the business written in Papyrus font. There are two menus, one with stock photos, featuring dishes like platters of chicken or lamb; falafels; burgers American-style and Arab-style (aka kofta); and, sure, chicken wings. His “B” health grade is accompanied by a handwritten sign noting that “inshallah,” it’ll get that ‘A’ eventually. There’s another flier declaring that it’s President Bill Clinton’s favorite halal food cart since he visited once.
The magic of being an animated show also means Hussein’s food cart gets to morph every so often during the series. “It’s a real living breathing thing,” Youssef says. He keeps adding certain things and stickers. After 9/11, Hussein “realizes it might be good to point out the reality that halal and kosher are very similar,” he explains, in that both Islam and Judaism ban pork, so he added the description to the name of the cart. “You’re seeing it grow with Hussein’s character,” he says.
Youssef remembers subsisting on dollar pizza slices and halal cart food during his New York City acting school days. “My go-to is lamb over salad, a little bit of rice, white sauce, hot sauce. and a little bit of fries.” Chalabi, who grew up in London, orders falafel.
In the show, Hussein drives his cart into Manhattan, parking it outside of the Fox News building on Sixth Avenue between West 47th and 48th streets for business. The juxtaposition is intentional, drawn from Youssef’s experiences going into Manhattan as a kid. “I was always really fascinated by the guy who had a halal cart by Fox News,” he says. “It was just this really funny thing where you could see the ticket had all these crazy headlines, and then right underneath was just this guy with his halal cart, and you’re seeing all these people in suits get food from him.”
The name of the show is candid about what the Hussein family is going through, Youssef explains. “It just felt like something a dad might say to implore his family in uncertain times,” he says — acting as a happy patriotic family touting American flags, donning red-white-blue clothing, and downing (nonalcoholic) beers and (halal) hot dogs when they’re outside, but being their Egyptian Muslim selves behind closed doors.
This especially rings true now, when New York City street vendors, including halal cart owners, are in danger of being deported during immigration raids. ”There’s this performative element to it in that the show is funny, and in real life, is pretty scary,” he says.
