Fuel Up With Glorious Halal Comfort Food at a Myrtle Avenue Gas Station

I've eaten at more gas station restaurants so far this year (two) than I have in my entire life. It's an unexpected New York City micro-trend that I fully support—in fact, I'd go so far as to say that gas stations in general should ditch their whole "fossil fuels" thing entirely and focus solely on feeding first-rate munchies to afternoon stoners and late-night fiends. The city would be a happier place.

The latest entrant into our Great Gas Station Restaurant Summer is a terrific new halal joint called Blue Hour, located inside the BP station at one of those chaotic three-way intersections along Myrtle Avenue in Bushwick. Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are all welcome; the actual entrance sits just off Grove Street and is readily accessible via the sidewalk.

Blue Hour's four owners—Ali Zaman, Mohamed Ghiasi, Devlin Claro, and Yusuf Zaman—are seasoned industry pros (Little Flower Cafe in Astoria and Dunya Kabab House in Kensington are among their various other establishments), and you get a level of hospitality here not usually seen in a space otherwise dominated by a lottery vending machine.