street food

noun

plural street foods

: prepared food of a kind that is typically sold to customers on a street or sidewalk and that is often designed to be carried and eaten while walking

Pizza is quintessentially a street food: a quick lunch or a quick snack often eaten standing up or on the go.

—Don Lesser

Traditionally eaten as street food, empanadas are ideal for snacking on the go but are just as satisfying to sit down to for a simple dinner.

—Melissa Roberts and Maggie Ruggiero

Satays, which are skewered and grilled morsels of beef, fish, chicken, pork, or vegetables, are street food in Southeast Asia, devoured day and night with gusto.

—Karen MacNeil

Examples of street food in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What used to be a popular burger spot in this small North Carolina town has transformed into a go-to destination for real-deal Mexican street food called Tacos Oaxaca. —Natalie Hoy, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2025

EggHolic, which specializes in Indian-style egg dishes and other street food, recently opened a restaurant in Pineville, marking its first North Carolina location. —Tanasia Kenney, Charlotte Observer, 14 Oct. 2025

This guide moves from the heart of Athens to its fringes (and even out toward the sea), stopping at hole-in-the-wall street food stands, underground tavernas, a wine bar tucked inside a ship repair warehouse, and institutions that have fed Athenians and visitors for generations. —Katherine Whittaker, Saveur, 9 Oct. 2025

There could be as many as 16 food trucks along the road, selling everything from American comfort food like burgers to Asian street food fusion, and, of course, hot chicken. —Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 2 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for street food

• accrued
• allude
• collude
• conclude
• construed
• debuted
• delude
• elude
• endued
• ensued
• eschewed
• etude

Kids Definition

street food

noun

: prepared food of a kind that is typically sold to customers on a street or sidewalk and that is often designed to be carried and eaten while walking