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

Rico Rico Taco, a concept out of Oakland, will offer handmade tortillas and tacos inspired by Mexico City street food. —George Avalos, Mercury News, 12 June 2026

In the 18th and 19th centuries, pepper pot stew was a popular street food. —Carolyn Zola, The Conversation, 11 June 2026

From Mumbai’s vada pav stalls to Berlin’s vegan döner counters, street food culture is increasingly built around — not adapted for — meat-free diets. —Lauren Schuster, Charlotte Observer, 8 June 2026

According to a National Family Health Survey, approximately 18% of people in Mumbai reported being vegetarian, which has shaped a street food culture built around plants, legumes and dairy. —Lauren Schuster, Kansas City Star, 8 June 2026

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