How Many Halal Guys Locations Are There

The Halal Guys, the fast-casual American halal restaurant famous for pioneering halal fare in America, is celebrating its 100th store opening this month in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Halal Guys’ loyal fan base is known to seek out its platters and gyros far and wide – with locations spanning from Asia, to the UK and across the US. But how far are they willing to go?

The brand is posing this very question to its ultimate fans, and the first person to eat at all 100 locations of The Halal Guys in 2022 will receive free food for life. Currently, the record for most stores visited is 12 held by Michael P. from California. Keep going, Michael, only 88 moreto go.

“Visiting all 100 stores would be quite the adventure, and we wouldn’t be surprised if one of our fans was able to accomplish it,” said Andrew Eck, vice president of marketing for The Halal Guys. “Some of our customers have been with us since 1990 and we are incredibly proud to see this community continue to grow all these years later. We can’t wait to see who is up for the challenge.”

Customers who have dined with The Halal Guys 100 times or more will be initiated into The Century Club and receive an exclusive gift. The package will include one-of-a-kind items like a custom The Halal Guys hat, a Century Club Coin, a 3D printed cart desk ornament and an NFT of the cart.

● Five dollars off any purchase of $20 or more during the weekend of March 4-6

“We are so grateful to reach this historic milestone as a business. From a food cart on the streets of New York City to an international franchise, we would not be here without the support of our first fans and customers. We thrive off growth and innovation and are excited to see what comes next,” says Ahmed Abouelenein, CEO of The Halal Guys.

In 2014, Aboulenein made the decision to franchise the brand and expand into brick-and-mortar restaurants. Seven years and 100 stores later, the street food cart turned restaurant has become an international operation with millions of fans worldwide. In the past year alone, facing similar challenges as many restaurants during the pandemic, the brand has opened 10 stores in three new markets.

The 100th location is a testament to The Halal Guys’ resilience, entrepreneurship and growth as a restaurant and business. Its ability to reach diverse demographics along with its unparalleled customer service has contributed to its global success.

The Halal Guys grew from humble beginnings as a food cart on the streets of New York City to a global icon known as the original and largest American halal street food concept in the world. The food cart was first parked on the corner of 53rd and 6th Avenue in 1990 by three like-minded men from Egypt who came to America in search of a better life. When the founders noticed many Muslim cab drivers in New York City were looking for a place to buy halal food in Manhattan, they created their first food cart that quickly grew into a leading destination for American Halal fare. In 2014, The Halal Guys began expanding its authentic halal cuisine from the food cart into restaurants and now operates 100 stores within the United States, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.thehalalguys.com or connect on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Click here to find out more about the free food for life challenge. Related

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On any given day in Manhattan, be it a balmy 80-degree afternoon or after midnight in the dead of winter, a long line of people can be seen snaking up the sidewalk at West 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in Midtown. They’re not waiting to get their hands on the latest Cronut flavor or the new iPhone, but rather foil platters heaped to the brim with fragrant chicken and rice from the Halal Guys.

The food cart’s tagline is plastered in large, bright blue type in at least four different places: “We are different.” Likely adopted in an attempt to differentiate itself from all of the other halal food carts that dot NYC streets, the slogan has come to ring especially true over the past couple of years. While chicken and rice bathed in garlicky white sauce can be purchased from numerous other street vendors, the Halal Guys is the most well-known. It’s also the only one that also boasts a multi-million dollar franchising agreement that’s taken it from Los Angeles to Boston and as far off as the Philippines — and the team is just getting started.

The Halal Guys origin story so perfectly embodies the archetypal immigrant success story that it would sound like a made-for-marketing cliche if it weren’t actually true. After emigrating from Egypt to New York City, founders Mohammed Abouelenein, Abdelbaset Elsayed, and Ahmed Elsaka worked in restaurant kitchens and as cab drivers. In 1990, they launched a hot dog cart, but quickly realized Manhattan didn’t need more hot dogs. What was in demand, however, were more dining options for the city’s sizable fleet of Muslim cab drivers. After pivoting to slinging halal rice platters and gyro sandwiches, word of mouth propelled the cart into cult status; before long, it was a popular haunt for locals and tourists alike. Nearly three decades later, the Halal Guys has 35 storefronts — most opened in just the last two years — with plans for hundreds more in the works.

What Makes a Concept Franchisable?

Though some may envy what looks like a great streak of luck in picking winning horses, Rowe has turned identifying a franchisable concept into something of a science — one the company hopes to replicate many times over.

“Were specifically trying to find the next big thing,” Rowe says. “The whole premise [of Fransmart] is to find these really early stage emerging concepts and give them every resource and best practice that we have to become hugely successful.”

First and foremost, the concepts have to already be successful in their own right. “I know how to do manuals and systems and procedures and supply line and all that kind of stuff — what I cant do is make people like a concept,” Rowe says. “But if I can take something that people already like a lot, I can help put the systems in place to replicate that appeal across the country and scale it up. Look at Halal Guys — they already had long lines. If you go look at old pictures of their carts, they would have people lined up 30 deep to get their food, even in the snow or freezing rain.”

Then there’s something that’s often referred to in marketing speak as “authenticity.”

“A brand has to have its own soul and its own story,” Rowe says, noting that Fransmart never dipped its toe into the fro-yo or cupcake businesses. “When someone comes up with a good idea, a whole bunch of other people inevitably jump into the pool. We dont want the other people who are jumping into the pool, we want the people who have the authentic DNA that connected with people in the first place.”

A prime example of that is one of the company’s newest franchising projects, NYC’s legendary Papaya King. Open since 1932, the restaurant serves an unexpected but iconic combination of hot dogs and tropical juice drinks and has been heaped with public praise from Anthony Bourdain, Martha Stewart, and countless others. Pointing out what he sees as a dearth of modern, nationally branded hot dog chains, Rowe envisions as many as 1,000 Papaya King locations across North America. “A brand has to have its own soul and its own story.”

Part of picking winning franchise concepts also involves carefully tracking food trends; Fransmart only jumps on those trends it believes are still on the upswing. According to Rowe, the time to get in on the “better burger” business has passed, and he believes the fast-casual pizza chain boom of recent years is already starting to die. Right now, he sees big opportunity in Middle Eastern food (in addition to the Halal Guys, Fransmart has a franchising agreement with NYC-based Mamoun’s Falafel), and fast-casual Indian, as well as the raw Hawaiian fish dish poke. Last fall the company entered into a franchising partnership with SF-based fast-casual spot Pokeatery, creator of the ultimate Instagram bait, pokecado toast.

Rowe also thinks there’s still room for major growth in the already booming quick-service chicken sector: “Youre starting to see a lot of chicken concepts pop up [lately], but no ones really done anything new and nationally branded in chicken since Popeyes,” he says. “The only thing people eat more of than burgers is chicken. If someone can come up with todays version of KFC or Popeyes, but organic or with [a focus on quality ingredients], I think youre talking about thousands of units.”

Planning a trip to New York?

Ranked #9 for sandwiches in the Theater District

The experts at Eater and Serious Eats recommend this place

“Best Street Meat in NYC, hands down Yogurt and hot sauce are a must!”(20 Tips) “The combo over rice with their white sauce.. Yummy!!”(16 Tips) “The best Halal cart in NYC hands down.”(12 Tips) “Mixed chicken with gyros is great and its a heavy meal!”(50 Tips)

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