30th March 2019
US street food concept The Halal Guys has secured its second UK site. Restaurant operator ITICO F+B, which has the franchise rights for The Halal Guys in the UK, is to open a venue in Earl’s Court at the end of June. The brand’s debut European restaurant will open near London’s Leicester Square in Irving Street on 1st April. A further site is expected to open in London later this year, with up to 20 opening across the UK within five years.
The Irving Street outlet offers the brand’s basic menu of grilled chicken and gyro beef – a Greek version of a doner kebab – in a pitta, wrap or on a bed of rice. There is also a vegetarian alternative made with falafel. Egyptian immigrants Mohammed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abdelbaset Elsayed launched The Halal Guys as a cart on a New York street corner 28 years ago catering to Muslim taxi drivers.
As the company name suggests, all meat is slaughtered according to Islamic law. There are now 85 outlets under The Halal Guys brand across North America and Asia, with 400 more in the pipeline.