New York's The Halal Guys restaurant brings gyros, falafel, hummus and more to Iowa
Platters of beef gyro meat, chicken, and falafel over rice and sandwiches wrapped in pita bread head to Iowa when The Halal Guys restaurant opens five locations in Des Moines, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.
The restaurant that specializes in Middle Eastern casual fare didn’t announce locations yet, but already has more than 100 around the world with another 400 in development. Most brick-and-mortar locations have a walkup counter.
The fast-casual restaurant got its start in 1990 when Abdelbaset Elsayed, Mohamed Abouelenein, and Ahmed Elsaka immigrated to New York City from Egypt and opened a food cart. At first they sold hot dogs, but realized that Muslim taxi drivers would buy halal food and changed over to the platters and sandwiches that made them famous.
By 2014, the restaurant started opening brick-and-mortar locations and franchising.
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Aside from platters and sandwiches, the restaurant offers hummus, baba ganoush, fries and baklava. The magic truly comes through with the brand’s famous white sauce, made of equal parts Greek yogurt and mayonnaise, with a dash of sugar, white vinegar, lemon juice, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.
Right now, the closest The Halal Guys location is in Kansas City.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The Halal Guys restaurant plans to open 5 new locations across Iowa
