Assalam Alaikum guys! For those visiting for the ISNA Convention, welcome to Houston! Houston is known not only for NASA and for its Southern Hospitality, but also for its wide variety of available halal food options! Here are some of the options that you can choose from during your stay here in Houston. Bon Appetit!
Downtown to the 610 Loop.
1) Phoenicia Specialty Foods- 1001 Austin Street.
This is the closest halal restaurant to the George R. Brown Convention Center, and the only one that can be accessed by foot. This place has a small restaurant area where they sell items such as shawarmas and shish tawook with rice. You also get a wide variety of international groceries and halal meat.
Cuisine: Mediterranean
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| Chicken Shawarma |
2) Stanton’s City Bites – 1420 Edwards Street
Located only 5 minutes from the Convention Center, Stanton’s City Bites is one of the most popular options for halal burgers in Houston. They have halal chicken and beef burgers, chili, and hot dogs, and all the halal stuff is cooked separately on a separate grill from the pork items. All you need to do is to mention halal and no bacon to the cashier when ordering your food. You get that classic diner feeling when you dine there, so you don’t want to miss out!
Cuisine: American
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The Monster Burger
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| Holy Cow |
3) Pinkerton’s BBQ - 1504 Airline Drive
If you want to try halal Texas BBQ, then this is the place to be! Since October 2017, this place has been cutting and smoking their Creekstone Farms beef separately from the other meats they serve and has become a favorite among the Muslim community here in Houston. The vegetarian sides that they offer are their coleslaw and their potato salad. Be sure to come at exactly 11 AM if you want to grab one of their ribs: they sell out in between 60 and 90 minutes!
Cuisine: Texan
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| Half Pound Brisket with Potato Salad |
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| Chopped Beef Sandwich |
4) Gyro King - 2424 Old Spanish Trail
Since 2014, Gyro
King has been offering some of the best NY Style platters in
town. They give a
generous portion of food for a decent price. If you want to be
closer to the
convention center, check out their truck in the Medical Center!
Cuisine: NY
Street Food
 |
| Mix Over Rice with Both Sauces |
5) Crispy or Grilled – 2306 Brazos Street or 3333 Eastside Street (Must Follow on Social Media For Location Info)
Crispy or Grilled is a food truck that offers halal American fare. You have the option of choosing from a normal chicken sandwich to halal chicken cones. Think of this place as a halal Chick-Fil-A food truck, but with more chicken options!
Cuisine: American and Fusion
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Crispy Chicken Sandwich
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Asian Persuasion and South of The Border Tacos
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Clockwise from left: Buffalo Chicken Cone, BBQ Chicken Cone with Beef Bacon, and Asian Persuasion Cone
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| Nashville Hot Chicken Burger |
Between I-610 and Beltway 8
1) Abu Omar Halal – Various Locations
Abu Omar is one of the most successful halal restaurant chains in the city. Established after a failed venture into the taco truck business, Abu Omar grew from a small truck in the Medical Center to having eight locations in Houston.They provide shawarma and NY Style platters, but the one thing that everyone loves is their chicken shawarma arabi. Their location between I-610 and Sam Houston Tollway is 7727 Westheimer, and their location in the Medical Center is 7500 Almeda.
Cuisine: Mediterranean
 |
| Chicken Shawarma Arabi |
2) Busy Boy- 5722 Hillcroft
Since 2007, Busy Boy has been providing e-xcellent food and service. Everything here is halal, and they offer a wide variety of items such as cold cut subs and sandwiches, burgers, Philly Cheesesteaks, and Po-Boy’s. They just expanded to include crepes and desserts. So, if you want to have some dessert after eating at the restaurant, just walk over!
Cuisine: American and Mediterranean
 |
| Philly Cheesesteak |
3) Cedar’s Bakery - 8619 Richmond Ave.
This is a Lebansese Bakery in the heart of Little Beirut that serves up delicious pies. You have a lot to choose from, ranging from the basic manakeesh to labne and zaatar.
Cuisine: Lebanese
 |
| Cheese Manakeesh |
4) Bismillah Cafe- 5696 Hillcroft
This place offers top notch American burgers along with Desi fusion burgers. The owner is a friendly guy and he sure knows how to make great burgers!
Right now, his restaurant is undergoing expansion. However, the Bismillah restaurant next to it has a few of the café items available!
Cuisine: Fusion Pakistani-American
with American Items
 |
Patty Melt on Texas Toast
|
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| Ten Chicken Sandwich on Texas Toast |
5) Thai Gourmet- 6324 Richmond Ave.
Thai Gourmet is widely regarded to be the best Thai restaurant in Houston, and the best part is that they use halal chicken! This place can have a long waiting time, so come early if you can! The chicken is cooked separately from all the other meats. But be careful on the spice level you get. The medium can still burn your mouth!
Cuisine: Thai
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| Drunken Noodles |
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Chicken Pad Thai
|
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| Green Curry with Chicken |
6) Aga’s – 11842 Wilcrest Drive
Aga’s is widely considered to be the best Indo-Pak restaurant in Southeast Texas. Their service and their quality of food are held in very high regard. This is a great place to take your family, or any large group of people. There is one golden rule to dining here: Goat Chops.
Cuisine: Indo-Pak
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Top left going clockwise: goat curry, tandoori chicken handi, chicken 65, and goat biryani
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Goat Chops
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| Peshawari Chicken |
If you have any questions, feel free
to message me on my Instagram at thehalalreviewer, or email me at zain.mohammed93@gmail.com!
I hope you enjoy your time in Houston!
Cheers!
Zain Mohammed
