Middle eastern food is at home in the city
Residents appreciate middle eastern food whether they are from the region or right here in D.C.
Among the District of Columbia’s culinary cultural mix, middle eastern food occupies a unique spot. For those from the region, its power lies in its ability to bridge the divide between them and their homelands, while for other D.C. residents, it’s simply great eating.
The Halal guys has restaurants nationwide, including in D.C. Photo: Noureldein Ghanem.
Ziad Osman, an Egyptian-born D.C. resident who has been living in the United States for the last six years, says Arabic food is the only thing that keeps him connected to his culture.
“I left Egypt in 2014, and I haven’t been there since 2016. Food is pretty much the only thing that reminds me of Egypt, but seriously no one has done it better than halal guys,” Osman stated.
He is referring to the chain of restaurants founded by three Egyptian immigrants, Muhammed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka, and Abdelbaset Elsayed, as halal carts in Manhattan, New York in 1990. After years of success, in 2014, The Halal Guys launched franchises in California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Illinois, Virginia; and Washington, D.C. That same year, the American Muslim Consumer Consortium awarded the company its multicultural award for promoting diversity, and its inclusivity of all minorities in America.
Eslam Mohamed, an Egyptian D.C. resident who works in The Halal Guys said he is amazed that most of its customers are non-Arabs.
“I started working here in 2015 and I was thinking to myself that since this is an Arab restaurant, then the majority of the customers will be Arabs, but I was totally surprised that most of the customers are not Arabs,” Mohamed said.
Middle eastern food is a mainstay of American culture and dishes like falafel, kebab and especially, shawarma are well known.
“In the middle eastern cuisine, shawarma is meat cut into slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning rotisserie. It can be served as a dish or a sandwich. The thing about shawarma is that it doesn’t have the same amount of corn like the other food in America has; so that’s a meal that will fill your tank, with less corn, for an affordable price,” Mohamed explained.
Even though The Halal Guys is a restaurant franchise now, Eslam said that they adhere to the same principles on which the company was founded.
“We are named The Halal Guys because we consider ourselves the guys who bring halal meals in quick and high mobility for inexpensive prices. This was the main idea of the owners of halal carts in 1990, and we are to this day still sticking to it as we are trying to provide our customers with better take away service,” Mohamed explained.
