Must Visit Halal Spots for People Visiting NYC

Welcome to NYC! You’ve arrived but there’s one thing you forgot to include in your itinerary: halal spots to eat at!

We’ve picked out some of the most favorite and raved places that you really wouldn’t find anywhere else - all in the same vicinity just for your wanderlust appetite.

Here are the spots:

Momo Crave

38-07 69th St, Queens, NY 11377
Nepali Cuisine

Momos are Nepali dumplings wrapped in a white flour dough and stuffed with various fillings, like vegetables, ground beef, or ground chicken. It’s seasoned lightly and pairs well with hot sauce or sesame sauce. You can find it at this establishment in Woodside, Queens that serves all kinds of halal momos, like steamed or fried, taco momo, tandoori momo, or chaat momo. Seating is a little limited but they do have outdoor seating as well.

Kashkar Cafe

1141 Brighton Beach Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235
Uyghur Cuisine

Kashkar Cafe is one of the several spots in the city that serves the best Uyghur Cuisine. It’s a very fast-casual mom and pop store. They have indoor and outdoor dining. Can seat about 35 people. We love their samsa, a flaky pastry topped with toasted black and white sesame seeds and filled with ground lamb and onions. Their Tsyomen (fried, crispy flat noodles with meat) is super memorable and you can’t leave this place without trying some of their lamb rib kebabs.

Meat and Bread

201 Allen St Store 3, New York, NY 10002
American Cuisine

This casual dining restaurant serves high-quality American cuisine from ribeye steak sandwiches, to chicken sandwiches, to burgers, and fries. All the bread is imported fresh daily. It’s a pretty intimate spot with regular seating and barstool seating. They also serve brunch on the weekends consisting of parfait yogurt bowl, pancakes, and more!

*Alcohol/beer also served.

Zooba

100 Kenmare St, New York, NY 10012
Egyptian Cuisine

Zooba is fast-casual Egyptian restaurant in Nolita, Manhattan. Their atmosphere is super cool as its decked out in neon Egyptian patterned ceiling lights and walls plastered with graphics. They serve falafel, hawawshis, bowls and salads, and of course koshari. It’s an ode to Egyptian street-food.

* EDIT 10/20: Just wanted to note that NOT everything at Zooba is halal. Only one dish isn’t halal and it’s the badawi beef however they are trying to source a halal supplier for this. Everything else is halal. They will be marking this on their menu. We recently just found this out. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience!*

The Grounds of Brooklyn

1117 Newkirk Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11230
Italian Cuisine

Pasta, steak, burgers, and pizza. What more could one want? This is the first halal Italian restaurant in New York that situates itself in the quiet neighborhood of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. The ambiance is incredible with textile floors and a rustic backdrop. they also have heated cinderella carriages available outdoors for people visiting during the winter months.

Trinciti

111-03 Lefferts Blvd, Queens, NY 11420
Trinidadian Cuisine

Trinciti is a borough favorite, and folks travel far and wide for their roti, doubles, and bake and shark. We often get their doubles, which are two fried chickpea flour flatbreads filled with curry channa, some spices, cucumbers, and tamarind sauce that is all wrapped into a pocket. It’s approximately $2.00 each. Their bake and shark is only available on Friday and weekends. There is no seating, so plan a day where you want to pick-up some take-out!

Massawa

1239 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027
Ethiopian-Eritrean Cuisine

Massawa recently shifted to using all halal meats, which is a huge win for the tri-state Muslim population who wants to try Ethiopian food with meat! They have vegan options, beef, chicken, and lamb. The most prominent spice blend they use is berbere which brings a lot of heat to the food. Injera is served with most of the dishes on the base of the plate, where the main and sides are piled on.

Ayat

8504 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
274 36th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232 (roof-top dining available)
Palestinian Cuisine

At this Palestinian bistro, you may find a whole menu dedicated to appetizers, spreads, and salads, as well as laffa and mashawy. We recommend trying the Fattat Lahma - six layer dish of meat, rice, chickpeas, garlic tahini, crispy pita slivered almonds, & mint. Yes, they also have maklouba. The atmosphere also allows one to dive into Palestinian roots, with murals on the walls representing culture, and history; an ode to ending the occupation. There’s plenty of seating in both locations.

Modoo Chicken & Noodle Bar

216-17 Northern Blvd Bayside, NY 11361
Korean Cuisine

Modoo is the only Korean restaurant in NYC with a halal menu. At this Bayside eatery, you can find halal Korean ramen and udon, fried chicken, dumplings, takoyaki, rice cakes (ttekbokki) and katsu. They have different sauces for the fried chicken, from sweet to spicy and everything in between. This spot is also where you can find authentic halal beef bulgogi. Sit-down and outdoor seating available. We think the food here is delicious each time we order.

*Bar present. Alcohol/beer also served.

Dept. of Culture

327 Nostrand Ave Brooklyn, NY 11216
North-Central Nigerian Cuisine

Dept. of Culture is a unique restaurant as it’s a popup dinner series with a limited tasting menu offered in an intimate dining space. It is reservation only and for a 2 hour pre-fix dinner, it is $90 per person. During the dinner Chef Ayo Balogun speaks about the inspiration behind each dish and his story growing up in Nigeria and the states. He also sources only halal meat when he chooses to use meat in his menu.

*Alcohol/beer also offered but not part of the pre-fix ticket.

Birria Mania

7508 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Mexican Tijuana Cuisine

This restaurant serves ALL things birria. From birria tacos to birria ramen to birria poutine. You think it, they have it. The birria (chicken and beef) is prepared fresh daily in a beautiful setting. Lined-up sombrero hats take up the ceiling complimented with a mural of Notorious BIG and Frida Kahlo. They also serve vegetarian options.

Jiang’s Kitchen

65 St. Marks Place, New York, NY 10003
Northwestern Chinese Cuisine

Located on the bustling St. Marks Place, this restaurant serves a range of cold pickled-appetizers, barbecued kebabs, noodle dishes, sautéed and stewed dishes. We highly recommend their sizzling rice with cumin with a choice of lamb or beef as it was the best dish we’ve had on their menu. It consists of chunks of meat seasoned with cumin, salt, and pepper and it is served on a sizzling hot plate.

Gazab

179 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002
Indian Cuisine

This establishment serves creative Indian cuisine that will leave a mark on your memory. They have delicious appetizers from Kori Sukka (Fried Chicken cubes, coriander, black pepper, rice flour, curry leaves, baby radish, fresh coconut zest) to Tandoori Pineapple (Queso fresco, fennel, dry mango pwd, chaat masala, clarified butter, fresh mint). For mains they also have veg and non-veg options like Jackfruit Khadi Pakoda and Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani. Ample seating as well.

*Alcohol/beer also served.

BK JANI

679 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
601 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022 (inside The Hugh)
445 Albee Square, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (inside City Point BKLYN)
American-Pakistani Cuisine