The Halal Guys to open in north London
The group, which serves a tight menu of beef cut from the gyro cone and finished on the grill, falafels, and marinated chicken as well as baklava cheesecake for dessert, will open on High Road in north London, just off Green Lanes, an area known for its Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants.
It joins the group’s other location at Earl’s Court, which opened in 2019.
The Halal Guys was founded by Egyptian immigrants Mohammed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abedelbaset Elsayed, who opened a street food start cart in New York in 1990. Franchising began rapidly in 2015, with more than 450 sites opening in six countries over the following three years.
"The growth we are seeing all over is incredible, but we are particularly excited about the UK market and the big plans for expansion we have in the coming years,” says Abouelenein. “Our first location in London was extremely well received by locals, so we are happy to bring another venue to the area to continue to serve authentic Halal dishes.”
The Halal Guys came to the UK in 2019 with the opening of its first European restaurant in Leicester Square, which was its flagship store. However, the restaurant didn’t reopen after the forced lockdown during the Covid pandemic with Jan van Delden, managing partner for ITICO F+B, which holds the master franchise for the brand in the UK, saying the site had become unfeasible as a result of the severe decline in trade and footfall caused by the pandemic
The new opening marks the second of several planned locations throughout Europe, according to the company, which has so far failed to hit its expansion plans in the UK.
In 2019 the group unveiled plans to expand in the UK, with 20 locations mooted to open in the next five years, of which four to six would be in London followed by sites in cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
