News

Halal Guys hoping to become 'the Chipotle of Middle Eastern food'

June 16, 2014

The next big thing in fast casual dining might just be Middle Eastern street fare.

Fransmart, the restaurant franchise consulting firm that powered Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Qdoba to national prominence, is betting on it.

Fransmart hopes to open Halal Guys outlets on both coasts, across Canada and in the Middle East within the next year, according to a June 13, 2014 story on nytimes.com.

“It’s going to be the Chipotle of Middle Eastern food,” Dan Rowe, Fransmart’s chief executive, said. Only a few franchise-industry insiders know of the deal — the news will be formally announced at the International Franchise Expo starting June 19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan — but Mr. Rowe said the interest so far had been tremendous. “A lot of people want this brand,” he said. 

The Halal Guys is a street-food powerhouse in New York City, where push cart vendors serve up platters of chicken and rice prepared in accordance with Islamic law.