A Holla for Halal in Glover Park

Shah’s Halal Food will open soon in the space vacated by Sprig and Sprout almost one year ago at 2317 Wisconsin Avenue NW in Glover Park. Sprig and Sprout, a popular Vietnamese restaurant in the neighborhood for 13 years, departed due to legal and operational issues with the owner of the building.

Shah’s is a fast food chain restaurant with 13 locations in the DC metro area (11 Virginia, 1 Maryland, and 1 DC) and 130 locations nationwide plus in the UK, Canada and Sweden. They also operate a large column of food carts, mostly in NYC. The business was started by Ibrahim Mashriqi in New York City in 2005, and then his son, Khalid Mashriqi, took over as CEO in 2016. The family came here from Afghanistan in the 1980’s. Khalid envisions his company as “the McDonalds of Halal.” The Middle Eastern menu is 100% certified halal and is very popular with customers here and in NYC. Khalid estimates that 80-90% of the ingredients are prepared in their Jamaica, Queens processing center.

Most of the stores are corporate owned, though Khalid has been actively pursuing the franchising option. So far, the Glover Park store is a covert op, as they have not started advertising, and have not applied for build-out permits, signs or even a business license for this location. The door and smashed window are papered over – no peeking! A neighborhood intelligence operative spotted their truck quickly unloading supplies. Their current DC location at 1331 Connecticut Avenue in Dupont just south of the circle has over 1000 Google reviews and a 5-star rating. A few of the most recent reviews are quoted below. I’m not sure if “Iceberg” will be moving to the Glover Park store but he is VERY popular with customers.

The Dupont Circle menu includes chicken, lamb, fish, kofta and falafel wraps/gyros and platters from $10-$12, plus salads, burgers, cheesesteaks, baklava and their famous sauces. They have bottled the popular white sauce and sell it on their website or in store for $11.99. Shah's follows three other Middle Eastern and/or halal restaurants which opened in the past couple of years in the neighborhood - Aladdin House of Kabob at 2132 Wisconsin Ave; Bonjon Rumi, an Afghan restaurant at 2444 Wisconsin Ave; and Uyghur Eats at 2412 Wisconsin (a.k.a. Eerkins, Illchi, and Ali's Fine).

“Holy Delicious. Tons of great options and “Iceberg”(?) did a great job prepping my food as well as getting my stuff out on time despite the rush. Goated, ate my food before I could get a pic. Delicious and Spiced.” E.P.

“Excellent food and great service! The chicken and rice were fresh, flavorful, and the portions were generous. Staff was friendly and the place was clean. Definitely one of the best halal spots in DC — highly recommended!” K.M.

“Solid halal spot in DC. The chicken was juicy, the lamb was flavorful, and the rice + white sauce combo hit every time. Portions were generous and service was quick even when busy. Nothing fancy, but clean and worth it—definitely coming back.” J.H.M.

Chris Jones