Halal Food in New York (2025)

Safari - Review - Harlem - New York - The Infatuation

For a year, we had to live without the city's only dedicated Somali restaurant, Safari—one of our favorite restaurants on Harlem's 116th Street until it closed due to a fire. Thankfully, it's reopened a few blocks away, and we still walk into this place with tunnel vision. To put it simply, their hilib ari rocks. The tender, spice-soaked goat meat falls right off the bone, and it’s perfectly complemented by a side of fluffy yellow rice. Other menu items that make it hard to choose: beef suqaar, vegetable sabaayad, and crispy sambusas. Double fist some fragrant Somali tea and glowing mango juice, and leave room for some sticky-sweet malawax at the end. Safari is worth all the visits it takes to try the whole menu, but keep in mind that it is fairly meat-heavy (all the meats are halal). - Neha Talreja

A Brooklyn staple since 1986 where lamb haneeth and bubbling saltah arrive with fresh clay-oven bread and sweet spiced tea. Celebrated on Eater and cherished by locals for generous hospitality and real-deal Yemeni flavors.

Palestinian cooking on a grand stage: hot saj breads, abundant mezze, and festive rice platters meant for sharing. Recognized by the Michelin Guide and covered by Eater, it’s a lively celebration of cuisine and heritage.

Chef Rawia Bishara’s Bay Ridge institution channels Nazareth and New York in equal measure—sumptuous meze, mansaf, and seasonal specials. Cited by the Michelin Guide, Eater, and New York Magazine; meats are halal.

Find life-affirming lamb at Kashkar Cafe, a Brighton Beach refuge - Review - New York - The Infatuation

On New Year’s Day you’ll find a line outside Kashkar Cafe of New Yorkers from across town, carrying tote bags and waiting to cap their ice-cold polar plunge in the Atlantic with one of the most warming meals in Brighton Beach, maybe even the entire city. On the other 364 days of the year, this Uyghur-Uzbek restaurant stays pretty quiet. But whether you come here in winter or summer, dripping with ocean water or not, Kashkar Cafe always feels like a refuge. Tucked behind a tented entrance area adorned with string lights, the restaurant's curtains match the ikat table runners, and even the fluorescent lights are oddly comforting. Most importantly, the food at this lamb-lover’s paradise (steamy lamb-stuffed dumplings, lamb-laden soups, tender lamb skewers) is phenomenal. It’s the type of meal your mind might wander to on a bad day, a good day, and every kind of day in between. photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff Pause Unmute Kashkar opened in 2003 in Little Odessa, an area known for its Russian speakers and Central Asian food. The halal restaurant used to be BYOB but isn’t anymore, so start with a pot of tea as you browse the slightly battered and stained picture menu. Small white stickers next to each photo have handwritten, updated prices: one for cash, the other credit. Carry cash, order lavishly, and trust that your server will remember the longest list of dishes, even if they never write a single thing down. Everything is made to order in a kitchen that’s just about visible through a small, arched window in the back. So there’s ample time to settle into your cushioned chair, watch YouTube videos on a TV in the corner, and marvel as a woman hand-pulls a mountain of noodles, and drops baseball-sized dumplings into a fryer. Meat scents attach themselves to your clothes, and every so often, a radiator hisses. photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff Pause Unmute Be patient as you at stare at the wiped-clean plates of neighborhood regulars sitting at the other tables. Your time will come, as some pickles from a big jar behind the counter arrive, or maybe some lamb-stuffed samsa, with flaky swirled dough, baked to a perfect golden brown. Many more permutations of lamb and dough follow, each dish with its own delicious difference: a little more cumin here, some dill there, chewy or soft, tangy or sweet. Just when you think you’ve forked your last bite of bouncy lagman, or shoveled the last tiny dumpling into your mouth, you may find yourself—beyond stuffed and more relaxed than you have been in years—going to work on a lamb ribs skewer with the ferocity of a very determined chipmunk. Food Rundown Pickle Plate Start your meal with a plate of pickled cucumbers, cabbage, and green tomatoes, and also one small green chili, which is not pickled but very spicy. Turn to these whenever you need a tart break from the fatty lamb dishes. Khushang Baseball-sized fried manty filled with herby lamb arrive right out of the fryer, astonishingly hot. Let them sit for a moment, no matter how difficult it may be. Admire them while you wait, golden brown and glistening. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Samsa It’s hard to choose between the fried manty and these tandoor-baked hot pockets of flaky dough. Take a few people so you can order both. photo credit: Sonal Shah Juvova There are about 20 tiny dumplings in an order, which means throughout your meal you can always return to the plate for another one, like an old friend, or your favorite pair of socks that will never get a hole in the toe. They are warm and gentle, stuffed with lamb, and swimming in just a bit of the water they were boiled in, which glistens with fat, and would be delicious all on its own. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Noodles Order at least one noodle dish. Try the hand-pulled bosu lagman first: thick, chewy noodles fried just enough that some of them stay soft, and some have just a slight char. The tsomyan—strips of dough somewhere between a hand-torn noodle and a dumpling—is our second choice. Both are stir-fried with chunks of veggies and tender hunks of lamb. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Kebabs We try restrict our usage of the word succulent to descriptions of plants. But we'll make an exception for the skewers at Kashkar. Every kebab, even the chicken, is tender on the inside and singed on the outside—a level of grill-master we thought was only achievable outdoors. The veal and lamb are particularly juicy, and we also like the liver, but the skewer to prioritize is the lamb rib. Each piece tastes like the best lamb chop you’ve ever had, but in tiny-sized rib form. And also better. photo credit: Sonal Shah Polov This is lamb and rice, but it’s also so much more than that. Every place in Brighton Beach that makes polov (or plov) does it a bit differently, and Kashkar’s version has heady spices and lots of carrots. - Willa Moore

Uzbek hospitality meets charcoal-grilled kebabs, plov, and manti at this longtime neighborhood anchor. Covered by The Infatuation and The New York Times; known for using halal meats and feeding the community for years.

Family-run Afghan cooking with halal kebabs, qabuli palaw, and mantu dumplings that draw Queens regulars and destination diners. Endorsed by Time Out and praised for generous portions and warm service.

Astoria favorite for Palestinian shawarma, hummus, and puffy pita baked in-house. Spotlighted by Eater on multiple neighborhood guides, it remains a quick, satisfying stop with roots in the local community.

Born as a Queens street cart, still run by its founder and famed for crunchy falafel, smoky shawarma, and free falafel samples in line. Profiled by Thrillist; a neighborhood fixture serving halal street classics indoors.

Al-Aqsa Bakery & Restaurant - Review - Bay Ridge - New York - The Infatuation

This counter-service spot in Bay Ridge has everything from foul mudammas and manakish covered in za’atar to kabab platters and, our go-to, Palestinian-style shawarma. You can get the shawarma inside a fluffy pita, but we prefer the laffa wrap with juicy, tender meat and crunchy pickles neatly packed inside. There are only a couple cramped tables inside that are usually occupied by regulars, but the wrap is easy to eat on the go if you feel like window shopping for Middle Eastern goods along 5th. The hummus is less portable, but grab some to take home anyway. It comes topped with bright green shatta and olive oil, and it looks like a gorgeous, mossy pond. - Neha Talreja

Curry Hill stalwart for Pakistani haleem, karahi, kebabs, and late-night cravings. Longstanding halal operation with loyal regulars; a reliable, no-frills counterpoint to flashier peers.

Parkchester favorite where Bangladeshi home cooking meets Indo-Chinese hits—bhortas, biryani, kebabs, and more. Recognized by local press and noted by Time Out; a community hub with halal comfort food at heart.