The Halal Guys

I'm a native New Yorker and I've been eating at the original Halal Guys NYC cart for decades, as it was parked right by where I worked for many years. And while nobody remembers the taste of anything exactly as it really was, the Tempe location tastes pretty close to what I do remember. I can't say if it's 100% the same, but it's close enough for someone who ate the original regularly for a long time. I've also eaten at a lot of other Halal carts in NYC; they're all similar but not the exact same as each other. So if you think of this location that way, it's really no different than any NYC Halal cart. There may be minor differences from one place to the next but that's part of the fun. My wife and I both got chicken platters, which is what we always got in NYC (technically "chicken over rice"). Of course I got the white and red sauce, which is all I remember being available at the original. The red sauce really is hot, so be careful with it if you're not used to it or don't like spicy food. The white sauce, at least, is really important. Without it, it's just a plate of seasoned but dry chicken and rice. So make sure you get at least that, and my preference is for a lot of it. I told the counter person to just cover the whole thing with it, which is how I always got it in NYC. Ideally, it's best if every bite is wet with white sauce. The red is optional but I like a good amount of it too; I think of this as spicy food. Everything on our platters was fresh, including both the hot and cold parts. If I had any minor thing to complain about, maybe the pita bread was starting to get a little chewy. But that honestly wouldn't have been unusual in NYC either... Flavor-wise, my wife thought there was something unidentifiable that was missing but I didn't notice that. (She did completely demolish her platter, though.) I could taste the marinade on the chicken and the seasoning in the rice and it tasted pretty much right to me. Same with the all-important sauces. The restaurant was clean and looked actually better than I expected given the pictures here. I was kind of expecting it to be like a typical NYC-style run-down little storefront restaurant, but it was more of a typical Arizona fast casual place. It's also not big but it's big enough. It is basically right in the middle of the ASU area so be prepared for a lot of college campus vibes and all that that entails. It's pretty far from where we live in Mesa but we'll definitely go again, as this is really the only place you can get authentic Halal chicken over rice in the entire valley that I've been able to find. Of course there are lots of "mediterranean" restaurants where you can get chicken *and* rice, and Google will recommend all of them to you if you search for "halal chicken over rice", but that's a completely different thing. It's like comparing New York and Chicago style pizza, or something like Japanese ramen vs. Vietnamese pho. Superficially similar but not even close when it comes to the details or flavor. If you want real chicken over rice, this is the only place I've found for it in the area. And it's really good.

It has been 2 years since i last had a NY/NJ street food untill i found this Halal guys branch , the quantity was fair quality was grrat i loved the food and enjoyed the meal alot, everything is clean and nice , i wish they add lamb meat on the menu , the rice was cooked well hummus had alot of taste to it, definitely rang a bell to the original NY food truck experience, thank you guys keel it up

They served us old rice that was HARD we come here often and take our food Togo because we live far from here about 25min from them so we ask for our lecture and tomato and bread on the side so it’s not soggy when we get home and they literally gave us OLD HARD rice when we got home and seen this very disappointed! And they hired a bunch of new kids that don’t really care about their jobs they gave us the worst service and had the worst attitudes! I don’t think we will come here anymore not for old food and bad attitudes —NO THANK YOU!

Good food. If you're particularly hungry, you might want extra falafel balls on the falafel sandwich, since they seemed to be smaller this time around and there were only 3 falafel balls on a large pita. The honey Sriracha falafel balls are good but not that flavorful, so I was wondering if I had only the original falafel balls, but they did look darker and slightly redder than the original, so were probably honey Sriracha. The pita on the sandwich was a little dry and a little hard as it broke apart easily so that much of the contents fell out, see photo, although the pita was not completely hard yet. The server/cashier may need retraining on hygiene as he wore food prep gloves while using the register, then later used the register without food gloves, and another time without food gloves picked up a food container with his fingers on the inside of the container, then put the container back for later use, so that's a little concerning. I tried to provide feedback using the link in the email and the app, but those links don't work, so here's the feedback. Hopefully will be better next time.

Coming from the East Coast, finding a Halal Guys in Arizona was so exciting. Let me say this food in NY and Philly was the go-to food spot and places were packed, we were surprised to find no line the last few times we’ve gone. Must be the college kids not knowing what they’re missing with this place. The flavors of the sauce and the way the food is cooked is always a 10/10 for sure. Our mouths water before even getting out the car knowing we’re coming in here. In the one picture you’ll see what we call in Philly the “fry platter”, which is a platter with fries added on top. I highly recommend it if you like some crispy bites to your platter, it adds a nice touch. The red sauce here is actually red unlike back home where it’s almost black, so a few extra lines is needed here. Overall customer service has been good every time too and I’m happy to drive the distance to get here. Will be a regular trip for us while in Arizona!

I’ve tried it in NYC and this location is nothing like the original taste, it has no flavor meat tastes like it’s been reheated many times, they served us frozen undercooked falafel. They failed to control the quality.

Food was solid and establishment ok. Solid 3 stars. No curb side parking so it can be tricky to get your halal food. Hot sauce was on point and very hot. Was quite shocked there was a up charge for canned jalapeños. Chicken could use some seasoning as it was fairly meh. Every other halal guys place I have been to had very well seasoned chicken from the grill. Did not help that during the whole process of putting everything in the plate I could see everything except when it came to the condiments. I could not see how much onions or jalapeños or hot sauce was being put on the plate. Felt the plate was stuffed with lettuce which reduced on the portions of protein and rice. Pita bread was pre cut and looked nice in the metal compartment before putting in the plate I ordered. Was rock hard within 5 minutes of taking the lid off.

This is the best gyro place! I used to go to one when I lived in New Orleans but they closed and I missed it like crazy. I always get the gyro sandwich, tomatoes, and white sauce. Mmmm! The fries and falafel are fresh and delicious. Super happy to have found a new location to go to within Arizona! :D Definitely give them a try if you haven't and are in the area. There's much to enjoy on their menu. Try their baklava, too! :)