Naz's Halal Food is setting up shop in Silver Spring, taking a 1,826-square-foot storefront at Plaza Del Mercado on Bel Pre Road right next to CVS. The New York City-style halal chain, known for its rice platters and signature white sauce, has not announced an opening date yet, but the lease marks its seventh location in Montgomery County.
According to The MoCo Show, the new restaurant will be located at 2273 Bel Pre Rd. in Silver Spring. The space itself, listed as Space #27 in the shopping center's tenant roster, sits within a 96,400-square-foot outdoor center owned by Federal Realty Investment Trust. No timeline for construction or a grand opening has been released.
Naz's Halal Food traces its roots to a single food truck that cousins Naz Mashriqi and Kareem Mohmend ran in Queens for nearly nine years, back when both men were New York City public school teachers. That truck eventually grew into the brand's first brick-and-mortar storefront in North Babylon, Long Island, which opened in January 2018, according to Greater Long Island.
A Menu Built Around NYC Halal Cart Classics
The chain's menu leans heavily on the halal cart tradition that made it famous: customizable rice platters built on basmati rice, with options like chicken, lamb gyro, falafel, fried fish, and combination plates, all served with pita, salad, and the brand's signature white, hot, and green sauces. Beyond the platters, Naz's also serves gyros and wraps, burgers and crispy chicken sandwiches, tenders and wings, fries, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks, plus desserts like baklava, fried Oreos, and banana pudding.
Montgomery County has played an outsized role in the chain's growth story. The county became Naz's launchpad outside New York when the brand opened its first non-New York location in Burtonsville Town Center in August 2020, per The MoCo Show's earlier reporting. From there, the chain expanded into Germantown in May 2022, followed by Rockville, White Oak in March 2023, Takoma Park in September 2023, and Gaithersburg in April 2024 — six locations total before the Plaza Del Mercado deal.
Taking Over a Former Halal Guys Spot
The Gaithersburg location, at 522 N. Frederick Ave., is notable in its own right: it took over a storefront previously occupied by national rival The Halal Guys, and the outlet's report notes Naz's marked the opening by giving away free rice platters. That kind of head-to-head competition underscores just how aggressively the brand has moved into markets already served by other NYC-style halal concepts.
Nationally, the chain has scaled to nearly 60 active and planned locations across multiple states as of early 2026, according to figures from Naz's Halal Food itself. Official 2026 franchise disclosure filings reported an average unit volume of approximately $1.71 million across 43 fully operating locations during 2025, per the company's franchising materials, with total initial investment for new locations ranging between $269,220 and $501,000.
A Shopping Center Reborn After 2014 Rezoning
Plaza Del Mercado itself has a notable backstory. The center underwent a major redevelopment after a 2014 Montgomery County Council Zoning Text Amendment, sponsored by then-councilmember Nancy Navarro, allowed landlord Federal Realty to repurpose a former Giant Food space into dual anchor tenants Aldi and LA Fitness, as detailed by Patch. That zoning change helped stave off commercial decline in the Aspen Hill and Silver Spring area.
Naz's will now join a fast-casual lineup that has refreshed considerably in recent years, including Poke Bowl, which replaced Smoothie King in 2023, along with Barrio Burrito Bar, BBQ Chicken & Beer, Pizza Stop, and Passion Bakery Cafe, per the same outlet's earlier coverage. The shopping center also includes outdoor seating and community green space added during the redevelopment.
The timing lines up with broader demand trends in fast-casual halal dining. Industry research cited by FranchiseOverview found that 83% of Muslim Americans require halal-certified food, a demand that is driving strong fast-casual growth in suburban corridors across Maryland, Texas, and New York, with rising adoption from non-Muslim Gen Z and millennial diners as well. For Silver Spring shoppers, it means one more stop added to an already crowded Bel Pre Road food scene — whenever Naz's finally opens its doors.
