A vacant IHOP on Milwaukee's south side could soon become the next outpost of an Illinois-based halal chicken chain. Krispy's Halal, known for its crispy fried chicken and fully halal menu, is reportedly looking to expand into the former pancake house space, bringing a new flavor of fast-casual dining to the Layton Avenue corridor.
The news comes from The Business Journals, which reports that the former IHOP would transform into a restaurant serving a 100% halal menu with featured chicken items. The project is described as being the work of an ownership group that is also behind another Milwaukee restaurant venture, and the new site sits just blocks away from a longtime Milwaukee restaurant space the same group reportedly transformed earlier this year.
Krispy's Halal describes itself as an Illinois-based restaurant concept, and its own website lists an address at 10137 S Harlem Ave in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, according to krispyshalal.com. The company says its food is prepared with care, stating that its menu is carefully prepared with selected ingredients and is 100% Halal. Its site leans heavily into its signature protein, promising customers everything “from our crispy, juicy chicken to our irresistible sides.”
What's On the Menu in Chicago Ridge
A look at Krispy's existing Chicago Ridge location offers a preview of what Milwaukee diners might expect if the Layton Avenue project moves forward. The restaurant's DoorDash listing shows bulk chicken orders built for groups, including a 50-piece wing bundle that comes with three sides of fries and a drink included, per the delivery platform's menu page for doordash.com. The new Milwaukee location, if it opens, would reportedly introduce that crispy chicken concept to the local market for the first time.
On Facebook, the brand known as Krispy's Fish & Chicken has leaned into its roots while signaling a push northward, posting that it was “Born in Chicago, now serving Wisconsin! We built Krispy's on fresh flavors, homemade seasoning, and food made with care,” according to the restaurant's page on Facebook.
A Growing Pattern of Halal Concepts Moving Into Milwaukee
If the Krispy's project comes together, it wouldn't be the only halal-focused business to recently set its sights on Milwaukee. Al-Hamawi, a coffee and roastery chain with three existing Illinois cafes in Bridgeview, Orland Park, and on the campus of Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, was reported by the Milwaukee Record to be planning a cafe at 938 W. Layton, the former home of Kim's Thai, with that report describing the site as the chain's first store in all of Wisconsin.
A later account from the Wisconsin Muslim Journal described Al-Hamawi Roastery and Coffee's first Wisconsin location as sitting instead at 1010 W. Layton Avenue, a discrepancy the available reporting does not explain. That cafe was said to be open 7 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, part of what the publication called a popular nationwide trend toward Arab-style cafes, with late-night hours in alcohol-free spaces cited as one of the draws.
Whether or not the addresses line up exactly, the pattern points to growing interest from halal-focused restaurant groups in Milwaukee's south side. For now, the Krispy's Halal expansion remains a reported plan rather than a confirmed opening, and questions about timing and final location details have not yet been resolved in the available reporting.
