Halal Street Food is set to open its fourth Charlotte-area location on Thursday, Nov. 19, bringing its wood-fired kebabs, shawarma and halal Mediterranean fare to a new spot just off Albemarle Road in East Charlotte. The restaurant will operate daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 12005 Lemmond Farm Drive, Unit 04.
The grand opening date and address were confirmed by Charlotte Observer, which reported that restaurant management teased the new location would carry the same signature flavor as its existing spots. The menu is expected to include the chain's staples: wood-fired kebabs, gyros, shawarma, chicken and lamb over rice, falafel, salads, hummus and white sauce, according to the same report. CharlotteFive said it reached out to Halal Street Food on Thursday, Nov. 12, for more information about the new location and was still awaiting a response.
From a Food Cart to a Growing Local Chain
Halal Street Food's Charlotte footprint traces back to 2016, when husband-and-wife duo Khuram and Damaris Bashir launched the Halal Street Cart in Uptown Charlotte. The business expanded into its first brick-and-mortar location in MoRa in 2021, at 4044 Connection Point Boulevard, Suite B, before opening a second storefront in Camp North End's Keswick District in 2023, at 701 Keswick Avenue, Number 101 — a move previously reported by the Charlotte Business Journal.
Before building the halal concept, the Bashirs opened their first restaurant, Mi Barrio Halal Latin Grill, in Charlotte in 2014, according to Halal Street Food's own website. The Bashirs also drew inspiration from their first restaurant in Michigan.
Family Roots Behind the Menu
Cristopher Collado, the Bashirs' son and the restaurant's CEO, has described the business as built around family and the idea of food bringing people together. Collado has said his parents did not speak the same language when they met, and that the menu reflects a blending of Pakistani and Dominican cultures.
Halal Street Food isn't stopping at four locations. The company has two more restaurants in development in the Carolinas: one planned for 10635 Park Road in Pineville, and another at 1140 Sherbrook Avenue in Indian Land, South Carolina. No opening timeline has been announced for either site.
A Bigger Halal Food Moment in Charlotte
The East Charlotte opening lands amid a broader expansion of halal street-food concepts across the city. The Halal Guys debuted a restaurant in lower South End as part of The Platform, a development spanning more than 42,000 square feet of adaptive-reuse space and new construction along South Boulevard near Clanton Road, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. For Halal Street Food, the East Charlotte debut marks another step in a decade-long build-out that started with a single cart in Uptown.
