New York City’s best-known gyros, Halal Guys, opening in two Miami-area cities
New York City’s beloved Halal Guys gyros are coming to Miami.
The famously visible street carts, with yellow-and-red umbrellas, dot every corner in Manhattan, and now they will be opening two restaurants in the Miami area, the franchisee said.
A South Miami restaurant, at 5966 S. Dixie Highway, will open the first week of May. And a Brickell store, inside the 1010 Brickell building, will open in late June.
“Miami is a melting pot of so many different cultures… and halal food as an industry is booming right now,” said Logan Trotter, the owner of five Halal Guys in Louisiana who also plans to open locations in Aventura and Miami Beach in the coming years.
The Halal Guys started as hot dog vendors on the corner of West 53rd and 6th Avenue in New York City, but soon switched to halal meals (meaning they are prepared according to Islamic law) as more immigrants filled the city. Trotter said they purchase beef and chicken from farms that raise and butcher the animals humanely, according to Islamic law.
The taste, however, is what draws diners of all races and cultures.
Their gyros and platters are piled with marinated beef or chicken and slathered in tangy, tzatziki-style “white sauce,” or a spicy “red sauce.” They are served on steamed, pillowy pita bread and wrapped in foil for on-the-go noshing. Halal Guys is also known for their crispy curly fries and sides, including baba ganoush (eggplant dip) with that same warm pita bread.
The two Miami-area locations, however, will be sit-down restaurants. The South Miami spot is inside a new development along U.S. 1 with more than 200 parking spaces out back. And the Brickell location will open to a garden patio, where diners can sit inside or out. There is already a location in Davie, opened in 2016 by another franchisee. More than 450 new franchises around the country are in the works, according to the company.
South Miami and Brickell are two of Miami’s hottest dining areas. Recently, the Wynwood doughnut shop, Salty Donut, whose co-owner was named a Forbes Magazine 30-under-30, announced it is opening a location just a block away from the new Halal Guys.
The downtown also welcomed new restaurants, including the higher-end No Name Chinese (which received a two-and-a-half star (Good) Miami Herald review) and Shelley’s, a joint venture between a chef from Wynwood’s Alter restaurant and a cocktail maestro from Miami Beach’s Broken Shaker, both nominated for past James Beard awards
“What really attracted us here is the cultural diversity,” said Trotter, who will be living part time in Miami. “And the restaurant industry is thriving.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 8:03 AM.