Shah’s Halal Food to open in Danbury at former site of Boston Market; its 7th CT location

Cousins Mohammad and Rafi Mashriqi, who helped grow the Shah’s Halal Food brand in Connecticut, said they secured the property at 61 Newtown Road in Plumtrees Plaza two months ago.

Mohammad Mashriqi is the brother of Shah Mashriqi, who opened the original Shah’s Halal Food with Khalid Mashriqi, Rafi Mashriqi’s brother.

Mohammad Mashriqi, a resident of Hicksville, N.Y., said he and his cousin hope to open Shah’s Halal Food in Danbury by the end of the year.

The menu includes halal platters over rice, gyros, sandwiches and other dishes created from his family’s own recipes and seasonings.

“Everything from A to Z is prepared by us,” Mashriqi said. 

However, what makes the food “over the top” at Shah’s, Mashriqi said, is the white sauce that’s “seasoned to perfection” and adds a savory kick, whether it’s used as a dipping for fries or a top for the platters.

“They’re widely known for their sauces, but their white sauce leads the way for sure,” said Elaine Lapersonerie, publicist for Shah’s Halal Food. “While they’re known for their platters, people within the halal community appreciate that they do a burger and fries.”

“All of their other food is much appreciated by the halal community because it’s different and more unique than just having a platter,” she said, “so there really is something for everyone.”

The restaurant will be open 10 a.m. to midnight Sundays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 

Though halal food helped establish chicken and rice as a “craze,” Mashriqi said halal is often misinterpreted as that one dish when it actually refers to the way the meat is slaughtered, manufactured and stored, according to Islamic law.

The restaurant “ultimately morphed” from a family-run business into a franchise that has multiple restaurants and food cart locations in New York City, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia and more, as well as in the United Kingdom and Sweden, Lapersonerie said.

Mashriqi credited the franchise’s expansion to his family and their work in growing the Shah’s Halal Food brand.

“We value family over everything, and we all pitched in,” he said. “We all put in a lot of work, we sacrificed a lot of family time as well, even though we were doing business with each other. We all put in our fair share, and we got the brand to where it is today.”

Mashriqi is now in charge of seven Shah’s Halal Food locations in Connecticut, including in Norwalk, Middletown, Orange, Bridgeport, Danbury and two locations in Stamford. The new Danbury location will be the franchise’s first drive-thru location.

“We’ve noticed since COVID … that drive-thrus were lighting up and the in-store business wasn’t so much,” Mashriqi said. “To have that option available is definitely a game-changer for us as a corporation, as a business, because there’s this new component we haven’t really touched on.”

In addition to growing more Connecticut locations, Mashriqi said his and his cousin’s goals are “to go as far as we can and as fast as we can.”

“We have unlimited amount of support,” he said. “Our customers, we know they love our food and we just want to move as fast as we can.”