Across the nook from the center of Glenwood South, a nationwide meals truck chain will stake its first declare in North Carolina.
The Houston-based meals truck fleet Abu Omar Halal will open in Raleigh subsequent month, signing a lease at 709 W. Peace Road, half a block from Raleigh’s busiest nightlife district. The truck will open for the primary time Saturday, June 5.
Abu Omar makes a speciality of Mediterranean and Center Japanese dishes, together with shwarma, kebabs and falafel and caters to a lunch and late evening crowd, proprietor Muhammad Altawaha stated. The truck will serve seven days every week from 11 a.m. to at the very least midnight.
“We pair finest with any nightlife areas,” Altawaha stated. “Universities, the busiest areas in cities.”
Altawaha moved from Jordan to the Houston space in 2008 for grad college and in addition began managing eating places. He stated he pursued a grasp’s in 5 completely different majors, however by no means completed, gravitating as a substitute to the kitchen.
When he first launched a meals truck it was known as “Abu Omar Taco” and served halal tacos.
“The primary meals truck began as a joke,” Altawaha stated. “I needed to strive one thing new, however Houston wasn’t actually prepared for meals vehicles on the time.”
He went again into eating places for years after which relaunched Abu Omar Halal in 2015. That’s when it took off, touchdown in the midst of a nationwide love affair with meals vehicles.
Altawaha stated his hottest sellers are his variations of beef and rooster shwarma, a wrap of grilled meat, with pickles, garlic sauce and fries. On the outset, Omar stated he couldn’t discover passable flatbread, so he used what was shut by in Houston — flour tortillas.
“A Mexican tortilla is 80% like the true factor,” Altawaha stated.
There are seven brick and mortar Abu Omar areas and greater than 60 meals vehicles, unfold from Los Angeles to Oklahoma Metropolis, Baton Rouge and Tampa Bay. Most are located within the largest cities in Texas, together with Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin.
Altawaha is contemplating franchising the corporate, however for now owns all the areas, signing up managing companions to run particular vehicles or eating places. The supervisor of the Raleigh truck, Omar stated, grew up in Charlotte and ran a location in Dallas. In venturing into North Carolina, the selection got here right down to Raleigh or Charlotte.
“He stated Raleigh is nicer than Charlotte, so we went to Raleigh,” Altawaha stated. “We’ll begin with the meals truck and see if we are able to construct from there.”
Abu Omar is the newest nationwide chain to maneuver into the Triangle, carrying on a pre-pandemic development that’s selecting up steam. Just lately, Texas-based Torchy’s opened its first North Carolina location in Raleigh, becoming a member of quick informal chains like Zambrero and the upcoming Dave’s Sizzling Hen.
