When Esam Almulaiki moved from New York to Ann Arbor, he didn’t just bring himself — he brought a craving. Missing the city’s late-night chicken over rice and halal fare, Almulaiki decided to recreate the flavors of his hometown with the opening of his second restaurant after Bodega Bros. Halal Bros 2 Go, a new restaurant serving up NYC-style street food on State Street, opened in August.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Almulaiki said he wanted to recreate the flavors from where he used to call home.
“I just wanted to bring the New York style food to Ann Arbor,” Almulaiki said. “I was actually missing eating chicken over rice and halal food — I used to live in New York City, and I wanted to just bring it here so I don’t have to crave it, and then I have to go there. But I wanted to bring it closer home.”
In an interview with The Daily, LSA freshman Oscar Allen said the new restaurant differs from traditional NYC street food he is used to as a New York resident.
“Street food in New York City is usually from a small cart with one owner,” Allen said. “I can say, though, that it doesn’t diminish the quality of the halal food whatsoever. The food is as good or even better, I’ll say this is one of the best halal places I’ve ever been to, and I have been seasoned within halal,eating it almost every single day of high school.”
Allen also emphasized the importance of having late-night options for students.
“I’ve only been here past (midnight) and the fact that they’re the only place open on the entire street… I think it’s a special thing,” Allen said.
Malik Musleh, a Halal Bros 2 Go staff member, told The Daily that along with the University students coming to the restaurant, social media has played a big role in attracting customers from other areas of Michigan.
“Most of our customers and clients are from social media, or they would be college students,” Musleh said. “I’ve had people actually drive from 40-50 minutes away from places like Detroit, Canton — Dearborn, especially — and they say they’ve just seen on Tiktok, where people do reviews on the restaurant.”
Almulaiki described what the NYC street food experience means to him.
“The NYC street food vibe, it’s staying up late to 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. and then taking a train to Manhattan to get some chicken over rice, or to get some lamb over rice with friends and hanging out,” Almulaiki said. “That’s what it means to me, NYC street food.”
Almulaiki also discussed the restaurant’s simple menu, but said he is already thinking about potential future additions.
“We wanted to do a simple menu,” Almulaiki said. “We didn’t want to incorporate 20 items or 30 items, or even 100 items like we have here at Bodega Bros, but we wanted to do a small, eight item menu. But there’s still room for growth. We might be thinking about bringing in spicy rice, we’re thinking about bringing in spicy chicken, spicy lamb.”
Musleh told The Daily about the specific dishes that keep customers coming back.
“So we have, I’d say, around three or four items that customers ordered the most,” Musleh said. “That’d either be chicken over rice, which has rice, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and three types of sauces — our white sauce, which is like garlic and mayo, green sauce, which is like jalapeno, and red sauce, which is like hot sauce — and then we have exactly the same, but in lamb. And then we have a mix, which is chicken and lamb.”
Overall, Allen said he is happy to see a halal restaurant open in Ann Arbor.
“I can say I was very refreshed to see a halal option within the Ann Arbor area,” Allen said. “I know that a lot of the dining halls do have halal options… But I think as a store, it’s flourishing within the community. I’m glad to see a halal place grow up like this and become successful.”
Daily Staff Reporter Kayla Lugo can be reached at klugo@umich.edu.
