DEARBORN — In an unprecedented move, the Fuddruckers at Fairlane Town Center began serving halal meat last week.

The international, Huston-based, hamburger franchise now provides halal burgers and chicken, upon request, at its Dearborn location. It is the first Fuddruckers to offer such options in the United States.

“We would love for the community to come and check us out,” said the restaurant’s manager Randy Bahoora.

Halal meat certificates are displayed, both outside and inside the restaurant.

According to Bahoora, Dearborn’s Fuddruckers gets its halal meat from Zabihah Halal Beef, through U.S. Food Distributors. He said that the Dearborn restaurant received permission from the corporate office to buy and offer halal meat.

Located at Fairlane Town Center, the Fuddruckers in Dearborn is now serving Halal meat.

“We would have liked to serve halal meat a long time ago,” he added. “But only Saad Meat Market had halal, and we had to process it. Now we can get pre-made patties, ready, from U.S. Food Distributors.”

Bahoora said it was economically sound to start serving halal meat, especially since people were asking for it. 

The Dearborn McDonald’s stopped serving its halal chicken menu items this year, after it was sued by a local man, who alleged that he was given a non-halal McChicken sandwich that was advertised as “halal.” McDonald’s settled the court case for $700,000, shortly before removing all halal options from the menu of its two Dearborn locations.

Bahoora assured The Arab American News that the McDonald’s scenario would not be repeated at Fuddruckers, displaying how halal products are clearly labeled and stored separately in the freezer.

“As long as you do it right, why do you care?” he said, adding that employees are instructed to serve only halal meat to customers who request it.

“No bacon is allowed next to the halal meat. We don’t put bacon on the grill. It is cooked separately,” he said. “And the grill gets cleaned constantly throughout the day.”

Bahoora said, as a Catholic, he takes religion seriously and would not want somebody to lie to him, or violate his religious beliefs, and so he would not do it to others.

“Besides the business side, it is not right to sell something not as it is labeled, especially when it comes to religion. I personally care for this,” he added.

Demand for halal meat has not been high, since the restaurant started serving it, but Bahoora hopes for a boost in business from Muslim customers, once people become aware that halal meat is available at the establishment.

Fuddruckers joins a long list of businesses that sell products, which appeal to the Muslim community in Dearborn.  This includes mainstream grocery shops and drug stores, which carry Arabic food products, candy and spices.