Seattle boasts many delicious halal restaurants and cuisine. Iyad’s Mediterranean food cart on Vashon Island serves delicious shawarma pitas while Cafe Turko in Fremont boasts fragrant saffron rice paired with mildly sweet raisins and mushroom lamb kabobs – two excellent examples. In addition, Baked in Bosnia provides tasty snacks, while Miss Cafe serves Turkish coffee as well. There are even several grocery stores dedicated to Halal food. Before placing an order at one of these establishments, read menu carefully so as to be certain all items listed are halal-certified before ordering from any establishment or grocery store!

Food bank programs that offer culturally specific items like halal meat can be particularly helpful to people with diverse dietary requirements. Faizah mentioned the Spice Bridge program which offers immigrant women of color and small business owners an avenue for sharing their culinary traditions and encouraging others to try new cuisines and cultures. West Seattle Food Bank also offers this service upon request.

As much as there may be an increasing need for more halal options in Seattle and across the nation, accessibility remains a significant barrier. Shoka Salah of Noor Rahman International Halal Market in Auburn opened his store initially as a means to gain financial security for his family; now customers travel from across the region because they aren’t always able to locate halal products at larger supermarket chains like Safeway and Fred Meyer.