MILWAUKEE — When you think of halal food what comes to mind? Falafel? Shawarma? Osama Abushanab, the owner of 27th Steak and Potato, is challenging typical ideas about what halal food is.
His restaurant opened up on 27th and Oklahoma over the summer. He serves steak and potatoes (of course) as well as wings, burgers, and Philly cheese steaks.
"I just wanted to offer something different to the community," Abushanab said of the restaurant.
Everything on the menu is halal, which is the set of dietary standards derived from Islamic Law that apply to animal products.
"It was to be humanely treated, it has to be slaughtered according to our Islamic Law where we drain the blood out of the animal, whether it's beef or chicken, it cannot be fed anything besides vegetarian food," Abushanab explained.
Abushanab is Palestinian, born and raised in Jordan. He moved to New York in the 1990's and moved to Milwaukee in 2009 to raise his family.
"Our kids are more American than anything else, so year they eat our food but they eat the American food too. So we try to provide that in a Halal way," Abushanab said.
The location is also close to the Islamic Center in Milwaukee.
"There's a lot of Muslims around, and those people don't have many options," Abushanab said.
However, he said 90% of his customers are not Muslim. So while he's filling stomachs, he's also bringing communities together over a nice meal.
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