Chik-FIl-A claims to have invented the chicken sandwich. Proving that claim is beyond the scope of this blog, but we certainly can address whether their chicken is halal!
One of Chik-Fil-A’s known suppliers is Perdue Farms, which does offer a halal product. Unfortunately, even of Chik-Fil-A were using the halal product line, there’s no guarantee that it would be in use at any given time at any given location.
Perdue Farms is a national supplier of chicken, and has an entire product line dedicated to halal chicken. The chicken is certified by Halal Transactions of Omaha (see our Certifiers section), which certifies machine-cut chicken. Note that not all chicken from Perdue Farms is necessarily halal certified.
Fed only a 100% Vegetarian Diet with No Animal By-Products, PERDUE® HARVESTLAND® halal chicken is raised and slaughtered under strict halal law, which, among other restrictions, prohibits the use of any animal by-products.
Perdue offers a marketing PDF which lists all their halal products in a handy table:
Roll-em-up Taquitos is a multi-state franchise chain HQ-ed in Riverside CA, specializing in (as you may have guessed) taquitos. While most locations are not halal, the new location opening at the Irvine Spectrum Mall will have halal beef and chicken, as per the franchisee’s request:
Roll Em Up, the taquito-centric fast food chain headquartered in Riverside, is opening its newest location today, July 6 at the Irvine Spectrum. This is the company’s 14th restaurant, but its first to serve halal-certified options — specifically, citrus-marinated chicken or braised shredded beef.
“This was a request by our Irvine franchise owner,” says Roll Em Up CEO Sam Fonseca. “We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to try our taquitos. If we make adjustments by making some of our menu halal, then we can invite new customers into our restaurants.”
That’s a great attitude and a smart move by the franchise from a marketing perspective. So head over to the Spectrum and get your taquitos on!
Dave’s Hot Chicken is the biggest halal success story of our times. From a simple pop-up stand in North Hollywood to a nationwide and soon, global franchise, there’s a good chance there’s a Dave’s near you (and far too many locations to add to the Map).
According to the Zabihah.com entry, Dave’s has been certified halal by Halal Transactions of Omaha. The chicken used by Dave’s is machine-slaughter, not zabiha hand-slaughtered, however.
The LA Times featured Dave’s in an article that explained why Dave’s uses halal chicken at all their locations nationwide:
Dave’s Hot Chicken has sold halal chicken tenders since it launched as a pop-up in an East Hollywood parking lot in 2017. According to co-founder Arman Oganesyan, religious practice didn’t motivate the decision — to the four Dave’s founders, the halal tenders were simply a better product.
“We realized that any brand of halal was much better: Chicken would come out of the box much more tender, much more juicy,” Oganesyan said. “We had a brining process, and we had to do a lot less of our brining process because the chicken was so easy to work with.”
LA Times, https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2022-05-10/ihop-ramadan-halal-specials-become-permanent
We reviewed Dave’s back in 2020 (North Hollywood location) and it’s become even more of a sensation since then!
It’s worth reading the original article at Eater LA about Dave’s that started the buzz around the chicken in the first place. For more on the backstory behind Dave’s, check out this article in The Franchise Times that interviews Oganesyan.
Also, I was privileged to attend the grand opening of the Northridge location in March, 2021, and got to meet Dave himself! Here are some selfies from the event:
Raising Cane’s is a national chicken chain with an amazing restaurant and a near-cult following. There are several sources that imply that Raising Cane’s is halal. However, our analysis and inquiry was not able to confirm halal status.
The evidence for halal boiled down to a few sources:
However, this is not very authoritative. The Zabihah entry is only for one location and it is unclear whether that really appliest to all locations nationwide. There is also an article about Cane’s overseas expansion that goes out of its way to mention how the Middle East locations are securing halal status, but that doesn’t really imply anything about US suppliers.
In order to get a definitive answer, we used the contact form on Raising Cane’s website and directly asked whether the food is halal. The exchange can be viewed online and is also saved below for posterity.
| Company reply (9/16/2022 12:42:23 PM Central ST) Dear Aziz, Hello, thank you for contacting Raising Cane’s®.In response to your inquiry, our Restaurants and quality Chicken Finger meals are not certified Halal or Kosher. Thank you for your interest in Raising Cane’s! ONE LOVE™Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers® Customer Relations |
| Your message (9/16/2022 6:54:26 PM Central ST) Hello, is it possible to know your chicken supplier? even if the chicken is not certified halal, I am curious if it may still be from a halal source. Thank you 🙂 |
| Company reply (9/16/2022 7:30:31 PM Central ST) Dear Aziz Poonawalla, Hello, thank you for contacting Raising Cane’s®. Raising Cane’s® purchases chicken from multiple sources across the country, to ensure we only serve the highest quality, always fresh chicken. All of our poultry is raised and processed in USDA inspected plants, in accordance with the processing guidelines established by the USDA’s Humane Slaughter Act, and the National Chicken Council. However we currently don’t have any Halal on our selections yet. Thank you for allowing us to serve you, and we look forward to serving you again. ONE LOVE Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers® Customer Relations |
Based on the above, it seems possible that Cane’s chicken may sometimes be halal, but also likely to sometimes not be halal. There is no way to verify halal in a systematic and consistent manner. As always, it boils down to your personal comfort level.
The screenshot of the inquiry is shown below.
Dave’s Hot Chicken started out as a pop-up on the streets of LA and rapidly expanded to multiple locations. This is Nashville-style fried chicken, marinated in buttermilk and intended to be spicy. Around mealtimes, the lines are out the door, but move quickly. Finding a place to sit around then is going to take even more time, and parking is probably impossible. However, they are open till 1 AM.
Dave’s has a simple menu: Combo of fries and chicken sliders, or combo of fries and chicken tenders. You can add an additional tender or slider to any combo. Select your spicy level from “none” to “reaper” (I went with the middle option, “medium” and it was flavorful but not spicy. For kick, start with “Hot.”)
Website: https://www.daveshotchicken.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daveshotchicken/?hl=en
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/daves-hot-chicken-los-angeles
Zabihah: https://www.zabihah.com/biz/bDZZkgtTgw
Halal Girl: http://halalgirl.net/2018/10/24/daves-hot-chicken-full-halal-7-10/