Started With
One Truck.

In 2017, we rolled out a food truck in the DMV with a simple idea: take the Afghan flavors we grew up with and blend them with some of our favorite American foods from across the country, all made fresh, all halal, and all packed with flavor.

Big Red Halal was built on more than food. It was built by a mother and her sons, working side by side, pushing each other forward and turning a shared dream into something real. Through the long days, late nights, challenges and uncertainty that come with building a small business, we kept motivating one another to keep going.

Little by little, that hard work started paying off.

The line at our truck got longer. The events got bigger. Weddings, corporate parties, festivals across Virginia, Maryland, and DC. People started asking the same question: when are you opening a real spot?

In 2020, we took that leap, at what turned out to be one of the most difficult times imaginable to open a restaurant.

Big Red Halal opened on Backlick Road in Springfield during the COVID-19 pandemic, when restaurants and small businesses were navigating unprecedented state and federal restrictions, changing rules, limited operations and an enormous amount of uncertainty. Opening a new restaurant is difficult under normal circumstances. Opening one in 2020 tested us in ways we never expected.

As a mother and her son, we leaned on each other. When one of us felt discouraged, another pushed us forward. We adapted, worked longer, learned as we went and kept reminding each other why we started. What could have stopped the dream became part of our story.

Through it all, we built Big Red Halal into a place where our Afghan roots could meet the American flavors we grew to love. Southern-style hot chicken sandwiches, tenders and wings. Southwest-inspired quesadillas. New York street-style rice platters and wraps. All brought together with Afghan spices, sauces and flavors that give Big Red Halal its own identity.

The truck still rolls out for events and our Springfield location serves the neighborhood every day until midnight.

Today, we're still a family operation at heart. The same mother-and-sons dream, the same hard work, and the same motivation to keep moving forward. We know our regulars by name. We listen to our customers, and we take pride in what leaves our kitchen.

We're not trying to be just another restaurant. We're building something our family can be proud of, a place born from Afghan roots, inspired by America, strengthened through adversity and built for families to come back to again and again.