San Jose definitely has some hidden gems, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon El Halal Amigos, which is an amazing fast casual restaurant serving a menu of completely halal Mexican food! Thye started out as a food truck in Fremont, and in March of 2022 they opened this brick and mortar location! Everything we tried was mouthwatering, and Executive Chef Hisham is one of the nicest people around. They have everything from tacos to burritos and nachos, as well as some really refreshing drinks made with fresh fruit. Now that we’ve gotten that stuff out of the way, let’s jump into the food!
Tacos Street Style
The tacos come in a set of three with corn tortillas and you can choose the meat you’d like in each. They offer suadero (beef brisket), carne asada, nopales (cactus), and pollo al pastor, and they’re all topped with onions and cilantro. We definitely recommend the carne asada! You can add a side of one of their salsas, but we prefer the NAR sauce. But watch out because it can be pretty spicy!
They also have an incredible potato and cauliflower taco that comes with a creamy chipotle sauce, and it’s all totally vegan! I’m usually not a big fan of vegan food, but the way they grill everything along with the flavorful sauce made this taco one of my favorites. Definitely give it a shot even if you’re not vegan!
Pescado Frito
If you’re in the mood for something delicious and extravagant, this seasoned whole fried tilapia with pico de gallo and corn tortillas is seriously good! It’s got a lightly crispy skin with moist meat, and tastes great when eaten with a little bit of everything on the plate in one of the tortillas. Just keep in mind that there are bones since this is literally a whole fish, so just be careful eating it, but it’s absolutely well worth it.
Nar Burrito
The Nar Burrito from El Halal Amigos was, by far, our favorite! It’s fried chimichanga style and is filled with your choice of meat, rice, beans, salsa, NAR Sauce, sour cream, guacamole and cheese. They put in grated cheese in addition to nacho cheese, which literally brings everything together in the best way.
Nar-chos
El Halal Amigos’ take on loaded nachos was one of our favorite dishes. You have the choice of chips or fries, and you really can’t go wrong with either. You can also choose the meat that goes on top, and they also throw on some queso, pico de gallo, beans, crema, and NAR sauce, with guacamole as an optional $2 add-on.
Strawberry Fresca
El Halal Guys doesn’t mess around when it comes to quality ingredients, and their strawberry fresca is the perfect example of that. It’s made with real strawberries and is possibly the most refreshing drink we’ve had in awhile.
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