From msn| March 21, 2025

In February, Texas Suhoor Fest announced it would be making its first-ever visit to Houston. But why here? According to the festival’s founders, the city has a booming halal scene.

From Feb. 28 through March 29, Muslims all over the world are participating in Ramadan, the most auspicious month in the Islamic calendar. The month is marked by dawn to dusk fasting, complete with daily prayers, a pre-dawn meal (suhoor) and a fast-breaking evening meal. In 2023, influencers-turned-founders Faraz and Ambreen Ahmed decided to bring suhoor to everyone with their giant foodie fest.

The Ahmeds run the popular halal food review account @halalpalate, which currently boasts nearly 50,000 followers. Originally hailing from Houston, the couple now reside in Dallas and started the account to share their thoughts on Texas’ halal restaurants. Faraz is an engineer and Ambreen is a doctor, but they run the account and the festival in their free time.

The first Texas Suhoor Fest was held in a small Dallas parking lot in 2023. Faraz said around 9,000 came to the inaugural event and in just 3 hours, every food vendor “completely sold out.” In 2024, the Ahmeds moved their suhoor festival to the University of Texas Dallas (UTD) campus, adding in a charity pickleball tournament to raise money for people affected by the conflict in Gaza. In its second year, the festival attracted nearly 200 vendors and over 35,000 participants.

For 2025’s Ramadan season, the Ahmeds decided to come back to their hometown. Texas Suhoor Fest will be at The University of Houston’s Sugar Land campus on March 22 and will run overnight from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. The festival has already generated attention and interest from halal businesses in the city. Local vendors Crypto Burger and Mom’s Kunafa already appeared in the big announcement, which garnered praise online.

“Woahhhh! Houston got lucky this time!” read one comment. “HOUSTON ENTERED THE CHAT WOOHOOO!!” read another.

According to Houston Public Media, Houston boasts a Muslim population of around 200,000 and is the largest Muslim community in Texas. The city already hosts a variety of smaller local Ramadan events, including Houston Suhoor Fest and iftar gatherings at local restaurants and mosques. Even the city’s halal scene has seen viral moments and sparked its own community of influencers, including Zain Mohammed, also known as @thehalalreviewer.

Houston’s diverse halal offerings and its large Muslim community, Faraz explained, made it a great candidate as a host city.

“Houston, in our eyes, has the best halal food scene in the United States,” Faraz explained. “We’ve traveled to various different cities and states throughout the US, and we always just end up missing the Houston food scene.”

Typically, halal food often falls in the category of Middle Eastern cuisine. In the American mainstream, Faraz said, halal food is exemplified in New York’s halal cart offerings: turmeric rice served with gyro or chicken. But in Houston, halal food has included so much more. In the city, halal restaurants range from tacos, smashburgers, pho and everything in between. Restaurants like Dripped Birria, Burger Bodega, Pho Gabo Halal and even the newly viral Talespin Pizza are changing the halal game.

“Any single cuisine that you can think of, there’s a halal version of it in Houston,” Faraz said.

Sources:

Cheng, E. (2025). Houston’s Diverse Halal Scene Major Draw for Dallas-based Texas Suhoor Fest. Chron. Msn.com. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/houstons-diverse-halal-scene-major-draw-for-dallas-based-texas-suhoor-fest/ar-AA1B25mM?ocid=BingNewsVerp

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