When Guy Fieri of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” came to the South Bay for the Super Bowl, a restaurant in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood was among those that scored a visit — and a spot on his show.
Fieri’s segment on El Halal Amigos will air tonight, Friday, May 8, on the Food Network, and chef-owner Hisham Abdelfattah is eager to watch it. Just like other foodies, he and his restaurant team and family have to wait until 9 p.m.
In this episode, Fieri gives high marks to El Halal Amigos for “bringin’ big flavor to beef barbacoa and for top-notch chile relleno burritos,” according to the Food Network website.
Both dishes are top sellers at the Lincoln Avenue restaurant, and the recipe for Slow-Cooked Beef Barbacoa Costillas, or ribs, now lives on the triple-D website.
Chef Hisham, a San Jose native who grew up in East San Jose, has been steeped in Mexican culture his whole life. He started cooking at home, then took his first job, at 15, in a taqueria. He has worked as a line cook and in front-of-house roles and trained at Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco.
“But Mexican food was always my love and passion,” he said, which led to a dozen trips to Mexico to learn more about the culture, language and culinary traditions.
He launched El Halal Amigos — with a 100% halal-certified menu — as a food truck in Fremont in 2020. About a year later he turned that successful venture into the South Bay brick-and-mortar.
For someone who has spent more than half his life in the restaurant world, being featured on this Food Network show is “a dream come true,” he said. “I’m deeply honored by it.”
Details: El Halal Amigos serves daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 1100 Lincoln Ave., San Jose; www.elhalalamigos.com