Canton’s newest pizza place ‘famous’ for calzones and wings, too

Leading up to the kickoff of February’s Super Bowl, Detroit’s Halal Pizza sold 29,000 pieces of chicken to its loyal base of fans across metro-Detroit — a testament to the diligence the Alhuri family commits to its restaurant’s non-pizza menu items.

“We probably could have sold 60,000 pieces of chicken on Super Bowl Sunday, but we stopped taking orders at 6 p.m.,” said Ahmad Alhuri, who along with his brother Hyder took over ownership of the incredibly popular eatery from their father who founded the brand in 1997.

“Our pizza is great, but our wings and calzones are famous throughout the area, too.”

Following 27 years of thriving as a one-location business, Halal Pizza officially expanded its operations to western Wayne County on July 20 when it celebrated a soft opening at 6565 N. Canton Center Road in Canton.

“Thirty minutes before we opened the doors, there was a line that wrapped around the corner of the building,” Alhuri said, smiling. “We insisted that our father make the very first pizza we sold here in Canton. He was so proud, he was crying.”

A grand opening celebration is expected to unfold later this year.

Time was right for expansion

“For several years, customers have asked me, ‘When are you going to open another location?,” said Alhuri. “They’d say, ‘As good as your food is, you should have 10 locations by now’. But when you have a family-owned brand like ours, you want to make sure everything is perfect before you grow. The timing now is perfect.”

Like their father before them, the Alhuri brothers are hard-working, detail-oriented business owners who didn’t want to jeopardize their brand’s decades-built reputation by allowing strangers to prepare and sell the food items their regular customers have grown to love.

“I am running the Canton location and Hyder is running the Detroit location,” Ahmad Alhuri said. “If our ‘OPEN’ sign is lit, you better believe I’ll be in the restaurant working right alongside our employees. Hyder and I don’t ask our employees to do anything we don’t do ourselves.

“By being present every day, we can assure that the quality of our food and customer service is consistently high.”

Perfect location

When you wait 27 years to open a second location, you want to make sure that place is ideal — and the Canton location couldn’t be more perfect, Ahmad said.

“There’s so much to love about Canton,” Alhuri said. “It’s a thriving community with a lot of growth. And there were no halal places around here that can offer what we do.”

The Alhuris are steadfast in their mission to sell only Halal (hand-slaughtered) meats.

“Honestly, it would be a lot more profitable for us to not sell only Halal meats,” Ahmad said. “For instance, a pound of halal pepperoni costs about $8.99 compared to a pound of non-halal pepperoni that sells for about $2.99. But we do whatever we can to make our customers happy, even if it means less profit.

“We’re in this to make our customers happy, not become millionaires.”

Quality food, great prices

Alhuri said his business’s high quality food and reasonable prices are what bring customers back.

“Where else can you get an extra-large, one-topping pizza for $15?” he asked. “And we have several specials that are budget friendly.”

Alhuri said the Canton restaurant has already seen several repeat customers stop in for orders.

“We had one guy who told me he liked our food so much, he ate here five straight days,” he added with a smile.

Another selling point that appeals to Halal Pizza’s customers are its hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays; and 11 a.m. to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“Most places like ours close at 8 p.m. on Sundays, but we realize a lot of people get hungry later on Sundays,” Alhuri said.

To check out Halal Pizza’s vast menu, click here.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.