Best Halal Restaurants in Waterloo: A Student Guide by Situation

Finding halal food in Waterloo as a student is mostly a matter of knowing where to stand. A large share of the options are clustered along University Avenue West, in and around the plazas near the University of Waterloo, with more on King Street and in Kitchener.

This guide to the best halal restaurants in Waterloo is organised by the situation you're actually in at the moment: it's 1 AM, it's the week before rent, a group of eight can't decide, or your parents are in town.

Disclosure: we're Cluck Clucks, at 160 University Avenue West, and we open until 3 AM every day. We're one option here, not the only one.

Everything below was confirmed as open and listed as halal on the restaurant's own site or in a halal directory, including a student halal directory maintained by a campus Muslim Students' Association.

Halal sourcing differs between restaurants (hand-slaughtered or machine-slaughtered, owner-assured or certified), so confirm current certification with the restaurant before you rely on it.

It's late and you're hungry

Late-night food is the reason many students end up on University Avenue. The pickings are better than most small cities, though hours change, so check before you walk over.

• Cluck Clucks, 160 University Ave W: open 11 AM to 3 AM, seven days a week. Our chicken is certified halal, breaded by hand when you order and never frozen. That does mean a few minutes' wait, but the chicken comes out hot.
  
  The Cluck Yeah (chicken in a jalapeño cheddar waffle with chipotle aioli, dill mayo and slaw) and the Nashville Hot Loaded Fries are the two to look at first for a big late-night appetite.
  
  Priya, a Waterloo guest, wrote,

"I tried cluck yeah and Nashville fries and taste was amazing, I recommend to try these things."

• Aunty's Kitchen, 160 University Ave W: a Pakistani restaurant in the same plaza that describes itself as 100% halal. Directory listings show very late weekend hours, but confirm them directly, since we couldn't verify them on its own site.

• Highland Halal Shawarma, 200 Highland Road West, Kitchener: its site lists daily hours of 10:30 AM to 2 AM and calls the food 100% halal. It's a drive or a ride out of Waterloo, but it's an option if you're across town.

You want a cheap, fast lunch between classes

• Lazeez Shawarma, 170 University Ave W: its location page lists it as halal-certified, with daily hours from 11 AM to midnight. It's the classic quick shawarma stop near campus.
• Shawarma Plus, 160 University Ave W (University Plaza): a shawarma place listed as halal, with evening closing times that vary by directory, so check the day.
• Us, too: the 3-piece Chicken Tenders are C$10.99 and the Classic Crunchy Fried Chicken Sandwich is C$11.49, though if shawarma is the plan, the two above will be quicker.

The student halal directory also lists others in the same stretch, including shawarma, burger and Chinese-fusion counters, so if you're comparing, it's worth reading the full list before you decide.

You're organising a group dinner

Groups need a big menu and a place that can seat them without a fuss.

• Kismet, 160 University Ave W, Unit 20: a long-running Bangladeshi and Indian spot that directory listings describe as fully halal, run by Muslim owners. It's a cafeteria-style room, which suits splitting a table of curries and biryani.
• NEV Turkish Cuisine, 400 The Boardwalk, Unit 1: a sit-down Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant, described in halal directories as serving halal food. A good "we're done with exams" place; check current hours before you go.
• Turkish Flames, 569 Fairway Road South, Kitchener: describes itself as Kitchener's premier halal Turkish restaurant, with a kebab and pide menu and listed hours of 11 AM to 10 PM daily. It's a trip out of Waterloo, but a reasonable option when the group has a car.
• For a chicken night: we serve the Feast for 2 (six pieces of fried chicken, quarter waffles, a regular side and gravy) and larger packs. If your group is fifteen or more, ask us about catering.

Your family is visiting

Parents tend to want somewhere with a proper menu, not a food-court counter. NEV Turkish Cuisine on The Boardwalk and Turkish Flames in Kitchener are the best fit on this list for a sit-down meal.

If your family is the kind that wants a taste of student life, we have dine-in at University Avenue, and our menu has the classics: the chicken and waffles plate comes bone-in or boneless, and the tenders are easy for anyone.

You're on a budget and want halal that isn't fast food

Look at the sit-down places during lunch and at the shawarma counters in the evening. Prices change often, and we haven't listed other restaurants' prices.

Our own regular menu runs from the 2-piece tenders to the shareable Family Bundle; the menu page has current prices, and Cluck Clucks Rewards (free to join, 1 point per dollar spent) is worth signing up for if you eat with us regularly.

More names from the student halal directory

The Wilfrid Laurier MSA's halal food directory is a useful cross-check because it records, for each place, whether the meat is listed as hand-slaughtered or machine-slaughtered. Beyond the restaurants above, it lists several more within walking distance of the University Avenue plazas.

We haven't visited all of them, so treat these as leads rather than recommendations, and note the directory's own warning that details change.

• Roosters Fried Chicken & More (160 University Ave W): listed as hand-slaughtered.
• Kabob Hut (170 University Ave W): Persian food, listed as hand-slaughtered.
• Hakka Nation (170 University Ave W): Chinese, listed as hand-slaughtered.
• Slap Burgers (170 University Ave W): listed as hand-slaughtered.
• Juicy Birds (220 King St N): a chicken spot listed as hand-slaughtered.

Your group includes vegetarians

A fully halal restaurant isn't always a meat-only one. Kismet's listing mentions vegetarian and vegan options, and the Turkish places (NEV and Turkish Flames) list mezze and appetizer sections alongside the kebabs.

Our own menu is chicken-focused, so it's the weaker pick for a table with several vegetarians; sides like fries, poutine and coleslaw help, but we'd steer a mostly vegetarian group to one of the others.

Do you need a car?

For the University Avenue options (us, Aunty's Kitchen, Lazeez, Shawarma Plus and Kismet), no: they are within a few doors of each other along University Avenue West.

NEV Turkish Cuisine is on The Boardwalk, and Highland Halal Shawarma and Turkish Flames are in Kitchener, so those three are rides or drives. Plan accordingly if the weather is bad or it's late, and check that the restaurant is still open before you set out; a closed door is the most common way a halal plan falls apart in a student city.

Exam week and delivery

During exam week, delivery is the practical answer. Most of the places above are on the major delivery apps, and we're on Uber Eats; availability and fees vary, so check the app for the restaurants near you.

If you're studying at 2 AM, remember that our kitchen stays open until 3 AM, so a late library session doesn't have to end in a vending machine. Rewards members earn 1 point per dollar, which adds up over a term.

How the University Avenue strip works

Most of the options above are within a few doors of each other: 160 University Ave W, 170 University Ave W and the plaza between them. That makes it easy to walk the strip and compare, and it also means directories sometimes mix up which unit is which. When in doubt, trust the restaurant's own site or the signage.

Halal questions worth asking anywhere

• Is the meat hand-slaughtered or machine-slaughtered?
• Who certifies it, and is the certificate posted?
• Does the whole menu qualify, or only certain items?
• Are hours the same on weekends and during exam week?

Our own answer, for the record: our chicken is certified halal, sourced from halal-certified suppliers. If you'd like the longer explanation, see our halal fried chicken page.

More halal guides

If you're heading toward the GTA for a weekend, our guides to halal restaurants in Mississauga and halal food in Ajax and Pickering cover those cities.

Visit Cluck Clucks in Waterloo

We're at 160 University Avenue West, Waterloo, open 11 AM to 3 AM every day. See the Waterloo location page for directions and ordering, including delivery on Uber Eats.