OUR STORY
The founder of HFC, Waqar Siddiqui, was born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan. After doing his MBA, he came to the US with his wife and children in 2009, in which he quickly realized that there was a huge vacuum of halal fried chicken in the Bay Area. Keeping the urge of Halal Fried Chicken in his mind for Muslim community , he visited his close uncle in Pakistan in 2013 who had his own fried chicken business over there. In order to learn the science behind making the perfect fried chicken, he spent time learning under his uncle’s wing, and eventually made his way back to America. After almost 7 years, action was finally taken after the initial idea of a fried chicken business. April of 2020 gave birth to a small home kitchen during the first, dreadful wave of the Covid19 pandemic, when most of the world was shackled indoors due to the rising pandemic. With nothing but one small fryer, hard work, and a big dream, HFC started attracting its first customers, and another half year of struggle, but persistence, it was finally established as an actual restaurant, opening its arms in September of 2020. He always had a passion for sports, which he strongly believes plays an important role in not only the health of a person, but their approach towards life. Therefore, what better than to fuse two of his favorite things together: cricket and fried chicken. Not only did the response of the community keep him motivated, but also passionate about his work, ensuring that he would try his best, year after year, to primarily provide the Muslim community with the flavorful fried chicken, with a Pakistani twist.
In Good Wishes,
Waqar Siddiqui (Founder/Owner)
Media COVERAGE
This move made HFC the pioneer of halal fried chicken in the Bay, and within a month or so, it came into its first spotlight. It was highlighted by the San Francisco Chronicle during the Halal Festival in December of 2020, soon followed by coverage by the Voice of America. Furthermore, with in a year, Yelp made a list of the best chicken sandwiches in California, in which HFC was in the top 30 of that list
In 2021, Yelp rated HFC’s Burgers in the top 30 in California: