The Halal Guys opening a Las Vegas restaurant Friday

Rene Hjorth is prepared for the onslaught.

Hjorth is director of operations for local franchisee FOMO THG LLC, which will open The Halal Guys restaurant at 3755 Spring Mountain Road at 10 a.m. Friday (with ribbon-cutting at 9:45 if you don’t want to miss that). He’s planning on tents with misters and water, “because we want everybody to be as comfortable as possible in the Las Vegas heat,” Hjorth said. “We want to take care of everybody.”

He thinks he’ll have a crowd, and no wonder. Despite the fact that The Halal Guys’ roots go back 26 years — to a hot dog cart that evolved into halal food carts and eventually gave rise to two New York brick-and-mortar restaurants — there’s still plenty of excitement; they still have people lining up out the door.

“And we expect the same here,” Hjorth said.

Why the furor? What do The Halal Guys bring to Las Vegas, which doesn’t exactly have a shortage of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurants?

“Mainly, it’s based on our 26-year history of excellence that they have seen in New York City and through opening elsewhere in the U.S., that has shown to be valid anywhere else,” Hjorth said. There are three The Halal Guys restaurants in Los Angeles, two in Chicago and others in Houston, New Orleans and East Brunswick, New Jersey. Hjorth said the company is opening two more in the Bay Area.

“We have a very loyal following out of New York City, and we see here people just walking up to the restaurant even if we’re not open: ‘Hey, I remember you guys; I’m excited to come try it.’ There’s been huge interest, and I give a lot of credit to social media. Given the success it’s seen in New York City, anybody who hasn’t been to New York City to try it there, they’re so excited to try it here.”

Hjorth said the chain’s most popular dish is the combination platter with half chicken and half gyro meat. The menu is limited; other choices include falafel, which like the chicken and gyros is available as a sandwich or platter, with hot or white sauce and choice of toppings. There also are sides of fries and hummus or tahini with pita, and baklava for dessert.

Although Chinatown may seem like an odd choice for a halal restaurant, Hjorth said there were a couple of reasons for the choice, one being the diversity already inherent in the area.

“And it just seems like the foodie place to go, outside of the Strip and downtown,” he said. “We plan to go there eventually, but we really want to introduce the brand to locals, so this is really our first round.”

The restaurant wants to cater to locals, he said, because it was locals who originally drove its popularity in New York, where its first customer base was Muslim cab drivers.

“The only difference is that we’re a brick-and-mortar instead of the carts,” he said. Despite the presence of two restaurants in New York, he said, “most people think of the carts.

“We order the foods from the same vendors, cook with the exact same recipes, so there should be no difference in flavor.”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at www.reviewjournal.com, and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.