In recent years there has been a huge influx of Halal markets throughout the city of Buffalo, from Hertel to any given street corner on the West Side. Now a Halal market is opening on Connecticut Street, in close proximity to another long standing ethnic food market – Phu Thai, an Asian grocery store.
Arbin Grocery & Halal Meat is occupying a space at 397 Connecticut Street – a prime corner building that has appeared to struggle to maintain tenants for years. Recently a Cricket cellular business opened in the corner storefront of the building (after moving down a couple of storefronts to nab the corner spot). That left additional free space in the building for others to move in. Not that a Cricket store at the corner is what I was hoping for… but for some reason the building has never been able to get its act together, which is unfortunate now that restaurants such as Black Sheep and Martin Cooks are making such impressive strides.
The new Halal grocery store is also in close proximity to the Masjid al-Eman & Islamic Center, which although adding vibrant life to the street during religious prime time, the exterior of the building and the surrounding grounds are a faux-mosque cookie cutter, asphalt mess, with not a care for strewn litter or the tragic-looking dying miniature pine trees that somehow manage to survive.
As for the Arbin Grocery & Halal Meat, while I am happy to see the market move in, I can never understand the grocery wallpaper that prevents anyone from seeing inside. When you stop to consider all of the different types of items that they sell, one would think that there would be plenty of ways to decorate the windows with actual product.
Seeing that my wife cooks for a living, I do occasionally find myself browsing through the shelves of Halal markets, looking for various obscure ingredients. We have both thought that it would be great to see one of the establishments open up an actual café that would highlight the food, such as this place in Rochester. That’s one thing that would be a welcome addition to the West Side, seeing that there are numerous Halal markets competing for the same customers.
http://www.halalmarketandmeats.com/