Nestled between a tattoo parlor and a tanning salon, The Kabab Grill brings a taste of the Middle East to Lynchburg.
The tiny storefront restaurant is easy to miss amid the hustle and bustle of Wards Road. But for 15 months, it’s been a lunch and dinner spot for shoppers, students, area Muslim families and passersby.
Tahir Iqbal, a native of Pakistan, bought the storefront about two years ago when it was a Quiznos sandwich shop. At the time, Iqbal was living in Northern Virginia and saw the Lynchburg area as a good place to start a business.
Iqbal, a Muslim, transformed the Quiznos into the Kabab Grill so that he could bring a taste of his homeland to Lynchburg. The Kabab Grill is a visible sign of the small but growing Muslim community in the Lynchburg area. Last year, the International Halal Market opened on 12th Street and the Greater Lynchburg
Islamic Association opened a mosque on Airport Road.
Iqbal, a regular at jum’ah, the mosque’s Friday noon prayer, makes the food to order and uses halal meats from a distributor in Washington, D.C.“Halal,” Arabic for “permissible,” is a term used to describe meat and food products sanctioned by Islamic law. To be considered halal, the animal must be killed in the name of Allah, using a special technique that drains all of the animal’s blood.
Iqbal says it’s important that he is able to follow his religion in the food that he serves at his restaurant.
The menu includes mix of traditional Pakistani food and American staples like French fries and onion rings. The Kabab Grill serves Punjabi style dishes like chicken karahi (chicken with yogurt, tomatoes, cilantro and special seasoning) and paya (beef trotters).
It also features a range of curry dinners, kabobs and gyros. The gyros are from Greek cuisine, and Iqbal added them to the menu because they are popular in the United States and scarce in Lynchburg.
Moving to Lynchburg has its ups and downs for Iqbal and his wife Sabiha, who also runs the restaurant. Northern Virginia was more diverse, and had a strong Muslim and Pakistani community. Here, that community is much smaller, he says, but, on the upside, the cost of living is low.
Iqbal came to the United States 12 years ago to pursue better job opportunities. Owning his own restaurant made sense for him, as he had past experience in the restaurant industry both in the United States and back in Pakistan.
Iqbal admits that business could be better, and hopes it improves as the economy recovers.
“It’s not really good, not really bad,” he says. “I’m satisfied.”
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