Kabob Houses, Middle Eastern, Pakistani restaurants.  Mmm, sounds good.  Fresh, hot tandoori naan.  Kabobs, karai chicken, a touch of masala.  You know you love it.  There's a halal pizza joint in College Park, MD that is very nice.,  Some might get weirded out, but you can actually order halal beef pepperoni as a topping on your pizza.  Of course, not everyone is a hardcore Hanafi like yours truly when it comes to their culinary adventures.  But for those of us who insist on Zabiha, a good Muslim restaurant is always appreciated. 

Let us continue our rambling rant.

A friend of mine suggested a novel idea.  There aren't really too many nice casual dining Zabiha/halal restaurants, at least not in the DC-Metropolitan area (I can think of several).  For instance, in Karachi, there is a TGI Fridays that serves, since it is in a Muslim country, zabiha meat.  I remember the hostess there looked like she was wearing a wig. 

It would be interesting if someone opened a nice casual dining restaurant here with zabiha meat, and no booze.  There's no reason to shy away from ethnic.  After all, what is American food?  Hamburgers and hot dogs are originally German, pizza is Italian, tacos and burritos are Latin American.  (European) American history is only several hundred years old, and our culinary tradition borrows from everyone and everywhere.

Okay, so that's idea one.  A nice casual dining restaurant.  And Muslims can afford it.  Muslims need good food and entertainment like anyone else.  For the love of God, we do not need a bellydancer.  That's just tacky. 

Idea number two:  A Halal Bar

Open a hang-out place that serve all sorts of different soft drinks.  Not just the Coca-cola and Pepsi-cola lines.  Other stuff too, like 20 different varieties of gourmet root beer, Jamaican ginger beers, ginger ales, Pakola (Ice Cream Soda and Leechi Soda, Mmm), international varieties of sodas, less widely known brands, and even some homemade sodas.  I invented several myself.  Several times I added Rooh Afza syrup to carbonated water.  The result: Rooh Afza Soda.  That's what I'm talking about!  I think I've done the same with honey.  Then there are those interesting blends, like when you mix fruit juice and Sprite, or different sodas.  "I'll have a Ginger Beer on the rocks." 

So that's idea two: A Halal Tavern of sorts.  Alcohol-free beverages galore.  There would be all sorts of fresh fruit juices, including the more fancy ones, juice mixes, fruit drinks (gotta love that Mango Frost), you name it!

Idea three: A Muslim Reading Room.  It would be like a Christian Science reading room, only Muslim.  Non-Muslims would be welcome.  All sorts of interesting books and a wide variety of books of tafseer and translations of the Qur'an, hadith books, fiqh books, philosophy, art books, you name it.  It would be like Barnes and Noble, only Islamic, and you don't get to take the books home.  Which brings me to idea four.

 Idea number four: A top-notch Islamic bookstore.  AlhamduliLlah for Halaco and Islamicbookstore.com.  They are invaluable resources.  But a nice Islamic bookstore with a coffee shop (and halal meat, of course).  That would be something different.  A huge bookstore.  It wouldn't just carry "Islamic books," but all sorts of books.  It would be like a Barnes and Nobles or a Borders with a really awesome "Islam" section, with thousands of titles.  Perhaps it could be located right next to the Muslim Reading Room.  Which inspires me with a fifth idea.

Idea number five: A Muslim Strip-Mall.  I'm sure a number of these already exist, but this one would be different.  It would have a Halal Alcohol Free Tavern, An Islamic Mega-Bookstore, a Muslim Reading Room, Law Offices of Zaban and Pathan, A Muslim Casual Dining Restaurant, A Halal Chinese Restaurant, an Arts Center, a Writing Workshop thing-a-magigi, a halal meat shop, a kabob house, a storefront Masjid, the offices for Jamal ud Deen (a future Muslim association working for Islamic reform, renewal, renaissance, revival, tajdid, etc.), a small bookstore (because small bookstores are nice too), a coffeeshop, a barber shop, a bakery, a candlestick maker's shop.  Yes, I know, this is a re-hashing of my Muslim Village idea.  I know, I know.

But deep down inside, you know you love Pakola Ice Cream Soda.  At the opening ceremony of this beautiful Muslim strip-mall of the future, we'll have a toast with Pakola in champaigne glasses.  Instead of cheers we'll make takbir and hamd.  Imagine that, a toast using green soda.  Does it get more Islamic than that?