Halal Butchers and Grocers by Neighbourhood: The One Nearest You

People ask two questions about halal butchers. One is which are best: see which is the best and which are the ten worth driving to. The other is simpler: which one is near me?

People ask for a shop and a place in one breath: the Shawnessy one, the Nolan Hill one, Westgate. So I sorted seventy of them by area, with notes where I have them. For Shawnessy, the closest is Ar-Razzaq on Bannister Road SE, in the south section below.

Northeast: Westwinds and Mountainview

The densest halal shopping in the city. The YYC halal meat name has two shops: one in Mountainview Plaza in Westwinds, and a northwest branch on Nolanridge Crescent.

• Calgary Produce Market, 4774 Westwinds Dr: grocery, meat counter and hot takeout (biryani, nihari, fish pakora) in one, with an on-site prayer space.
• Madina Halal Meat & Grocery and Ummah Halal Meat, both at 4656 Westwinds Dr.
• Kabul Halal Meat & Bakery, 4774 Westwinds Dr, and Aziz Grocery, Halal Meat and Bakery, 4809 Westwinds Dr.
• YYC Halal Meats Fish & Grocery and Panah Bakery and Halal Meat, both in Mountainview Plaza at 3770 Westwinds Dr.
• Bangla Bazar Supermarket, 4851 Westwinds Dr: the Bangladeshi pantry.
• Asian Halal Meat & Food, 55 Westwinds Cres; Mustafa Madani Halal Meat & Grocery and Pizza Centre & Halal Meat Grocery, both at 7 Westwinds Cres.

Northeast: Saddletowne, Savanna, Skyview and Cityscape

The newer north edge, where the shops followed the houses.

• Westgate Halal Meat and Deli, 850 Saddletowne Cir: a halal counter inside the Freshco, so one trip covers your whole shop. The draw is the halal beef bacon and the marinated cuts. Pick your cut, pay up front, then wait while it’s cut.
• Vattan Halal Meats, 218 Saddletowne Cir: a branch of the Memorial Drive original. Regulars phone ahead and pick up.
• Calgary Halal Meat & Grocery, 20 Saddlestone Dr.
• Savanna Grocery & Halal Meat, 9052 46 St NE, and Savana Meat Shop & Takeout, 5850 88 Ave NE.
• Skyview Grocery & Halal Meat, 55 Skyview Ranch Rd, and Pak Foods, 10960 42 St NE.
• Alta Halal Meat, 6424 36 St NE; Centra Halal Meat and Shaheen Grocery, both at 4655 54 Ave NE.

Northeast: Whitehorn, Rundle, Temple, Falconridge and Castleridge

• Madani Halal Meat & Grocery, 5008 Whitehorn Dr: next to the No Frills, so the pair covers a full shop.
• Damascus Butcher, 6915 Rundlehorn Dr: Syrian and Middle Eastern, rated 4.8. Its hard-to-find halal salami and bologna keep regulars coming back. Meat is cut the way you ask.
• Chahine Supermarket & Halal Meat, 7196 Temple Dr.
• 786 Meat & Groceries and Alnoor Halal Meat & Grocery, both at 5075 Falconridge Blvd.
• Paradise Grocery & Halal Meat, 55 Castleridge Blvd.
• Tasty Halal Store, 3304 64 St NE; Ahsan Halal Meat & Grocery and Ali Baba Halal Meat, both at 5120 47 St NE.

Northeast: 32 Avenue, 27 Street and Sunridge

• Wild Rose Meats and More, 3131 27 St NE: rated 4.8, and a butcher’s butcher. Cuts are trimmed to order, the ribeye stands out, and it sells barbecue charcoal. Centre Halal Market is in the same plaza.
• Basha Foods International, 2717 Sunridge Way: a big Middle Eastern grocer whose shawarma uses meat from its own butcher counter.
• Afghan Bakery and Halal Butcher Store, 3545 32 Ave NE: bread and a meat counter together.
• Barakat Bakery & Halal Meat, 4525 52 St NE: the one people mean when they just say Barakat.
• Meatplus Halal Meat and Seafood, 2730 39 Ave NE, and Eden Grocery and Halal Meat, 4801 26 Ave NE.
• Ariana Bazaar & Cloth House, 3434 34 Ave NE, and Calgary Wholesale Market, 1305 33 St NE.
• On Memorial Drive: Vattan Halal Meat and Groceries, 5269 Memorial Dr, cutting halal meat in Calgary since 1996, and Mashawi Market & Grill, 3745 Memorial Dr.

Southeast: the 17 Avenue strip

Seven counters sit within a few blocks on 17 Avenue SE in Forest Lawn. If one is out of what you want, the next is two minutes away.

• Safari Meat Market, 5010 17 Ave SE: wholesale and retail. It sources from farmers who avoid antibiotics and growth hormones.
• TAAJ Halal Meats, 4721 17 Ave SE: by the case for an event, or in household portions from the same counter.
• Mediterranean Halal Meats & Deli, 3917 17 Ave SE: beef, lamb, goat, chicken and fish with a Mediterranean pantry.
• Maher Halal Meat, 3517 17 Ave SE, and Atlas Halal Meat, 5320 17 Ave SE.
• African Halal Meats, 4014 17 Ave SE, and Green Cedars Food Mart, 4710 17 Ave SE.

South: Macleod Trail, Midnapore and the new southeast

• Shaganappi Mediterranean Market, 9950 Macleod Trl SE: a meat counter at the back, with bread, olives, cheese and prepared food up front. The closest halal butcher for much of the south. Try the meat and cheese pies.
• Zak’s Mart, 8906 Macleod Trl SE.
• Ar-Razzaq Halal Meat & Grocery, 15219 Bannister Rd SE: the Midnapore and Shawnessy answer, and one of a few counters south of Glenmore Trail.
• Canadian Halal Meat and Grocery, 20 Copperpond Psge SE: serves Copperfield and the newer southeast. Regulars no longer drive to the northeast, and they name the goat.

Southwest and the inner city

• Shaganappi Mediterranean Market, 3919 17 Ave SW: the original, near Marda Loop, over a quarter century old, in a southwest short on halal grocers.
• Khalid Halal Meat & Grocery, 4515 Macleod Trl SW in Parkhill: say what you’re cooking and they’ll cut for it.
• TK Grocery and Halal Meat, 9639 Macleod Trl SW, and Zam Zam Halal Meat & Grocery, 9737 Macleod Trl SW.
• Food World Halal Meat and Grocery, 1916 37 St SW, and Gandour Halal Meats & Deli, 1619 37 St SW.
• Dahlak Al Food Store, 1208 14 Ave SW: the closest thing to a halal grocer in the Beltline.

Closest to downtown

There’s no halal butcher in the core. The two nearest are a few minutes north:

• Tebyan Supermarket & Halal Meat, 908 Edmonton Trail: the closest halal counter to downtown. It serves Crescent Heights and the inner north, where butchers are rare. Regulars name the lamb ribs.
• Samar Market, 2215 Centre St NW: Mediterranean and Levantine groceries plus fresh halal meat, with beef prices singled out.

Northwest

Only a handful, which is the standing complaint out here.

• Nolan Hill Halal Meat & Convenience, 50 Nolanridge Ct: meat, South Asian groceries and frozen seafood. Handy if your usual grocer stocks meat but nothing from the sea.
• YYC Halal Meats Fish & Grocery, 246 Nolanridge Cres: the northwest branch of the Westwinds shop.
• Sage Hill Crossing Halal Meat & Grocery, 54 Sage Hill Passage.
• Savor Meat Mart, 40 Country Hills Landing: the far northwest. Reviewers want it to stay open for the lamb.
• Hyderabad Halal Meats & Grocery, 12 Royal Vista Way, and Indian Aroma Halal Grocery, 7750 Ranchview Dr.

Airdrie and Chestermere

• Al-Anwar Halal Meat and Grocery, 28 Kingsview Rd SE, Airdrie. More in the Airdrie and Okotoks roundup.
• First Choice Meat Shop, Lakeside Meat Masala and Masala Meats and Takeout in Chestermere. More in the Chestermere roundup.

What the spread tells you

Thirty-nine of these are in the northeast and seven are in the northwest. Live west or south of downtown, and you have three or four within a fair drive. Live in the northeast, and you have a choice on most corners. That gap is why the 17 Avenue strip and the Macleod Trail shops are worth knowing by name, and why anyone in the core ends up at Tebyan.

For what to buy once you’re inside, the butchers and grocers roundups go shop by shop. For the meat itself, see halal Alberta beef and what makes chicken halal.