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Late-night kababs and paneer: More halal restaurants extend hours during Ramadan
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Published Feb 28, 2025  â˘Â 3 minute read
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About 300 students from five Edmonton Public High Schools gathered in a community hall for the third annual Iftar dinner on March 20, 2024.Iftar is the evening meal that breaks the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Photo by Shaughn Butts /Postmedia FileEDMONTON â Imran Kayesh remembers the smell of lightly marinated chicken and fish sizzling on a grill inside a packed restaurant in Bangladesh just before sunrise during Ramadan.
âItâs like 4 or 5 a.m., so early you wonât realize that you are going to restaurants at an odd time,â says the food blogger, who immigrated to Canada from the South Asian country in 2015.
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âOutside on the road, you see cars packed, weather is humid, people walking around.â
There was rice and yogurt to go with the meat, along with a large glass of water, which sustained him until dusk.
As Ramadan begins Friday, Kayesh says the vibe wonât be exactly the same in Canada. But heâs excited that more restaurants across the country are set to stay open longer or open earlier each day throughout the next month.
Heâs already set his sights on Middle Eastern, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants and a coffee shop in Edmonton that plan to serve halal food until midnight, through to sunrise or 24-7.
The unusual hours of operation are a tradition in countries with large Muslim populations during Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims donât eat food or drink water from sunrise to sunset.
Such countries also allow Muslims to work shorter days so the fasts are easier to get through.
In Canada, with its amount of daylight in March, many Muslims donât eat or drink anything for 12 hours.
Calgary-based food influencer Zareen Tasnim says sheâs excited to break each fast by eating from buffets that many restaurants plan to add to their menus late into the night and only during Ramadan. There will be mouth-watering trays of kebabs, chicken tikka, paneer, naans, biryani, butter chicken and other stews.
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Tasnim says thereâs also a popular Korean fried chicken joint in Calgary thatâs scheduled to stay open later, and some businesses have also created space for Muslims to pray.
âItâs so exciting when different cultures also extend their hours, celebrate your culture with you,â she says. âWe definitely did not have that a few years ago.â
When Tasnim previously wanted takeout during Ramadan, she says she would have to pick up her order hours before she could break her fast.
âBy the time it was time to eat, it was cold or not as fresh,â she says.
Wayne Smith, director of the Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Research at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the trend of extending restaurant hours during Ramadan began after the COVID-19 pandemic as Canada welcomed more immigrants.
âYouâre starting to find halal food in a lot more places in Canada than you would have found 10 years ago and definitely more than 20 years ago,â he says.
âImmigrants are bringing that culture to Canada.â
Smith says Canadians who donât mark Ramadan, including those who work graveyard shifts or have remote jobs with international companies, also appreciate being able to get fresh, savoury South Asian and Middle Eastern meals and desserts at odd hours.
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âGiven our society today, it actually just makes sense. We work in a much more 24-7 environment.â
Most municipal bylaws in Canada donât have restrictions on the extended hours, he adds.
âThe only time that you really get a lot of restrictions is if you were serving alcohol,â he says. Most halal-serving restaurants donât offer alcohol.
The one challenge can be finding workers.
âBut this is an industry thatâs well used to working toward guest needs and working odd times, so they make it happen,â says Smith.
Kayesh says extended hours is also good news for second- and third-generation Muslims born in Canada who can experience their culture in their neighbourhoods like family members did decades before.
Ramadan is like Christmas for Muslims, says Tasnim.
Along with fasting, the community makes time to volunteer for charities, gather in large groups, pray shoulder to shoulder at mosques, reflect, then eat some more.
âMy favourite part is spending time with family and friends who I donât get to see a lot of throughout the year,â she says.
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