At Brothers Chimichurry food truck, halal Latin dishes are a family affair

Koushik Alam raises an eyebrow whenever someone asks him if the food truck he co-owns, Brothers Chimichurry Halal Latin Grill, is really halal: “Maybe Muslims are skeptical because it doesn’t say ‘halal’ on our truck in Arabic?” All of the meat is butchered according to Islamic law, Alam says. But if this isn’t specified in big letters in Arabic script, the truck’s colorful decor suggests another intriguing story: Brothers Chimichurry flies flags from Bangladesh, Uruguay, and Colombia. 

The first two represent the heritage countries of two brothers-in-law, Koushik Alam and Angel Enriquez, who teamed up to open the business in April. Alam’s truck might not have Arabic on it, but his body does: Behind his ears and along his forearms are tattoos of Arabic letters and one long verse from the Quran, and near his wrist he has the outline of a crescent moon and star. Alam conceived the food truck out of both a commitment to Islamic principles and a love for Latin food that he developed in New York City, where he lived until recently with his partner, Vanessa Gomez, and their kids. Gomez is from Colombia and is also involved in the business — hence the third flag. 

“I just want Muslims to try authentic halal Latin cuisine,” Alam says. More than four-fifths of Muslims in the U.S. either strictly adhere to or prefer to follow a halal diet; he found plenty of Latin options in New York, he says, but hardly any in Georgia. So the truck offers Latin-style marinated and grilled meats served with the titular chimichurri, a blend of parsley, chilis, garlic, and olive oil, along with dishes like empanadas and fried snapper. The food is prepared by the truck’s chef, Adelso Cardena, who represents yet another nation: He’s a recent immigrant from Venezuela, where he’s been working in Caracas restaurant kitchens since the age of 14. 

Cardena is also Gomez’s stepfather — the business is a family affair. Gomez and Alam met in New York a decade ago while they were both working for a chain barbecue restaurant in Brooklyn. Gomez’s sister and her Uruguayan husband — the truck’s co-owner, Angel Enriquez — moved from New York to Gwinnett County about 20 years ago, eventually persuading their relatives to come south and join them in 2022. “It’s a calmer lifestyle” in Georgia, Gomez says. “New York was a fast pace of life and there was a lot of violence. Here we’re renting a house and it’s spacious.”  

Gomez grew up in a Christian household, but she and Alam are raising their children Muslim — a topic of conversation recently in light of the season. “He respects my wishes by allowing me to tell the kids that Santa will be giving them presents for Christmas,” Gomez says. “Usually we celebrate on the 24th, cook food and bring it to someone’s house and do a secret Santa, and then at midnight we open gifts.” This year, her plan was to cook lobster and Jamaican-style jerk wings. Though she’s not Muslim herself, Gomez says she prefers halal meat, which the food truck gets from a local butcher who processes and cleans the meat according to religious guidelines. “Halal meat, to me, tastes more clean because of the process of cleaning it,” Gomez says. 

If their family represents a fusion of cultural traditions, the truck’s menu is straightforwardly Latin American — though Brothers Chimichurry does offer a very-hot hot sauce that, Alam says, other Bangladeshis might enjoy. The plates are served over fluffy yellow rice with pigeon peas and come with a salad and choice of sides that include crispy tostones, sweet plantains, and French fries. 

Partway through its first year, the business is doing well — the family has recouped the money they invested into the project, and have started to increase revenues. “We were competing against a taco food truck in Lilburn and beat their sales,” Alam says. Still, nearly everybody has another job: Alam owns a sneaker storefront in New York, Enriquez owns a trucking company, and Gomez helps out at an eyelash extension salon in Sugar Hill. “My dream is to get rich off of this,” Alam says with a laugh. “I want everybody in Georgia to know about it.” 

Alam says the family aspect is his favorite part of working on the food truck — and not just the coworkers. When he opened the food truck to allow more Muslims to try Latin cuisine, the potential customers he had in mind included his own parents. “I want to make my dad proud,” Alam says. “He always told me to do something halal.”

Check out Brothers Chimichurry on Facebook here.