Stuckey's was once a must-stop store on a road trip. With more than 400 locations, the iconic stores were known for their candies and classic Southern pecan log rolls.
But it is new menu items that are attracting a different generation of customers to Stuckey's in Doolittle, Missouri: halal burgers and biryani.
Demand for halal food from Muslim truck drivers and road trippers has skyrocketed over the past several years across the country, and the rural Missouri store is helping meet that need.
"People stopped at our stores to ask, is there any halal food? Is there any halal food? They would buy salads, you know, but they wouldn't buy anything else," said Shabaz Raza, who co-owns the Stuckey's off of Interstate 44 and more than a dozen other travel centers in the country.
Halal food labels are common now in some grocery stores and restaurants. It refers to food that's prepared according to Islamic dietary guidelines, and it holds spiritual significance for many Muslims.
Finding halal options on the road, however, is a challenge. Raza saw that as a need and an opportunity.
"Every time we go out with the family, with the kids, or traveling for work, when we see the halal sign, that's it. That's our stop, no matter what," Raza said. "If there's an hour still for lunch, we will still be stopping there and getting lunch early, because we're not going to get this halal food again."
In the past six months, Raza and his business partners have brought halal food to 10 Stuckey's stores across the country and several other gas stations through their food group, Turbo Joe's Fresh Foods. The response has been positive — and profitable.
Serving truckers and students a taste of home
When Mohammad Paras saw the halal food label on a Stuckey's billboard on I-44 this month, he took the exit 10 miles west of Rolla, parked his 16-wheeler and went in for a bite.
He ordered biryani, a spicy chicken rice dish, to fuel him up for his delivery trip to the West Coast.
"I cannot go in the city because I'm driving a truck. I'm always on the highway," Paras said. "Normally, I had to eat plain cheese pizza because I cannot eat pepperoni and that kind of stuff if it's not halal."
Paras is one of dozens of truck drivers who stop at Stuckey's daily because it offers food that caters to their religious beliefs. He said he has designated halal food stops in Indiana, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and California.
Paras said he is grateful Missouri is now on his list as of three months ago.
After introducing halal pepperoni, burgers, chicken tenders and Indian dishes to the store, the store began advertising their new offerings on four billboards along the interstate, which last year was traveled by an average of 19,500 vehicles daily.
The billboards have attracted many new customers, according to the owners.
The store's managing partner Mohammad Kamal said that several families and close to 20% of all his truck driver customers buy halal food.
"We have a lot of trucking traffic on this highway. So truck drivers, many from the Indian subcontinent, were asking for Indian food," Kamal said.
Immigrants make up about 18% of truck drivers in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a sizable number coming from India and the Middle East.
But it is not just truck drivers and roadtrippers who find a food oasis at Stuckey's. International students at University of Missouri Science and Technology are also regulars here.
Many who come from India take comfort in the store's taste of home, said Haris Aleem, the store's manager. He said almost all of the store's DoorDash orders are from international students at the university.
Stuckey's is also a hangout spot for them.
"A lot of customers in the evening come out there and have chai and samosa to sit out there and eat those," Aleem said.
'A little bit spicy, but I want to try it'
The chicken and rice dish is made fresh daily by cooks Teddy Goud and Ritu Rani. It starts with marinated chicken, cooked on a gas stove in an outdoor kitchen. The chicken is spiced with cinnamon sticks, coriander, bay leaf, cardamom and other whole spices.
The cooked rice and chicken are then layered and slow-cooked again in a large steel pot, bringing the flavors of the two together to make a hearty dish that is warm, spicy and sometimes tangy.
Rani said she has been surprised, and pleased, by the amount of people who are not desi, or from the Indian subcontinent, that want to try Indian dishes. One family comes in twice a week and orders 20 samosas at a time, she said.
"There is one customer, I remember, he came to me, he told me, I like Indian food, but it is a little bit spicy for me, but I want to try," Rani said. "But then he tried, he told me my hair is wet and I am sweaty, but it's awesome. I like it."
Kamal and Raza, who have been friends and business partners for more than 15 years, say it makes them proud to offer a service that is needed by Muslims and appreciated by a wider range of customers.
"People come in and they look for who is the owner, and they want to meet us, and they want to thank us. And some of these families, if we're not there, leave their written notes," Raza said. "One family wrote a full page saying prayers for us, for our parents, for our families, for our business. That's how much people appreciate us."
Expanding their menu and their business
Running a 24/7 halal kitchen and sourcing halal meats isn't an easy feat. There are two ovens, air fryers and grills to separate halal meats from bacon. And if the kitchen is running low on inventory, Aleem, the store's manager, makes the hour and a half drive from Doolitte to St. Louis to pick up meat from Middle Eastern and desi grocery stores on Manchester Road in Ballwin.
"We are in a remote area, we're on a highway, so a lot of vendors do not carry a lot of halal stuff because that's not their demand," Aleem said.
Aleem said he frequently gets questions about the halal label. Besides the handful of insensitive and disrespectful comments, he said it is fun teaching people something new about his culture and religious beliefs.
"Coming from a different culture, people are always curious to know about you," said Aleem, who is originally from Pakistan.
When Aleem posted brochures and signage around the store with the word halal written in Arabic, his employees were the first to ask about its meaning. Now, cashier Kathie Gaffney and cook Rani say they feel confident answering customers' questions about it.
Though Muslim customers make up a small part of their customer base, the owners say it's an important service, and they expect to grow their halal food offerings and franchise it to other stores around the country in the coming months.
"We don't see it as a clash of two different religions or two different schools of thoughts. I see that this is for everyone," Aleem said. "We are not serving the halal food only to Muslims. If a non-Muslim wants to eat that, it's for them too. Stuckey's candies, they're not for older people. If a kid wants to buy that, they want to buy it too."
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