The Halal Guys, the American Halal food concept based in New York City, opened its first franchised location last week in Chicago. The site, which is also the brand’s first store outside of home base market in New York, is located in Chicago’s Gold Coast district at 49 W Division St.

The Halal Guys have partnered with Fransmart, the franchise development company behind the growth of brands like Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill, and the Chicago franchisee has committed to opening another four locations. The Chicago market still has prime territory available for franchising, as well as the nearby metro areas of Indianapolis; Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin; and Detroit.

Since joining up with Fransmart and announcing the launch of a franchise program in 2014, The Halal Guys has also opened two corporate brick-and-mortar restaurants in Manhattan and has more than 200 franchise units in development, in territories including Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Virginia, and the entire state of California, which sold out within the first months of franchising, as well as a handful of international markets.