44-year-old left his tech job and started a halal burger joint—his restaurants brought in over $4 million in 2025

Shahezad Contractor's initial aim in starting his halal burger business was simple: "I wanted more halal options." Now, with eight locations across the Northeast, he has much bigger dreams for Cousin's Burger , the halal restaurant chain he launched in 2024. "Our goal is to be the next In-and-Out or the next Shake Shack," Contractor tells CNBC Make It. Contractor, 44, is the founder and CEO of Cousin's Food Inc., a halal restaurant group based in Philadelphia. Along with Cousin's Burger, Contractor also owns a halal pizza shop, Cousin's Pizza, and a halal barbecue joint, Cousin's Smokehouse and Burgers. Collectively, his restaurants brought in over $4 million in revenue in 2025, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. In Contractor's view, there's "a lot of untapped potential" in the halal food market. "You don't need to be Muslim to enjoy halal," Contractor says: Many people prefer halal meat because of its "high quality and cleanliness," as well as its more humane treatment of animals. Aside from the Halal Guys restaurant franchise, there are relatively few mainstream American halal food options in the U.S., Contractor says. He's hoping to change that. How he got started Contractor, who grew up on Long Island, got into the restaurant business almost by accident, he says. Technology was his first passion: after earning a degree in management information systems from SUNY Old Westbury, he spent 24 years working in IT. The turning point came when his friend Tabish Hoda asked Contractor to participate in his halal food festival in 2023. Contractor, who has no formal culinary training but frequently cooks for family and friends, decided to make smashburgers — it was "the easiest thing I could do," he says. He bought enough meat to feed approximately 500 customers, expecting to have leftovers. Instead, Contractor sold out by 6 p.m. that day. "That's when I realized that there was a ton of potential" in serving American-style halal food, he says. Contractor star...