A Houston barbecue restaurant with a distinctive twist has expanded to the Dallas area with a location in Frisco: Called Levant BBQ, it just opened at 3211 Preston Rd. #3, in the former Genghis Grill, where it's doing a halal version of barbecue, an increasingly popular style in Texas in recent years.

Levant BBQ was founded in Houston in 2024 by Mohamad Kharboutli, a restaurateur who grew up in Aleppo, Syria, and worked at Mediterranean restaurants across Moscow and Jordan, followed by Houston, when he moved there in 2009. Frisco represents their second location, although Kharboutli has plans to open more.

The restaurant is named for the Levant area of the Middle East, located along the eastern Mediterranean shores. Kharboutli's goal was to give Muslims a place to enjoy Texas barbecue.

"After years serving the Levantine table, he felt a craving no restaurant could answer — halal barbecue with the depth of Texas pit tradition and the aromatic soul of the Levant," says the restaurant's website.

Kharboutli elaborates in an Instagram post explaining the Frisco expansion, stating that "a lot of people couldn't eat the barbecue because they missed the halal food."

Halal refers to a style of processing meat according to Islamic dietary laws with rules on how the animals are slaughtered; it also forbids the consumption of pigs — halal barbecue places do not serve pork.

More halal barbecue places have opened in DFW as a response to the area's growing Muslim population, including Yearby's Barbecue and Waterice in Plano and Kafi BBQ in Irving.

Levant's menu combines Texas staples like brisket with Mediterranean options — a combination they dub "Halal-b-que." They use the same post oak wood used by Texas barbecue restaurants but add seasonings like cardamom, Aleppo pepper, and pomegranate molasses.

There's brisket and beef rib by the pound for $36 to $37; plus turkey breast and half or whole chicken. In place of pork, Levant spotlights lamb, with offerings such as lamb chops, leg of lamb, and smoked lamb sausage.

Sides include potato salad, mac & cheese, creamed corn, coleslaw, and okra — but also hummus and saffron rice. There is a smoked potato for $6, which you can get in a loaded version topped with brisket, cheese, and BBQ sauce for $15; plus loaded fries for $17.

Three shareable dishes include "The Levant Feast" — a $99 spread that feeds 3-4 with brisket, turkey, chicken, sausage, four sides, bread, pickle & onion, and BBQ sauce.

In an email, Kharboutli calls Frisco "the perfect fit" for what Levant does.

"Frisco felt like the perfect fit for Levant BBQ because of how fast the area is growing and how diverse the community is," he says. "We’ve had so much support from people in DFW asking us to bring our food closer to them! We also felt Frisco has a great food scene and community atmosphere that aligns really well with our brand and what we’re trying to build."