Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, was complaining about the closure of Steak ’n Shake
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) speaks before Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia in Oct. 2024. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
By Arno Rosenfeld May 2, 2025
Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, said Friday that the replacement of a Steak ’n Shake at a congressional food court with an Asian restaurant serving halal cuisine was “equivalent to the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the 7th century.”
Collins appeared to be responding to an email announcing the opening of CHA Street Food, a northern Virginia restaurant known for their Zinger Burger and Chicken Tikka Roll, in the cafeteria of a House of Representatives office building. It is replacing Steak ’n Shake, a national fast food chain owned by Sardar Biglari, an Iranian refugee.
Collins compared the change to the Muslim army’s conquest of Jerusalem when it was home to the Byzantines; the campaign cemented Arab control over Palestine until the First Crusade, nearly 500 years later. Many Christian nationalists have a strong interest in the Crusades, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “Deus Vult” tattoo — a Crusader-era slogan associated with the contemporary far right — generated controversy during his confirmation hearings.
While Collins, who runs his own account on X, enjoys cultivating an irreverent presence on social media, he has previously come under fire for offensive posts.
Last year, he endorsed an antisemitic post on X attacking Washington Post reporter Maura Judkis for being Jewish and refused to apologize. “Y’all just see stuff that ain’t there,” Collins said at the time.
He also criticized pro-Palestinian campus protests, and boasted that there weren’t tent encampments in southern states because law enforcement had “tazers set to stun” alongside video of police at Emory University firing a taser at a handcuffed protester.
Collins’ X account was briefly suspended after he said that an undocumented immigrant arrested for assaulting a police officer should be thrown out of a helicopter; he has also referred to Black Lives Matter as “America’s primary communist front group.”
The switch from Steak ’n Shake to CHA Street Food in the Rayburn building is part of a broader reshuffling of House office building eateries announced Friday, including the replacement of Dunkin’ with Starbucks, Subway with Jimmy John’s and Au Bon Pain with Panera.
The changes come as Sodexo is replaced by Metz Culinary Management.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Steak ’n Shake was founded by Sardar Biglari. It was founded by Gus Belt in 1934 and Biglari purchased the company in 2008.
