- We never call food halal in our own voice. Every label says who makes the claim, and when it was last confirmed.
- Four labels, strongest first: HCC Verified, Certified, Owner-stated and Community-reported.
- Plain facts sit under each label: how the meat is slaughtered, how much of the menu, alcohol and pork.
- Payment never adds or strengthens a label or a fact.
- Practice differs, so we show the facts and leave the judgment to you.
Last updated October 30, 2026.
Why we label this way
Who says a place is halal matters as much as the word itself. So this site reports; it does not rule. Every label names its source and its date, and a label that has not been confirmed for a long time says so.
Some places on the open map are tagged halal by volunteers. We treat those tags as leads to check, never as labels.
The four labels
HCC Verified
The Halal Community Council has checked this place against its published criteria. The badge links to HCC's own verify page for that business. Only HCC can grant it. We read it from HCC's site, and we cannot grant, sell or change it. One owner runs both HCC and East Coast Muslim. HCC charges businesses a yearly fee for verification. Paying HCC does not buy a better place on East Coast Muslim. See HCC Verified, explained.
Certified
A named certifying body lists this place. The listing names the certifier beside the word and links to the certifier's own public record. We recheck each certifier's published list on a schedule. When a recheck is overdue, the label says when it was last checked.
In New York, the source is the state's halal registry, which we match every week, and the listing links to the registry entry. A New York claim that has not matched the registry within 14 days does not show as certified until it does.
Owner-stated
The owner told us the food is halal and answered our standard questions. Only a person who has claimed the listing can give these answers. A new or stronger owner claim waits for our review before it shows.
Community-reported
Visitors report the place as halal, and a person reviewed the report. Nobody responsible for the kitchen has confirmed it. Places listed as halal on Muslim Myrtle Beach start here, with the line "Listed as halal on Muslim Myrtle Beach", until the owner claims the listing here and answers for it.
The facts under each label
- Slaughter: zabiha (hand-slaughtered), machine, mixed, or not known.
- Menu: the whole menu, part of it, or not known.
- Alcohol: served, not served, or not known.
- Pork on the premises: yes, no, or not known.
- Last confirmed: the month and year the facts were last confirmed.
On a city's food list you can filter by Open now, Hand-slaughtered, No alcohol and HCC Verified.
How an owner's answers can change
A change that makes a claim more cautious shows at once. A change that makes it stronger waits for a person to review it.
Shows at once
- Withdrawing an Owner-stated claim.
- Menu: whole menu to part of it, or anything to not known.
- Slaughter: hand-slaughtered to machine, mixed or not known.
- Alcohol: not served to served.
- Pork: none to on the premises.
Waits for review
- Adding an Owner-stated claim, or asking for Certified with the certifier named.
- Menu: part of it, or not known, to the whole menu.
- Slaughter: anything to hand-slaughtered.
- Alcohol: served, or not known, to not served.
- Pork: on the premises, or not known, to none.
Freshness
Every label shows when it was last confirmed. A place that nobody has confirmed for more than 18 months fades, sorts last, and says "Not recently confirmed". We never remove a place just because time passed; a person decides.
When a label is disputed
- An HCC Verified place: your concern goes to HCC's own concern form. HCC keeps every case in its own system, and nothing about it is stored here.
- Any other label: a person reviews your report, the label shows "Under review", and the owner is invited to answer.
Paid listings
Payment moves a listing up. It never adds or strengthens a halal label or a fact, and it never changes a review.
On a paid listing the halal rules are stricter, not looser. A paid listing is an advertisement, so it shows only claims the business itself stands behind: HCC Verified, Certified, or Owner-stated with the owner's written promise and the basis on file with us. Community reports do not show while a placement runs.
- New York: a paid listing shows a halal claim only with its certifier named.
- Maryland: until our legal review of Maryland's halal advertising law is done, a paid listing in Maryland shows no halal claim and no Arabic text.
See How placement works.
State halal laws
New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia have halal food laws, and each of those state pages summarizes its law. We follow the strictest reading for the whole site: every claim is attributed, and where a certifier stands behind a claim, the certifier's name sits beside the word on every listing, free or paid. This is our reading of the laws, not legal advice.
What we do not do
- We do not certify food, and we do not inspect kitchens.
- We do not take sides between schools of thought. Practice differs between people and schools, so we show the facts and leave the judgment to you.
- We never let payment buy a label.