Forty-five years at Pittsburgh’s table.
What began as one math teacher’s butcher shop is now the city’s home for halal food — a market, a grill, a butcher counter and a catering kitchen, all run by the same family.
Quick answer: Salem’s Market & Grill is a family-owned halal food company founded in Pittsburgh in 1981 by Massaud Salem and led today by his son Abdullah Salem. From its Strip District home at 2923 Penn Ave. — and a second market on Centre Ave. in the Hill District — Salem’s runs a grocery market, a fast-casual grill, a hand-cut halal butcher and a full-service catering kitchen.
A math teacher with a butcher’s apron.
Massaud Salem came to Pittsburgh from Libya in 1971 to study mathematics. He noticed something missing: the city’s international students and Muslim families had nowhere to buy truly fresh, halal food. So while teaching math, he opened a small butcher shop — and ran it the way he ran his classroom: with patience, honesty and high standards.
That shop became Salem’s. In 2010 the family moved its headquarters to the Strip District, Pittsburgh’s historic market row, where the market, grill and butcher counter now live under one roof at 2923 Penn Ave.
Today Massaud’s son Abdullah Salem leads the company — named one of Pittsburgh Business Times’ “Personalities of Pittsburgh” and, with the whole Salem’s team, Pittsburgh City Paper’s People of the Year in Business.
Est. 1981 · Family-owned
Fresh, farm-to-table food for all families — building bridges to equality.
100% halal, zero shortcuts
Every cut of meat we sell or serve is halal, locally sourced, and hand-trimmed in-house at Salem’s Butcher. No outside processors, no mystery.
Affordable for everyone
Dollar for dollar, we aim to put the best-value plate in Pittsburgh in front of you — generous portions at honest prices, every single day.
Rooted in community
From bringing a grocery store back to the Hill District to youth culinary competitions, Salem’s invests where it lives. See our community work.
The Salem’s story, year by year.
| 1971 | Massaud Salem arrives in Pittsburgh from Libya to study mathematics. |
|---|---|
| 1981 | The first Salem’s butcher shop opens — fresh halal meat for a community that had none. |
| 2010 | Salem’s moves its headquarters to the Strip District at 2923 Penn Ave., uniting market, grill and butcher. |
| 2022 | The City of Pittsburgh selects Salem’s to bring a grocery store back to the Hill District’s Centre Heldman Plaza. |
| 2023 | Pittsburgh City Paper names Salem’s its People of the Year in Business; Salem’s expands to Oakland as operator of Scotty’s Market at Carnegie Mellon University. |
| Today | Salem’s Halal Food Group keeps growing — market, grill, butcher, catering, and branded halal products. |
One family. Four ways to eat well.
Order from the grill, stock your kitchen at the market, talk to our butchers, or let us cater your next gathering.