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How one family is building a halal food empire in Allston
From pastries to tacos to pizza, the Canca family runs four restaurants along North Beacon and Cambridge streets in Allston.
At the center of four adjacent restaurants in Allston is a family whose close bond has helped fuel the growth of their small businesses.
“The goal is providing halal food for the Muslim community in Boston,” Rifat Canca, one of Lazuri’s managing owners, said. “But when we first started, we just wanted to have something together as a family.”
The Cancas — made up of parents Ziya Canca and Fatma Corbaci and siblings Kenan, Rifat, and Dilara — are the backbone of Lazuri. The family, which resides in Belmont, shares ownership of the restaurant group.
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The Lazuri chain spans the corner along North Beacon and Cambridge streets, and currently consists of four neighboring restaurants: Turkish Lazuri Cafe (1 North Beacon St.), Lazuri Bakery (3 North Beacon St.), Lazuri Chicken ‘n Pizza (487 Cambridge St.), and Lazuri Taqueria (485 Cambridge St.).
The franchise’s name refers to Laz, a language spoken in Rize, a province in Turkey from which the Canca family hails.
Ziya Canca, who moved to Brighton in 2003, previously owned Anatolia Kebab House in Brookline for about 15 years before selling it to his brother. He dreamed of opening more halal restaurants in the Boston area — this time, with his kids beside him.
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When a vegan restaurant shut down in 2020, Rifat said it was the perfect opportunity to launch Turkish Lazuri Cafe in the same spot in March 2021. The space sits across the street from the now-closed Twin Donuts.
The halal-based cafe offers a vast array of American and Mediterranean menu options. Fatma’s Burger, named after Corbaci, is a typical burger, but patrons can also order traditional Turkish dishes like menemen, a popular scrambled egg dish, and gözleme, a crispy flatbread.
Rifat said Boston’s halal food scene is small — and that’s what Lazuri aims to change.
“Out in New York, wherever you go there are halal restaurants,” Rifat said. “In Boston, there aren’t many that we know.”
Halal food complies with Islamic dietary laws, which include humane animal slaughter and restrictions on ingredients like pork and alcohol.
Four years after Turkish Lazuri Cafe opened, closures along the same street paved the way for three new Lazuri restaurants: Lazuri Chicken n’ Pizza, Lazuri Bakery, and Lazuri Taqueria.
The three eateries opened within the first months of 2025, with Lazuri Bakery and Lazuri Taqueria launching two weeks apart in March.
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“It still hasn’t really hit me,” Kenan Canca said. “We opened each shop and everything happened so quickly, it’s hard to process but it shows how blessed we are.”
Brothers Rifat and Kenan initially worked at the restaurants on weekends, their weekdays filled with attending college classes at UMass Boston and UMass Amherst, respectively. Now post-grads, they’ve stepped into their roles full-time.
Rifat and Kenan co-own Lazuri Taqueria and Chicken n’ Pizza, and they also share ownership of Lazuri Cafe with their father Ziya. Rifat and his mother run the bakery together. All of the family members, including Dilara, float between the restaurants, covering shifts at each one.
Rifat, who graduated in 2023, said he’s “always at the restaurant.”
He recalled frequently hopping on phone calls between classes and shuffling through financial statements while taking classes. However, he said he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kenan said multiple people have called the taqueria a “blessing” for giving them an opportunity to experience different cuisines in a way that aligns with their religious values.
The taqueria offers build-your-own burritos, tacos, bowls, and quesadillas — using all halal meat options. Its sleek, red interior is illuminated by fluorescent lights.
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The four restaurants became neighbors because of pure luck, Rifat said.
“This is the perfect opportunity to expand and help the Muslim community, so that’s what we did,” Rifat said.
Lazuri Bakery offers a variety of mouth-watering American and Turkish pastries, ranging from a decadent raspberry cake to rich supangle, a chocolate pudding, to the iconic pistachio baklava.
Lazuri’s mission is to build a space for a community where Muslims can feel represented, not to push out other local eateries.
“It’s not trying to steal their business at all,” Rifat said. “It’s just to help the Muslim community have halal choices, that’s the most important thing.”
The restaurant offers the Cancas the opportunity to embrace and share their Turkish culture side by side.
“If it was just me running this, I wouldn’t be able to do it, not at all,” Rifat said. “But since I have my family right next to me, it’s much easier.”
