Gyro and chicken platters by the Halal Guys.

Three Northern California franchises of the wildly popular The Halal Guys are set to open.

But it’s lucky San Jose that will get the first one, beating to the opening date the ones planned for San Francisco’s Tenderloin and downtown Berkeley.

That first Halal Guys will open 11 a.m. June 3 at The Plant, 81 Curtner Ave. #20. The first 100 guests in line will receive a free entree and the first 2,500 guests in line will receive a choice of a complimentary Halal Guys t-shirt or pair of sunglasses.

Get ready for gyro sandwiches, chicken and rice platters, and their famed white sauce and hot sauce.

The Halal Guys phenomenon began in 1990 when three guys from Egypt had the smarts to realize that Muslim cab drivers in New York were hungry for quick halal food. What started as a sidewalk food cart is now a booming franchise with locations not just in New York, but also Southern California, Houston and Chicago.

Thanks to delivery service Caviar, which was ferrying orders ($11.99 for platters) from the Halal Guys for a preview taste, I had a chance to sample some of the food a few days ago.

The platters came with either chicken, gyro or a combo of the two over a bed of chopped tomatoes, iceberg, and what at first glance looked like grated carrots, but turned out to be rice. There are also a few slices of soft pita bread, and of course, the sauces in their packets.

Nope, that’s not carrots. That’s rice.

What is this fabled white sauce? It’s rather mayonnaise-like with a little vinegar. I can see how people get addicted to this stuff, as who doesn’t like ranch dressing or mayo? The hot sauce is wicked hot. Definitely much more potent than I was expecting. All it took was a tiny dab of the red stuff to set my palate aflame.

The rice was definitely unique in its color. Online copycat recipes use turmeric and cumin in the rice. But there must be something else in the mix, as the actual color of the Halal Guys rice is much more cheddar cheese-orange than the curry-like hue those two spices would impart. The taste is quite mild, too.

The chicken, chopped up in little pieces, was moist and redolent of garlic and oregano. The gyro meat, also chopped pretty finely, was quite flavorful, too.

You can customize your own forkful. Or do what a lot of folks do, which is squirt on a generous amount of white sauce and mix everything together — so that it resembles the inside of a burrito.

I’ve had plenty of gyros and Middle Eastern food before. So was this the best I’d ever had? I wouldn’t say that. But it was plenty tasty and satisfying.