Planning a restaurant fit-out in Dubai
The decisions that shape cost and opening date are made before the first drawing, starting with the unit you choose.
Inspace Interiors project team,
Restaurant and café fit-outs combine high-impact design with the heaviest MEP of any interior: kitchen extract, make-up air, gas, grease management and fire suppression. Most delays and budget overruns in F&B projects trace back to decisions made before design begins.
Choose the unit with the kitchen in mind
Before you sign, confirm that the unit can take a commercial kitchen. Check whether there is an approved route for kitchen extract to the roof or façade, whether gas is available, where the drainage points are and whether there is space for a grease trap. A shop unit without an extract route can be expensive, or impossible, to convert.
Design front and back of house together
The dining room sells the experience, but the kitchen decides how many covers you can serve. Plan the kitchen with your equipment supplier early, then design seating, the bar and service routes around it. Counters, back-bars and banquettes are usually bespoke joinery with long lead times, so detail them early.
The approvals path
- Landlord or mall NOC
- Municipality or free-zone fit-out permit
- Food-safety approval of the kitchen layout, finishes and equipment
- Civil Defence approval of fire alarm, sprinklers and hood suppression
- Utility approvals where electrical load changes
- Final inspections and completion before trading
Programme
A small café can open within 4 to 8 weeks of approved design. A full-service restaurant with a commercial kitchen typically needs 10 to 16 weeks, depending on size, approvals and joinery.
Keeping the budget under control
Ask for an itemised BOQ that separates kitchen MEP, extract, suppression and joinery from finishes, so you can see where money goes. Agree the kitchen equipment scope in writing: who supplies, who installs and who connects. Most disputes in F&B fit-outs come from gaps between the fit-out contractor and the kitchen supplier.
Inspace has fitted out restaurants, cafés and cafeterias across Dubai, from an 80 sq m café in Mirdif to a Spanish tapas restaurant in Barsha Heights, with counters and joinery made in our own workshop.
Related services
Planning a project? Request a proposal or call +971 56 799 1936.