Restaurant buyout Dubai: fit-out costs, approvals and timelines

A restaurant buyout in Dubai, where you take over an existing food and beverage unit and refit it for a new concept, typically costs AED 90,000-900,000 for the fit-out. Where a project falls in that range depends mainly on floor area and finish level. Timelines are 5-7 weeks (small), 8-12 weeks (mid), 12-18 weeks (large). Small units of up to 500 sq ft generally fall in the AED 90,000-180,000 band. Mid-size outlets of 500-1,500 sq ft run AED 180,000-400,000, and large restaurants of 1,500-5,000 sq ft sit at AED 400,000-900,000. These are indicative ranges only. The final cost depends on finish level, materials sourcing, structural complexity and the approval cycle, and we confirm it only after an on-site survey. A buyout can look cheaper than starting from shell and core because the previous operator already paid for extraction, drainage and power. That saving is only real if those systems pass inspection and suit your new menu and layout. Checking this before you sign the lease is the most valuable part of the job.

When you buy out a restaurant you inherit everything the previous operator built, including problems that do not show on a walk-through. Before you commit, First Unicorn Interiors surveys the kitchen extraction route from hood to discharge point. We check whether the wet chemical suppression system is current and serviced, how big the grease interceptor is and what condition it is in, and how the LPG or gas installation was done. We also confirm the electrical load approved by DEWA. Previous approvals are tied to the previous layout. If you move the cooking line, add a tandoor or charcoal grill, enlarge the dining area or change seating capacity, Dubai Municipality and Civil Defence will usually need fresh drawings. A concept that keeps the existing hot line and back-of-house roughly in place can reuse much more of the old infrastructure. A concept that flips the floor plan is close to a new build in practice. Our survey report sets out which elements can be kept, which must be upgraded and which must be removed. Your landlord, lawyer and lender can then work from the same facts.

Commercial fit-out in Dubai is priced by floor area, not by bedrooms or room count. Residential pricing rules do not apply to a restaurant buyout. Indicative rates are AED 80-150 per sq ft for a basic finish, AED 150-300 per sq ft for mid-range and AED 300-500 per sq ft for luxury. Within each band, the finish specification and the location push the figure up or down. A unit in a prime mall or a waterfront destination usually carries tighter landlord design rules, out-of-hours working conditions and stricter material approvals, which moves cost toward the upper end of its band. A neighbourhood unit in a community retail centre with a straightforward landlord tends to sit lower. The kitchen is usually the biggest cost. Extraction, grease management and food-safety finishes cost far more per square foot than the dining room, so a kitchen-heavy delivery concept can cost more per square foot than a larger dine-in unit with modest back-of-house. We price each zone separately so you can see where the money goes.

Restaurant fit-out carries high approval risk compared with other fit-out types. That is because food-safety clearance, kitchen extraction and grease management all go through authority review. Indicative timings are 10-15 working days for Dubai Municipality building and fit-out plan approval and 5-10 working days for Civil Defence fire and life safety approval. A DEWA connection or modification takes 7-14 working days. Several of these run partly in parallel, so they should not be added together to estimate the programme. Dubai Municipality's food-safety review covers the kitchen layout itself: separation of raw and cooked preparation, hand-wash stations, storage, refuse areas and washable finishes. Civil Defence focuses on the hood suppression system, fire alarm, emergency lighting, exit routes and occupancy. We prepare the drawing packages in-house and coordinate submissions so that comments from one authority do not invalidate drawings already approved by another. In our experience, getting the approval sequence right saves more time on a buyout programme than anything done on site.

Where your restaurant is located decides which permits and NOCs you need. In Emaar communities and malls such as Dubai Mall, Dubai Hills Mall and the Downtown Dubai boulevard retail, the developer or mall operator reviews your design before authority submission. Master developer NOCs typically take 10-20 working days, depending on the community. Mall landlord approval typically takes 10-20 working days and adds to authority approval rather than replacing it. Majid Al Futtaim centres such as Mall of the Emirates have their own tenant fit-out guidelines and inspection regimes. Meraas destinations such as City Walk, La Mer and Bluewaters apply strict design controls on shopfronts, signage and terraces. On Palm Jumeirah, Jebel Ali and other Trakhees jurisdictions, Trakhees issues the approvals instead of Dubai Municipality, typically within 15-25 working days, and Nakheel's own landlord requirements apply on top. Allow for the landlord's design manual from the start. Redesigning a shopfront after a rejection costs more time than any construction task.

Restaurant buyouts in DAMAC communities follow a separate community management route. The DAMAC NOC covers DAMAC Hills 1 and 2, Akoya, the Lagoons and the Islands. Applications go through the DAMAC Living app and typically take 5-15 working days. Indicative admin fees are AED 1,050-5,000, and the refundable security deposit is AED 5,000-20,000. The deposit is held against damage to common areas and against overruns past the approved works period, so keeping to the programme protects it. The authority route also differs by community. DAMAC Hills 1 is routed through the Dubai Development Authority (DDA), while DAMAC Hills 2 is routed through Dubai Municipality. DAMAC Hills 2 also requires a separate landscape NOC, which matters if your concept includes outdoor seating or planters. Major extensions pay a GFA fee to DAMAC Properties before the final NOC is issued. We handle these submissions alongside the authority drawings so that NOC conditions are reflected in the design from the start, not added after rejection.

Kitchen extraction is where most buyout budgets either hold or fail. Dubai's long, humid summers mean extraction has to be designed together with the air conditioning. If the kitchen pulls out more air than the system replaces, the dining room loses conditioned air, doors become hard to open and humid outside air brings condensation onto ceilings and ductwork. A compliant system balances extract with treated make-up air, uses fire-rated ductwork with proper access panels, and discharges where it will not affect neighbours. Discharge is especially sensitive in mixed-use towers in Dubai Marina, JBR and Downtown, where residents live above the restaurant. Landlords often require odour control such as electrostatic precipitators or carbon filtration before discharge. Grease management on the drainage side is just as important. An undersized or poorly maintained interceptor leads to blockages, landlord penalties and failed inspections. We size and specify both systems for the cooking load of your menu, which is why changing from a café concept to a grill concept changes the cost so much.

Material choices in a restaurant fit-out are decided by hygiene first and appearance second. Back-of-house surfaces must be smooth, non-absorbent and easy to clean. That usually means stainless steel worktops and wall cladding behind cooking lines, slip-resistant floor tiles or seamless resin floors with coved skirting, and washable ceilings that resist grease and moisture. Separate hand-wash basins, sealed service penetrations and pest-proofed openings are standard expectations at Dubai Municipality food-safety inspection. Front of house allows more design freedom, but Dubai's climate still sets limits. Terrace furniture and finishes face strong UV and humidity, so we specify marine-grade metals, UV-stable fabrics and porcelain rather than natural timber where it will weather badly. Inside, acoustic treatment is often underestimated. Hard surfaces in a full dining room create noise that shortens how long guests stay. A good design balances hard finishes with acoustic panels, upholstered seating and soft ceiling treatments, and still meets the fire-rating requirements Civil Defence checks at completion.

Recent completed project: [Insert project name, community, unit size and date from First Unicorn Interiors project records before publishing]. This before/after summary should cover what the client inherited at handover, what was retained and what was replaced. Record the condition of the existing extraction and suppression systems, the state of the grease interceptor, the layout problems that affected kitchen flow and any outstanding authority comments from the previous operator. Then describe the delivered result: the new concept, how the hot line and preparation areas were reorganised, the extraction and make-up air solution, the dining-room finishes and the approvals obtained, naming Dubai Municipality, Civil Defence, DEWA and the relevant landlord or master developer NOC. State the actual programme and confirm that it fell within the canonical timeline band for the unit size. Add before/after photographs of the kitchen line, the dining room and the shopfront. Only publish this paragraph once every detail has been checked against the signed project file.

Choosing a contractor for a restaurant buyout is different from hiring one for a residential renovation, and a few checks filter the field quickly. First, confirm the company holds a valid trade licence covering fit-out works and that its fire systems are installed by a Civil Defence approved specialist. Second, ask who prepares and submits the authority drawings. Contractors who outsource design often lose time between comments and resubmissions. Third, check insurance cover for contractor's all-risk and third-party liability, which most mall landlords require before they release the site. Fourth, look at warranty terms in writing. First Unicorn Interiors works with an in-house team across design, MEP coordination and joinery, has completed more than 800 projects, and backs its workmanship with a 3-year warranty. Finally, ask to speak with a previous food and beverage client rather than relying on photographs alone. "[Insert verified one-sentence quote from a real restaurant client, with written consent]" — [Firstname L.]

The final stage of a buyout is handover and opening, and it needs as much planning as the build. Civil Defence carries out a completion inspection of fire alarm, emergency lighting, suppression and exit signage before the unit can trade. Dubai Municipality's food-safety inspection checks the kitchen against the approved layout, and DEWA must energise any modified supply. Your landlord will usually carry out its own handover inspection against the approved tenant drawings. Snagging should finish before these inspections, not run alongside them. Every failed inspection adds working days the opening date cannot absorb. We run a pre-inspection walk-through with our own MEP engineers, hand over test certificates and as-built drawings, and train your team on extraction filter cleaning and interceptor maintenance. Throughout the project we report against the agreed programme of 5-7 weeks (small), 8-12 weeks (mid), 12-18 weeks (large). For a site survey and indicative proposal in AED, message us on WhatsApp at +971 58 565 8002.