Front of house and back of house flow
The single most important decision in a restaurant fit-out: how FOH and BOH connect.
FOH vs BOH roles
- Front of house: entrance, waiting and host area, dining floor, bar and washrooms; sets guest experience and the cover count that drives revenue
- Back of house: kitchen, cold and dry stores, wash-up, staff and waste; sets how fast and cheaply you can serve those covers
Service flow principles
- Food: short, clean path from pass to table
- Dirty crockery: returns without crossing the food path
- Staff, deliveries and waste: routes that never cut through the dining experience
Getting this geometry right early prevents a beautiful dining room that can never run efficiently at full service.
Kitchen extraction and ventilation
Commercial kitchens live or die on extraction.
- Correctly sized canopy, ductwork and extract fan: remove heat, smoke, grease-laden vapour and odour
- Make-up air replaces extracted air so the kitchen stays at neutral pressure: stops smells pulling into the dining room
- Grease ducting must be accessible for cleaning; system balanced against the building's HVAC
- Retrofitting ductwork after the ceiling is built is slow and expensive. We coordinate extraction from the start
DCD fire-safety and food-safety approvals: two regimes you cannot skip
- Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) fire approval: escape routes, detection and alarm, suppression including the kitchen hood fire-suppression system, emergency lighting, fire rating of materials
- Food-safety approval (relevant municipality or food-control authority): kitchen layout, washable walls and floors, coved skirtings, handwash provision, grease management, separation of clean and dirty processes
We design kitchen and finishes to meet both requirements first time and manage the submissions. See our fit-out approvals hub and the Dubai fit-out approvals guide.
Atmosphere, lighting and acoustics
- Lighting: ambient, accent and table-level layers that flatter food and guests and shift the mood from day to evening
- Acoustics: hard surfaces look sharp but exhaust a room at full covers; we balance reflective and absorptive materials to keep conversation comfortable
- Seating layout planned for the cover count and circulation you need, including spacing for service style and accessibility
Joinery, finishes and durability
- Commercial-grade finishes: durable, cleanable flooring; moisture-tolerant materials in wet zones; joinery built for daily use at bar, host stand and banquettes
- Custom joinery coordinated in-house: buildable and on programme
- Wet areas, washrooms and kitchen perimeter: impervious, washable surfaces with coved junctions; clean down easily and satisfy food-safety expectations
MEP for the whole venue
- Power and data for kitchen and bar; gas where used; water, drainage and grease interception
- Comfort cooling sized for a full, busy room
- Lighting: circuits zoned for day-to-evening control
- Bar planned as its own service engine: ice, glasswash, drainage and storage
How we work
End to end: concept, technical drawings, DCD and food-safety approvals, procurement and fit-out, under one accountable team. Build detail at fit-out works. Wider commercial offer at commercial interior design. Hotel venue: start at hospitality interior design. Store or showroom: retail interior design. Cost context: interior design cost guide.
Restaurant fit-out is priced per project. We give a fixed quote after a free site visit (prices exclude 5% VAT). Book your free site visit on +971 50 928 5264.
Restaurant fit-out timeline: what sets the opening date
Approvals set your opening date more than the build does. A restaurant typically runs through the trade licence and lease, the fit-out permit and the building or mall NOC, Dubai Municipality's kitchen layout assessment, Civil Defence for exhaust, gas and suppression, then DEWA and the grease trap. Inspections and the food permit come last. The order varies by zone, and the authorities don't publish one figure for the whole chain, so we don't quote weeks.
What we can do is show which steps block which. The kitchen layout has to be approved before you build the kitchen, so it goes early. Kitchen equipment and extraction have their own lead times, so they go on order at design freeze instead of waiting for the permit. The restaurant fit-out approval page lays out the ten-step sequence, and what sets your fit-out timeline explains the blocking logic.
Grease trap and the kitchen layout assessment
Two items catch operators out because they sit behind the walls. First, the kitchen drawings go to Dubai Municipality for a food-safety assessment before construction. It checks the finishes, the separation of raw and cooked areas, handwash stations and storage. Second, a grease trap is mandatory for commercial kitchens under Dubai Municipality's Grease Trap Guideline 2021. A licensed contractor installs it, and it's a precondition for both the drainage approval and the food approval.
Sizing isn't a rule of thumb, so we confirm it for your kitchen. It's easier to place the trap in the drawings than to squeeze it in later. The full food-safety chain is on the food safety approval page, and once the kitchen is running the trap needs regular cleaning, which our grease trap maintenance covers. For how the approvals shape the kitchen position and the seating, read restaurant fit-out approvals, exhaust and layout.
Cafe and coffee shop fit-out
A cafe is a smaller restaurant that still counts as a food business. Dubai Municipality's food-safety regime covers cafes as well as restaurants, so the kitchen layout assessment and the food permit apply. What changes is the scope. A coffee counter needs water, drainage, power and cold storage close together, and the extraction you need depends on what you cook. A drinks-and-pastry menu asks for less than a hot kitchen with gas.
We confirm what applies once we know your menu. After that, the seating plan does most of the work, because it decides how many covers the unit can hold. The approvals chain is the same one described on the restaurant fit-out approval page, and the fit-out approvals hub shows where your unit sits.
What a restaurant fit-out costs
Fit-out in Dubai starts from AED 250 (Essential), AED 450 (Premium), AED 800 (Luxury) per square foot, before 5% VAT and a typical ~10% contingency.
F&B carries the longest approval chain and the heaviest services: kitchen extraction, grease management, drainage and a food-safety layer on top of the fire approval every commercial space needs. Those sit behind the walls, so two restaurants with identical finishes can differ substantially.
Treat these as general fit-out bands and starting points for a quote. They are not a sector rate card. The fit-out cost guide explains what moves a project between bands and the five costs that sit outside the rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What approvals does a restaurant fit-out need in Dubai?
Two regimes are essential: Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) fire approval, covering escape routes, detection, suppression including the kitchen hood system and material fire ratings; and food-safety approval from the relevant municipality or food-control authority, covering kitchen layout, washable finishes, handwash provision and grease management. We design to meet both and manage the submissions for you.
Why is kitchen extraction so important?
Extraction removes heat, smoke, grease vapour and odour from the kitchen, and the make-up air system replaces what is extracted so the kitchen does not go into negative pressure and pull smells into the dining room. The canopy, ductwork and fans must be correctly sized, accessible for cleaning and balanced with the building's HVAC, which is why we coordinate it from the start rather than retrofitting it later.
Can you maximise the number of covers in my space?
Yes. We plan the seating layout for the cover count and service style you need while keeping comfortable circulation, accessible routes and a clean path between kitchen pass and tables. The aim is the most usable covers the unit can support without making the room feel cramped or slowing service.
Do you handle the kitchen design and equipment as well as front of house?
Yes. We design back of house (kitchen, stores, wash-up, staff and waste) alongside the dining room, coordinate the extraction and MEP, and specify finishes and layout to pass food-safety approval. We can work with your chosen kitchen equipment supplier or advise on a fit-for-purpose specification.
How long does a restaurant fit-out take?
Programme depends on the size of the unit, the kitchen and extraction scope and the authority approval cycle. We set out a realistic timeline at quotation stage that includes design, the DCD and food-safety approval periods and the fit-out itself, so you can plan your opening date around it.
How much does a restaurant fit-out cost in Dubai?
It is priced per project because the kitchen, extraction, MEP and the condition of the unit vary so much. We give a fixed, itemised quote after a free site visit and assessment, quoted excluding the 5% VAT applied in the UAE.
Does a cafe need the same approvals as a restaurant?
The food-safety regime covers cafes too, so the Dubai Municipality kitchen layout assessment and the food permit apply. The extraction, gas and grease scope depends on your menu. A drinks-and-pastry cafe usually needs less than a hot kitchen, and we confirm what applies once we know what you'll cook.
Do I need a grease trap in a restaurant kitchen?
Yes. A grease trap is mandatory for commercial kitchens under Dubai Municipality's Grease Trap Guideline 2021, installed by a licensed contractor. It's a precondition for the drainage approval and the food approval, and we confirm the sizing for your kitchen.