Restaurant Feasibility Study Consultant in Dubai and the UAE

By Ralph Homer, founder of Praxis Model · 33 years and more than 300 restaurant projects · Updated October 17, 2026 · اقرأ بالعربية · Читать по-русски

In short. Praxis Model prepares restaurant and cafe feasibility studies for investors opening in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and across the UAE. You get a complete study of your concept, your location and your numbers, with a clear verdict, delivered in seven working days. One location costs USD 3,999 at our founding price.

Scope, price and timeline

Praxis Model is a restaurant feasibility study consultancy for Dubai, the UAE and the six GCC markets. Fixed, published prices from USD 3,999. Delivered in seven working days. Built for bank, investor and landlord submissions.

Most feasibility work in the Gulf is priced after a call and delivered in weeks. Ours is priced on this page and delivered in days.

Investors and lenders in the Gulf often call this work a restaurant business plan. The two overlap: the plan tells the story, and the feasibility study tests whether the numbers behind it hold. Our guide to the restaurant business plan banks and investors read in Dubai and the Gulf sets out what each reader expects.

Who it is for

You have a concept and a budget, and you are close to signing something: a lease, a partner agreement, a franchise contract. Before that signature, you want to know whether the restaurant will make money, how much it will really cost to open, and how long the cash has to last.

Our clients are usually one of three people. A first-time investor with capital and a dream. An operator with one successful restaurant who wants a second. Or a group taking a concept into a new emirate or a new Gulf country.

What it costs to open a restaurant in Dubai

A properly built restaurant in Dubai costs between USD 200,000 and USD 1.5 million all-in, depending on the concept. This is what I tell investors today:

“All-in” means everything it takes to open the doors and survive the first months: the build, the kitchen, licences, deposits, salaries before opening, launch marketing, working capital and a contingency fund. A prime mall puts you at the top of each range, a community mall at the bottom. If someone offers you a restaurant for AED 200,000 to 400,000, ask what they mean: that buys a food truck or a very small unit, not a proper restaurant in Dubai. The full line-by-line breakdown is in what it really costs to open a restaurant in Dubai.

Why a feasibility study in Dubai is different

Four things decide a Dubai restaurant’s numbers more than anything else, and every study we prepare tests them before it gives a verdict:

• Location. The site must suit the concept, and the concept must suit the site. The same restaurant, with the same team and the same recipes, can lose two thirds of its sales by moving fifty metres to the back.
• Rent. Rent is measured as a share of sales. Keep it in single digits to a little over 10 percent, and treat 20 percent as a ceiling you walk away from, not a target. Mall leases often add a turnover rent clause that you must understand before you sign.
• Key money. A payment to take over a unit on top of the rent, and very common in Dubai. I do not pay it. That money is better spent on the reserve and on an opening campaign that tells the city you have arrived.
• Time. At least six months to open a restaurant in Dubai, and it can take twelve. Power, gas, Municipality and Civil Defence approvals each run on their own clock, and every month of delay is rent and salaries with no sales.

Licences and the opening timeline in Dubai

A restaurant in Dubai opens through a fixed sequence: a trade licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism, a lease registered in Ejari, a Dubai Municipality layout approval, the fit-out, Civil Defence approval, FoodWatch registration with a certified Person in Charge, health cards for every food handler, and a final Municipality inspection. Government licensing typically totals AED 20,000 to 45,000 in year one, plus a market fee of about 5 percent of annual rent. The paperwork alone takes about 60 days for a small cafe and 90 for a full restaurant; the whole project, from lease to opening, usually takes six months or more.

The study builds that timeline into the cash plan: the rent and salaries that run before the first sale, and the reserve that carries them. A dine-in restaurant generally needs a mainland licence. Our guide to the restaurant trade licence in Dubai covers each step and its cost.

What a feasibility study is, and why a free template is not enough

A feasibility study is the written answer to one question: is this project worth your money? You will find free feasibility study templates online, many as PDFs, and they are useful for understanding the general shape. But a template does not know your site, your menu, your rent or the power capacity of the building you are about to lease. Restaurants do not fail in the general shape. They fail in the details.

A real study starts from the concept, not from the spreadsheet. The menu decides the kitchen equipment, the equipment decides the space, and the seats multiplied by the average bill decide the sales you need to cover your costs.

How a restaurant feasibility study is prepared: the steps

1. The concept on paper first. The idea, the menu and the guests you are cooking for, before a single dirham is spent.
2. The site. Visit it in the morning, the afternoon and the evening, and in summer too: Dubai in August is a different city. Count the people walking past and the cars driving past, and study the neighbours: who is trading well, who has closed, and why.
3. The capital budget. Every line it takes to open: build-out, kitchen, licences, deposits, pre-opening salaries, marketing, working capital and contingency. As a rule we hold a contingency of 5 percent of the build and working capital for three months of fixed costs.
4. Sales. Covers, average spend and the seasons, Ramadan and summer included, built from the menu and the seats, not from hope.
5. Costs. Food, staff and their housing, rent, utilities and every other cost, line by line.
6. Break-even. The monthly sales that cover your costs, and when you reach them.
7. The verdict. Go, or Go with Conditions. And if the answer is no, we tell you why and what would have to change.

The four questions investors ask us first

• What kind of concept? Any food and beverage concept: a cafe, a quick-service counter, casual dining, fine dining, a cloud kitchen, a food truck or a kiosk. Sales are built from your own menu, seats and dayparts, so the model fits the concept rather than the other way round.
• Which city or district? Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the other emirates, from Downtown and DIFC to Jumeirah, Business Bay and the malls. The study is built for your exact site, its rent and the trading pattern of the streets around it.
• Is it for a bank, investors or your own decision? All three. The same study serves your own go or no-go and a submission to a bank, an investor or a landlord. The Investor Edition adds a presentation version for that audience.
• Local partner or foreign investor? Both. Whether you are a national, a resident or entering the Gulf for the first time, the study is built the same way. For the legal structure itself you will need a lawyer; our guide to local partners and sponsors in 2026 explains the options.

What the study contains

Every study is built from the ground up for your concept and your site. No templates with your name pasted on top. It covers nine sections:

1. Company at a glance. The concept, the site, the people and the plan on one page.
2. Sources and uses. Where the money comes from and exactly where it goes.
3. The capital budget. Every line it takes to open: build-out, kitchen, licences, deposits, pre-opening salaries, launch marketing, working capital and contingency.
4. Sales, engineered. Covers, average spend and seasonality, built from the menu and the seats, not from hope.
5. The cost engine. Food, staff, rent, utilities and every other cost, line by line.
6. Profit and loss. Month by month for the first year.
7. The five-year view. Growth, cash and returns over five years.
8. Break-even. The sales you need each month to cover your costs, and when you reach them.
9. The thesis. Our verdict and the reasons for it.

How it works

1. The questionnaire. You tell us the concept, the menu, the site you are looking at in Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE, the rent you have been quoted and the money you have to open. The seven working days start when it is complete.
2. The model. We build the capital budget, the sales and the costs for that site, using what restaurants like yours actually spend and earn in the emirates, not national averages.
3. The verdict. The study arrives on day seven with the full model, The Thesis and a plain recommendation.
4. The walk-through. We take you through it line by line and answer every question before you sign the lease, the partner agreement or the franchise contract.

Prices

A feasibility study is the cheapest money you will spend on a restaurant. It costs a fraction of one month’s rent on a good Dubai site, and it is the only point where every mistake is still free to fix. To see these prices beside what other UAE firms publish, read the price comparison by provider type.

Commission your study ›

Why Praxis Model

I have spent 33 years opening and running restaurants and working as a restaurant consultant in Dubai and across the Gulf, with more than 300 projects behind me. I have opened places that queued around the block and watched others close inside a year. I know which line in a budget goes wrong first, which lease clause hurts in year two, and why a Dubai villa can take eleven months to open when the plan said six.

Our studies are built on that experience, and on a simple rule: make every mistake on paper, never with your money.

You can read how we think about costs in how much it really costs to open a restaurant in Dubai, or see a full sample study before you commission one.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a restaurant feasibility study cost in Dubai?

USD 3,999 for one location at our founding price (standard USD 6,999), with fixed prices for two and for three or more locations in the price table above. For what other UAE firms publish, see our guide to what a restaurant feasibility study costs in the GCC.

How long does a feasibility study take?

Seven working days from the moment we have your information.

How much does it cost to open a restaurant in Dubai?

Between USD 200,000 and USD 1.5 million all-in (about AED 0.73 million to 5.5 million), depending on the concept: USD 200,000 to 400,000 for a proper quick-service restaurant, USD 500,000 to 800,000 for casual dining, and USD 1 million to 1.5 million for a larger full-service restaurant. The full breakdown goes line by line.

Do I need a mainland or a free zone licence for a restaurant in Dubai?

A dine-in restaurant serving walk-in guests generally needs a mainland licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism, which has allowed full foreign ownership for restaurants since 2021. A free zone licence can suit some delivery-only and food production setups, but it cannot serve the mainland public without extra structure. Confirm your structure with a licensed adviser.

Is there a free restaurant feasibility study template?

Free templates are useful for understanding the general shape of a study, but they do not know your site, your menu or your rent. You can read a full sample of one of our studies before you commission yours.

Do you cover Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the other emirates?

Yes. We work across the UAE, and in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.

Can I show the study to a bank, a landlord or an investor?

Yes. Many clients add the Investor Edition, a presentation version of the study designed for exactly that.

Is my concept kept confidential?

Always. We never name or show a client’s concept, numbers or location to anyone.

What happens after the study?

We meet to walk you through it and answer your questions. If the verdict is to go ahead, the study becomes your plan and your budget for the months that follow.

Commission your study · See a sample study · thesis@praxismodel.io

Praxis Model is a financial feasibility specialist for GCC hospitality. Prices shown are founding prices in US dollars and may change. Client work is confidential: we never name or show a client’s concept, numbers or location.