Why International Restaurant Brands Are Betting on Saudi Arabia
Visitor numbers, a growing food-service market and a deep bench of franchise partners help explain why Chipotle, Berenjak, Manna and others are opening in the kingdom.
Chipotle opened its first Saudi restaurant in August. Berenjak and Cipriani Dolci arrived earlier in the year, and London’s Manna burger brand opened in Riyadh on 28 September. Each is an international name entering a market that, on several measures, is growing quickly. This analysis sets out what the published numbers say about why, and where they stop short.
The demand case
The starting point is visitors. The Ministry of Tourism’s preliminary figures put total visits to Saudi Arabia in 2025 at more than 122 million, domestic and international combined, up 5 per cent on 2024, with tourism spending up 6 per cent to about SR300 billion, as Gulf News reported in January. The 2030 target is 150 million visits a year, made up of 70 million international and 80 million domestic, Skift noted. The 2025 figure does not say how many of the visits were from abroad, so it cannot be read as a count of foreign diners.
The market is also forecast to grow. Mordor Intelligence projects Saudi food-service revenue reaching $48.6 billion in 2031, a compound growth rate of 8.11 per cent from 2026, according to Arab News’s May report on the sector. In the same piece, Arthur D. Little’s Arjun Vir Singh put the 2025 visitor count at an estimated 122 million, on a trajectory towards 150 million by 2030. Operators’ results point the same way: Americana Restaurants reported first-quarter net profit of SR236.9 million, up 94 per cent, and a first-half net income of $147.2 million, up 59.2 per cent, on revenue of $1.36 billion. Those are group figures across 12 markets, and the company does not break out Saudi Arabia.
The partner route
What stands out in this year’s arrivals is how they came. Chipotle entered the Gulf through Alshaya Group, the family-owned franchise operator established in Kuwait in 1890, whose portfolio includes Starbucks, Shake Shack and Raising Cane’s. The July 2023 agreement was Chipotle’s first franchise deal, and the Riyadh restaurant is the 17th in the Middle East. tbreak reports that a second Saudi restaurant, in Jeddah, and a Bahrain launch are planned for 2027, which points to a rollout rather than a one-off flagship. Berenjak opened through a collaboration with Cool Inc, the group behind Gymkhana, Ferdi and Madeo in the capital. Manna began in London in 2022 as a partnership between the Arcade food hall and chef Feroz Gajia, and opened in Riyadh five days after a second Dubai site, in DIFC.
Established operators are consolidating as well. Americana, whose brands include KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s and Krispy Kreme, completed its acquisition of Malak Al Tawouk’s Saudi business on 9 July and expects 120 to 130 net new restaurants by the end of the year across its markets. In January, Alamar Foods completed the purchase of Cravia Arabia, the operator of Five Guys in Saudi Arabia, for SAR 85 million, taking on 13 restaurants. In most of these cases the global name arrived with a regional operator or local partner rather than alone.
Not every operator is winning
The picture is not uniformly bright. In the same May report, the local chain Herfy narrowed its first-quarter loss to SR3.9 million from SR18.6 million a year earlier, while the burger chain Burgerizzr grew first-quarter revenue by 33.5 per cent to SR104.71 million. Fast casual, the format Chipotle has chosen, is already contested: the What’s On Saudi Arabia Awards shortlisted five fast-casual names in Riyadh this year. And the delivery platforms through which many customers order may consolidate, as our analysis of the delivery figures explains.
What to watch
Three questions will decide whether the wave keeps its pace. How many of the planned 150 million visits come from abroad, where the 2025 numbers are silent. Whether premium and mid-market names can fill their rooms once the novelty of opening fades. And how the partner model evolves, which we trace in our report on the franchise pipeline linking London, Dubai and Riyadh. For the first-hand case study, read our report on Chipotle’s Saudi debut.
Sources & fact-check10
- Saudi Arabia attracts 122 million tourists, pumping SR300 billion into national economy in 2025Gulf News, 21 January 2026
- Saudi Arabia Reports 5% Gain in 2025 Visits, Tops 120 MillionSkift, 23 January 2026
- Burgerizzr net profit leaps 202% to $1.52m in Q1 as Saudi food sector expandsArab News, 7 May 2026
- Americana Restaurants delivers strong H1 2026 performanceAmericana Restaurants via Zawya, July 2026
- Chipotle Saudi Arabia opens first restaurant in Riyadhtbreak, 28 August 2026
- Chipotle makes its debut in Saudi ArabiaNation's Restaurant News, August 2026
- Alshaya Group Brings Chipotle to Saudi Arabia with Riyadh DebutAlshaya Group, August 2026
- Alamar Foods buys Five Guys operator Cravia Arabia for SAR 85 mnMubasher, 4 January 2026
- Manna opens two further sites in the Middle EastRestaurant Online, 5 October 2026
- From London to Riyadh: Berenjak opens a permanent restaurant in VIA RiyadhFACT Magazines, 16 March 2026
Every name, number and date in this story was checked against the sources above before publication. Spotted something wrong? Tell us — we correct errors openly. See our editorial standards.
