Restaurant Fit-Out & Interior Design in Dubai

A restaurant fit-out usually transforms a new, stripped or shell-and-core unit into a working venue for the first time. A restaurant renovation upgrades a venue that is already trading — new finishes, a reconfigured layout, an upgraded kitchen or a refreshed bar. The scopes overlap heavily, and many Dubai projects are genuinely both. What changes is the starting condition of the unit and whether trading days have to be protected while the work runs.

Restaurant fit-out cost depends on the floor area and target covers, whether the unit is shell-and-core, existing fitted or trading, the size of the kitchen and who supplies the equipment, the extraction and drainage routes available, the incoming services capacity and any upgrade required, the specification of finishes, joinery and FF&E, the approvals that apply and the programme you need to hit. Format matters as much as size: a cloud kitchen, a coffee shop, a quick service restaurant, a casual dining room and a fine dining venue of the same floor area sit at very different points of the range, because the extraction load, grease and drainage scope, cold chain and finish specification are not comparable. Halo does not publish a per-square-foot or per-cover figure, because those numbers change once the unit is assessed — you receive an itemised proposal against a defined scope instead.

Usually because the quotes are not covering the same scope. The three lines that move most between proposals are the kitchen equipment package — whether it is inside the price or supplied by others — the extraction, make-up air, gas and grease drainage engineering, and who is preparing and submitting the drawings for approval. A lump-sum figure with those left undefined will always look cheaper than an itemised one that includes them. Before comparing any two restaurant fit out companies in Dubai, put their exclusion lists side by side rather than their totals.

It depends on the proposal, which is exactly why it is stated explicitly rather than assumed. Halo plans the kitchen layout and delivers the kitchen MEP — canopies, ductwork, make-up air, gas, water and power to the equipment schedule, grease traps, gullies and drainage falls, and fire suppression coordination. Where the equipment package itself is supplied by your own kitchen supplier, that is written into the scope as an exclusion, and we coordinate the schedule, the services requirements and the delivery sequence with them rather than presenting their scope as ours.

Test five things on every contractor you shortlist. Have they delivered your specific format rather than restaurants in general — a patisserie, a shisha lounge, a charcoal grill and a ghost kitchen are different technical projects. Who engineers the extraction, make-up air and grease drainage, and is it in-house or subcontracted to nobody in particular. Who prepares the kitchen, MEP and fire-safety drawings for submission. Is the kitchen equipment inside the price or outside it. And can they work the hours your building actually permits. The checklist further up this page sets out why each question matters and how Halo answers it.

Substantially. A mall, hotel or podium unit brings its own fit-out guide, approved-contractor list, fit-out NOC, barricade and hoarding rules, restricted delivery and working hours, hot-works permits and staged inspections — and the extraction route is often fixed by the building rather than chosen by you. A standalone or street-front unit gives you more freedom over the kitchen position and duct routing, but usually puts more of the authority submission and services-capacity work directly on the project. Halo confirms which applies to your unit at the site assessment rather than assuming it from the district.

The programme covers survey, design and kitchen coordination, landlord and authority approvals, procurement, construction, MEP and extraction commissioning, snagging and handover before trial service. Design and approvals can often run in parallel, and the critical path is usually the approval route plus long-lead items such as kitchen equipment and joinery. Halo issues a dated programme once the unit and building requirements are known rather than quoting one generic duration.

Sometimes, and it depends on the scope. Where the venue and the building allow it, work is delivered zone by zone with hoarding, dust, noise and odour control, out-of-hours or overnight working and a reduced service kept running. Some scopes — a full kitchen replacement, extraction rerouting or drainage works under the floor — genuinely require closure. We assess the venue first and plan the closure window against your trading calendar rather than promising continuous trading.

Halo plans the kitchen layout and workflow and delivers the kitchen MEP — extraction canopies, ductwork and make-up air, gas, water and power to the equipment schedule, grease traps, floor gullies and drainage falls, and fire suppression coordination. The layout is developed with your chef or F&B consultant, and where the equipment package is supplied by others we coordinate with your supplier rather than presenting their scope as ours.

Yes. From the assessment we identify the applicable route, which can include a landlord, mall or hotel management NOC and fit-out guide compliance, architectural, kitchen and MEP drawing submissions, extraction, gas and drainage submissions, fire and life-safety coordination and any authority or free-zone submission that applies. Requirements vary by premises, jurisdiction and scope. To be clear: Halo delivers the fit-out and coordinates fit-out approvals — we do not obtain your trade or food licence.

The exact set depends on your premises and jurisdiction, but a Dubai F&B kitchen typically involves a landlord, mall or hotel fit-out NOC, a fit-out or building permit from the relevant authority, Dubai Municipality Food Control review of the kitchen layout on scaled drawings covering zone separation, finishes, coving, hand-wash points and the grease interceptor, a Dubai Civil Defence submission for fire alarm, emergency lighting, kitchen hood suppression and any LPG installation, DEWA connections for power and water, and exhaust and ventilation certification for the extraction system. Operationally you will also need Foodwatch registration, a certified person in charge, HACCP-based food-safety documentation and a pest-control contract with a DM-registered provider before your inspection. Halo designs and builds to those requirements and prepares and coordinates the fit-out submissions — the licences, the Foodwatch account, the PIC certification and the pest-control contract remain yours to hold.

For a food-serving venue, yes — kitchen layout approval on scaled drawings is part of the food-permit route, and it is a design constraint, not a formality at the end. It governs the separation of raw, prep, cooking, plating and wash-up zones, the flow from goods-in to service so clean and dirty routes do not cross, washable and coved wall and floor finishes, hand-wash basin positions, staff and waste routes, and the size and position of the grease interceptor. Halo plans the kitchen against those requirements from the first layout with your chef or F&B consultant, so the drawing that goes for review is the drawing we intend to build.

Yes — both are core Halo scope rather than subcontracted afterthoughts. We size and position the grease interceptor against the cooking method and show it on the drainage and food-safety drawings, set the floor gullies, drainage falls, tanking and waterproofing to the wet areas, and engineer the extraction canopies, ductwork, filtration, make-up air and pressure balance against the equipment schedule. Extraction and MEP are commissioned and recorded before handover rather than tested for the first time by an inspector.

Yes. Cloud and ghost kitchens, multi-brand dark kitchen hubs, central production and catering kitchens, commissary units, staff canteens, corporate pantries and institutional catering kitchens are all within scope. They have no dining room, so every constraint lands on the kitchen — extraction density across multiple lines, cold chain and freezer capacity, waste and delivery-rider routes, dispatch and packing areas, and a layout that will pass food-control review. Send the unit location, the floor area and the intended output and we can tell you what the fit-out actually involves.

Yes, and the licensing class is the first thing we confirm, because it changes the project. Licensed bars, hotel lounges, shisha terraces, nightclubs and late-night venues carry their own ventilation, smoke and odour conditions, acoustic and sound-containment requirements, occupancy and life-safety constraints, and landlord or hotel-operator conditions on operating hours. Halo produces the bar and back-bar joinery in-house and coordinates the ventilation, acoustics and approval route for the class your venue falls into — the licence itself stays with you.

Licensing and fit-out are separate tracks, and the sequence depends on your jurisdiction, your premises and your landlord. Most operators need the tenancy and the relevant licensing route in progress before a fit-out NOC is issued, so it is worth confirming yours early. Halo can start design and technical coordination while your licensing runs, but we do not apply for trade or food licences on your behalf.

Yes. Compact units are planned differently rather than treated as a scaled-down large venue: covers are maximised without crowding service, the kitchen is laid out around a shorter line and a compact wash-up, and open or semi-open kitchens are used where extraction allows. We will also be straight with you about what a defined budget covers — where specification money has the most impact, and where cutting scope, such as undersized extraction or inadequate wash-up, creates operating cost later.

Yes. Where a brand agency, F&B consultant or interior designer has already produced the concept, Halo regularly executes it as the fit-out contractor — coordinating buildability, technical detailing, kitchen and MEP interfaces and procurement while protecting the design intent. Where a detail cannot be built as drawn, we raise it with the designer and propose an alternative rather than changing it on site.

Yes. Halo’s own joinery factory produces bar counters and back-bar units, host stands, service stations and pass counters, banquettes, booths and fixed seating, and display, retail and pastry counters. Producing them internally keeps the finish and the lead time under the same project control as the rest of the fit-out.

The location, building or mall, the approximate floor area and target covers, whether the unit is shell-and-core, existing fitted or currently trading, the cuisine and service model, the kitchen scope and who supplies the equipment, your target opening date, and any floor plan, landlord fit-out guide or concept deck you hold. With those, our F&B team can define a scope and prepare an itemised proposal.

Systems are tested and commissioned — including extraction, make-up air, gas, drainage and fire suppression — the snag list is worked through and re-inspected, the venue and kitchen are deep-cleaned to food-safety readiness, and you receive the handover pack with as-built information where applicable, warranties, operating documentation and access details. A walkthrough with your team closes it out ahead of trial service.