Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this activity cover?
It covers fast-food restaurants with limited table service, including burger and chicken QSR, pizza delivery, mall food courts, drive-thrus, and standalone quick-service outlets.
Is this for dine-in, drive-thru, or both?
Both. The activity covers dine-in QSR outlets, drive-thrus, mall food courts, and delivery-integrated formats across the UAE.
Who are the typical clients?
Mall shoppers on lunch, office workers grabbing quick meals, families at drive-thrus, and delivery orders through Talabat and Deliveroo, across the UAE.
Does this include drive-thrus and delivery orders?
Yes. Drive-thru operations, mall food court outlets, standalone QSR formats, and delivery integration through aggregators are all part of this fast-food activity.
Does this include the concession operation of eating facilities?
No. The concession operation of eating facilities is a separate activity under classification 5629. This activity covers fast-food restaurants with limited table service.
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Quick service restaurants dominate UAE food service. McDonald's runs 162 outlets across the country with 60 in Dubai alone. KFC runs about 30. Burger King runs around 80.
Alongside these global anchors sit Alshaya Group's regional franchise portfolio, homegrown UAE brands like Wimpy and Chicking, and a fast-growing tier of international entrants: Chipotle opened its first Dubai outlet at Jumeirah Beach Residence in February 2025. Fast food is the largest and fastest-growing UAE food service segment, and it runs on drive-thrus, mall food courts, delivery integration and franchise scalability.
Research and Markets1 values the UAE Quick Service Restaurant market at USD 5.25 billion in 2024, forecast to reach USD 25.36 billion by 2033 at 19.2% CAGR, driven by fast-paced lifestyle, rising disposable incomes and heavy tourist inflows.
IMARC Group2 reports QSR holds a 43.6% share of the UAE food service market in 2025, the largest single segment, driven by mall, airport and business district accessibility and international franchise scalability.
Mordor Intelligence3 projects UAE QSR at 19.55% CAGR through 2031, the fastest-growing segment in the food service market, with chained outlets at 18.05% CAGR outpacing independent operators.
Restroworks4 reports McDonald's operates 162 UAE outlets with 60 in Dubai, KFC runs approximately 30 outlets and Burger King about 80 locations, reflecting the depth of QSR franchise density across the UAE.
Dubai Trade License from AED 12,500
Get Your LicenseThe UAE QSR Market on a Decade of GrowthA Dubai-licensed fast-food restaurant enters a UAE Quick Service Restaurant market forecast to nearly quintuple from USD 5.25 billion in 2024 to USD 25.36 billion by 2033, at 19.2 percent CAGR.
Sources: Research and Markets (2025), IMARC Group (2025), Mordor Intelligence (2026), Restroworks (2026)
Whether you are running an international QSR franchise across malls and drive-thrus, a homegrown fast-food chain across residential neighbourhoods, a specialty QSR concept in a mall food court or a delivery-first QSR working with Talabat and Deliveroo, this activity covers the operation of fast-food restaurants serving prepared meals with limited table service.
Who is this activity for?
- GLOBAL FRANCHISE OPERATORS: You run an international QSR franchise operation such as McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Subway or Domino's Pizza across UAE mall food courts, standalone locations, drive-thrus and delivery integration. You work with franchise agreements, brand standards and multi-outlet expansion plans.
- LOCAL & REGIONAL QSR OPERATORS: You run a homegrown UAE or regional QSR brand like Wimpy, Chicking, or a new local concept selling burgers, chicken, wraps, pizza and quick meals. You compete on price, menu innovation and localised flavour profiles across residential and business catchments.
- SPECIALTY QSR OPERATORS: You run a specialty QSR concept focused on healthier meals, plant-based, poke bowls, specialty coffee, breakfast fast food or ethnic cuisine QSR. You work with mall food courts, standalone outlets and delivery-first models targeting specific consumer segments.
5610.03 - Fast-Food Restaurants
Under this activity, you can run a fast-food restaurant serving prepared meals with limited table service. The class covers burger and chicken QSR formats, pizza delivery outlets, Middle Eastern and Asian QSR concepts, mall food court quick-service operations, drive-thru outlets and delivery-first QSR kitchens.
| Global Franchise QSR | Local Regional QSR | Specialty Ethnic QSR |
|---|---|---|
| McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's and other international quick service restaurant brands. | Homegrown UAE brands and regional QSR concepts serving burgers, chicken, pizza, wraps and quick meals. | Specialty QSR focused on healthy meals, poke bowls, plant-based, breakfast fast food or specific ethnic cuisine QSR. |
| Mall food court dining, drive-thru operations, airport and transit outlets, business district office lunches. | Residential neighbourhood catchment, family dining, delivery integration, value-tier and mid-tier casual quick meals. | Health-conscious diners, dietary specialty consumers, tourist cuisine discovery, delivery-first kitchen operations. |
| UAE CONTEXT | UAE CONTEXT | UAE CONTEXT |
| UAE QSR market at USD 5.25 billion in 2024, forecast to USD 25.36 billion by 2033 at 19.2% CAGR, per Research and Markets. | QSR holds 43.6% share of UAE food service, the largest and fastest-growing segment at 19.55% CAGR through 2031. | McDonald's operates 162 UAE outlets, KFC around 30, Burger King around 80, reflecting franchise density. |
This activity covers the operation of fast-food restaurants. It does not cover the concession operation of eating facilities, which falls under separate activity classification 5629.
In short: if you are running a fast-food restaurant with limited table service, this is your activity.
Third-party approval: Dubai Municipality (DM) approval is required after the license is issued. The license is granted first, and DM approval follows as part of the post-licensing setup process before commercial operations begin.
Anti-money laundering compliance: This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.
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¹ Research and Markets, "United Arab Emirates Quick Service Restaurant Market Size", 2025.
² IMARC Group, "UAE Food Service Market Size, Growth & Forecast 2034", 2025.
³ Mordor Intelligence, "United Arab Emirates Foodservice Market Forecasts 2031", January 2026.
⁴ Restroworks, "Dubai Restaurants Statistics – Key Market Trends & Data Insights", January 2026.
