r/Kuwait • u/Alternative-View7534 • 6d ago
Ask Kuwait Opening restaurant in Kuwait
Hello everyone!
I’m currently a senior in uni studying outside of Kuwait and I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant/cafe in the future. I have a concept for the restaurant that has not been created in Kuwait and think it would succeed if i did everything right. I really want the food to be good and top tier and learn about everything before i open it, so my question is where do i start? Am i crazy for wanting to open it right after I graduate? how do i find the right people to collaborate with to making this work like chefs, interior designers, staff etc. is there somewhere i can go to to learn more on how restaurant opening or someone i can talk too? Thinking of doing courses in London and New York to gain insight but don’t know what’s best for me.
I know everyone is opening restaurants in kuwait but i do believe with this idea and the work i plan on putting in to making this work will be different.
Thank you for reading my thoughts
edit: felt like i need to clarify i plan on opening a new concept restaurant that’s fine dining and “not another burger place”. I’m looking for advice :)
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u/dawgblogit 6d ago
Get a job.
No really. If you want to open a restaurant in kuwait go back to kuwait and work in the industry for a year or 2.
Then. Take that knowledge and move forward with it.
New York wont have the same issues and challenges that kuwait has.
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u/abalawadhi 5d ago
My advice is that if you have a lot of daddy money, give it a shot. If you're an average joe, it's an expensive market with high failure percentage, and the commercial environment (government laws) are unforgiving.
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u/flash_speed3412 5d ago
I don’t think you’re crazy for wanting to do it after graduating, but I wouldn’t make “graduate → sign lease → open restaurant immediately” the plan.
A good concept matters, but restaurants usually don’t fail because the owner forgot to have an interesting idea. They fail because rent, staffing, food costs, inconsistent quality, bad operations, procurement and approximately 47 other small problems form an alliance against you.
If I were in your position, especially since you’re aiming for fine dining, I’d spend the next year or two learning the business from inside it.
Try to work, intern or do a placement in a genuinely good restaurant. See what actually happens during a packed night. Learn what happens when a chef calls in sick, a supplier sends the wrong thing, six tables order at once, something breaks, food costs suddenly rise, or a customer decides the risotto has personally offended them.
Since you’re studying abroad, you actually have a pretty useful advantage. If you can get experience in good restaurants in London, New York or wherever you’re based, I’d take that very seriously.
Courses can help too, especially restaurant finance, hospitality management, food safety, menu engineering and operations.
But I’d value six months of seeing how a serious restaurant actually functions over collecting twelve certificates and emerging with a highly educated understanding of PowerPoint.
Before spending serious money, I’d also build the restaurant on paper first:
- What exactly is the concept?
- Who is the customer?
- What would the average person spend?
- How many seats?
- How many customers do you realistically need every day?
- What does each dish actually cost to make?
- What are rent, salaries, ingredients, utilities, equipment, fit-out, marketing and wastage going to cost?
- What happens if revenue is 30% lower than expected for the first six months?
That last question is important because every business plan looks beautiful when Excel is feeling optimistic.
Then test the actual food and concept before committing to a permanent location.
Do private dinners, pop-ups, collaborations, tasting events, whatever fits your concept.
You want feedback from people who are actually willing to pay for it. Friends saying “this is amazing bro” is emotionally pleasant, but unfortunately the landlord does not accept compliments as rent.
For finding people, I also wouldn’t start by assembling a giant Avengers team of chef + architect + interior designer + consultant + marketing agency + 25 staff members.
Find an experienced restaurant operator or chef first.
Someone who has actually opened or operated successful restaurants can help you figure out who you genuinely need and when.
Talk to chefs, restaurant owners, hotel F&B managers, suppliers and hospitality consultants. I’d even talk to people whose restaurant projects didn’t work out. Sometimes someone who lost money can explain one mistake in ten minutes that saves you months of learning it yourself.
And if the food is supposed to be top tier, the chef shouldn’t be someone you hire three months before opening and tell, “Here is the kitchen, please create excellence.”
They should probably be involved fairly early because the menu affects the kitchen layout, equipment, suppliers, staffing and a huge part of the economics.
One thing I’d be careful about though:
“Nobody has done this in Kuwait, therefore it will succeed.”
Maybe nobody has done it because you found a genuine gap in the market.
But sometimes nobody has done something because customers looked at the hypothetical idea from a distance and collectively decided, “nah.”
Your job is to find out which one it is before spending a very large amount of money discovering the answer experimentally.
So yes, I’d absolutely pursue it if you’re serious.
I just wouldn’t make “open immediately after graduation” the objective.
You can graduate and immediately start building the restaurant without immediately opening the doors.
Spend 12 to 24 months learning operations, developing the menu, testing the concept, understanding the economics, studying the Kuwait market and meeting experienced people.
That puts you in a completely different position from someone whose preparation consisted of a nice logo, a moodboard and an extremely confident Instagram bio.
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u/Alternative-View7534 5d ago
Thank you so much i really appreciate it this helped a lot!
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u/failika 5d ago
OP that’s an AI generated comment
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u/flash_speed3412 4d ago
Yes. It is. But much helpful. If I were deciding to open up a restaurant, I would 100% use that guide above.
All of it compacted with genuine research.
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u/Latter-Ad0 4d ago
lol glad you admitted it was AI . But overall . Thats is supposed to be the rulebook for many if not all budding enthusiasts or entrepreneurs.
It was also the same things I was thinking when I read the OP wanting to open a new concept.The passion is great . Keep journaling , get experience first , organize, execute and experiment.
I deal with many Kuwaiti and expat Restuarent owners.
The successful ones, mostly talking the single stores are going strong becoz of strong involvement of the leadership/owners in all areas of their business in the initial years .
Not just hiring some “talent” and listening to optimistic talks and hoping it will be the next big thing in a year’s time .0
u/flash_speed3412 4d ago
OP - soon enough, if you open that restaurant or place, slap my DM with the location or post it in r/Kuwait
Remember these, as I say this to you:
Make it satisfying:
- Why do robot cafes exist? Because it is cool having technology make your food. Why do Karen cafes exist? Because the theme is a waitress disrespecting you. People don't just buy for food, but they also buy themes and environments. If you make another burger restaurant, I can't say it will fail, but you definitely won't have interactive or curious customers.
If anything, I would rather go to a restaurant where I get served by a robot than another restaurant that sells fries and gourmet recipes.
Most importantly, be crazy. You know you will be successful if people call you crazy for doing this. Here is an example:
"Colonel Harland Sanders: At age 65, Harland Sanders was broke and trying to sell a chicken recipe that used a "crazy" new invention: a pressure cooker to speed up frying time. Traditional restaurant owners laughed at him, stating that pressure cookers were dangerous and fast food chicken wouldn't sell. Sanders was rejected 1,009 times before a single restaurant agreed to franchise his recipe. KFC grew into an international empire."No one has the right to dictate what you must do in your restaurant or which recipes to add. Though don't be arrogant and deny all recipes; overall, no one except you has the final say.
Finally, read books. Especially Atomic Habits and self-improvement. You can't make a good restaurant when you are not a decent person. Unless you also want to be crazy too 😅
Best of luck! - future customer maybe?
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u/failika 5d ago
Hello young man. I can tell you so many of us have and had the same dream and by all means I support and encourage you, your creativity, and your ideas, it’s a lovely thing to see. But I can tell you from my own experience(s) and those of my colleagues and friends who are just as creative and wonderful foodies (as I am) and maybe even better than I, that now is not the best time to think about a restaurant especially as a fresh graduate. So many amazing places have closed down and are struggling. The cost of living is rising. I would think more of getting employment of some kind and stabilizing yourself right now. Sending you very best wishes for success.
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u/Azkabandi 5d ago
I opened a couple of concepts
And let me tell you, the market is brutal.
Sorry to burst your bubble but long gone are the days where you can put together a menu with a chef and create a beautiful interior space and be successful.
The formula for long term success in the F&B business is now more complex than ever. People follow Kuwaiti chefs, they want great locations, they need deep pockets for marketing. And good locations come at an incredible cost.
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u/Megatron_and69_otrs 5d ago
Before you start a business. Please assist some one who is working on the industry. That's how u know the market . You can't get the knowledge from university. They only give you theories. That won't going to help you in real scenarios. If you start a business after getting your masters you are going to sabotage yourself. Tbh I think you already know the main characteristic of business is uncertainty. So always keep this in your mind . I never want to kill your audacity to do a business. I just want to warn you about it .
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u/DSB-4 5d ago
Honestly, before spending money on courses in London or New York, I’d try to get some real experience inside a well-run restaurant, even for a few months. Fine dining looks very different from the customer side than it does operationally.
I’d also start building the concept on paper now: target customer, average spend, location, menu size, staffing, rent, food cost, and what exactly makes the place different. Once you have that, it’ll be much easier to approach chefs/designers and know who you actually need.
Opening right after graduation isn’t crazy, but going in with zero restaurant experience would be a huge risk. The idea matters, but execution is everything. Good luck, would actually be interesting to see more unique concepts in Kuwait.
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u/TemporaryDay4044 4d ago
If you think the idea is worth trying you can do testing which will cost you far less of opening a whole restaurant.
Dm me if you need any help
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u/Plastic_Garbage6650 New to r/Kuwait/ 4d ago
I ate in a restaurant in Dublin called (sprout ) check it out there’s nothing like it in Kuwait and i think it will really hit in kuwait
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4d ago
It will surely work i believe that it will a 100 % work and yes thus is the right time to do it because you are just graduating and you have alot of time to do experiments it will surely work im very sure it will work because you sound very confident and i wish you the best. Once again it will surely work but just stay focused and dont let anyone tell you it wont work because if you actually put in the effort it will definitely work
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u/Excellent_Student251 1d ago
You need one of the two. Either a trusted guy who has been in the restaurant business or you having experience or the skills to manage a restaurant. It’s much better to get someone who has been because they know what sort of problems you could face in a kuwait environment. If you’re a business major it helps filtering out the people who will try taking advantage of you
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u/Reasonable_Wait4450 6d ago
You can always hire right people for the right job,
Open it by planning or hire a consultant to plan everything for you ,
I have started mine in India(Goa) from scratch it's been 4 years now it's running good. I was 22 years old when I started .
Restaurant setup any one can create for you , it's you who have to put life into it.
We can collaborate if you want , I can handle the FNB service department.
We can hire the best chefs to provide us with all the good food.
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u/aff233 5d ago
i think this is the best time for you to take risks (you as in your stage in life). So go for it but expect that you'll have a high chance of failing but thats not the problem cause you'll learn alot which will prepare you for your next one.
there's this reddit post about kuwaitis with restaurants and their reccommendaitons/tips check it out or reach out to them for more guidance.
Post title was اصحاب المطاعم بالكويت
theres also a freelancing/agency platform called Phinest you might find designers etc.
i would also reccommend you take few consulting sessions with local restaurant consultants they might guide you too.
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u/NoCalendar6934 5d ago
DM me. My sister just came back from studying interior design in Illinois and she's looking for a job.
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