Steak lovers will get an even bigger choice of grills to visit with the arrival of the American STK restaurant chain in the UAE.
Nasdaq-listed The One Group Hospitality plans to introduce the restaurant brand to multiple locations across the Middle East, starting with the UAE.
An STK restaurant is planned for The Address Downtown Dubai Hotel, with another at the Rixos Hotel in Dubai Marina.
A third restaurant is set to open in Abu Dhabi following a licensing agreement with Horizon Hospitality, the company said in a filing. A number of locations are being considered.
“Dubai and Abu Dhabi represent some of the fastest-growing leisure destinations, featuring the finest hospitality, fashion and lifestyle brands in the Middle East,” said Jonathan Segal, the chief executive of The One Group. “We have eyed this market for quite a while, but waited to find the right partner for our brand.”
The UAE is already well served with international and local steak houses, which include Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and the Rib Room.
The arrival of the STK chain comes amid warnings that the Dh60 billion food and beverage sector in the UAE is becoming saturated.
The appreciation of the US dollar, to which the UAE dirham is pegged, is also putting restaurants under pressure as tourists pay more for their meals.
"I see a lot of blood being shed in 2016. I think we will see 20 per cent of the current outlets in the UAE either closing or closed in 2017," Naim Maadad, the chief executive of the hospitality development company Gates Hospitality, told The National in February.
JLL expects the UAE to add more than 1,000 food and beverage outlets by 2018.
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