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Restaurants & cafés

Burger restaurant feasibility study

Latest regulatory change: 2026 · reviewed 2026-11-05

A fast-food restaurant serving burgers and sides, in-store and through delivery apps.

  • USD 30.12 billionEstimated food service market in 2025[5]
  • 11.3%Growth in delivery services[5]
  • SAR 23.9 billionRestaurant and café point-of-sale sales in Q1 2025[6]

Latest regulatory and market changes

  1. 2024The Transport General Authority (TGA) decided to move non-Saudi delivery couriers gradually to light transport companies over 14 months, and to require delivery companies to verify drivers by facial recognition.[1]
  2. 2025The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MoMAH) adopted updated restaurant requirements covering restaurants, cafés, cloud kitchens and kiosks.[2]
  3. 2025From July, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) required food businesses to display nutritional information, a high-salt symbol and calorie-burning time on paper and digital menus and in delivery apps.[3]
  4. 2026Excise tax on sweetened drinks began to be calculated in tiers by sugar content, instead of 50% of the selling price.[4]

Why now

  • Delivery services grew 11.3%, driven by cloud kitchens.[5]
  • Franchise registrations rose 866% in three years to 1,788 by the end of Q3 2024.[5]
  • Restaurants and cafés were the second-largest sector in point-of-sale sales, at about SAR 23.9 billion in Q1 2025.[6]

USD 30.12 billionEstimated size of the food service market in Saudi Arabia in 2025, expected to reach about USD 44.67 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 8.20%, according to the chairman of the National Franchise Committee.[5]

The idea and business model

A restaurant preparing burgers with fries and drinks for dine-in, pick-up or delivery. Revenue depends on the number of orders and the average order value, with sales split between the restaurant and delivery apps.

Model: Site-based production and sales

Project economics

Revenue formula

Daily orders×Average order value×Operating days

Sales channels

  • Dine-in
  • Pick-up from the window or counter
  • Delivery apps

Largest cost items

  • Meat, bread and food ingredients
  • Salaries
  • Rent and fit-out
  • Delivery commissions and marketing

Decisive indicators we measure

  • Food cost as a share of sales
  • Average order value
  • Delivery share of sales
  • Orders at peak hour

Relevant authorities

  • Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MoMAH) via Balady: food establishment licence and restaurant requirements
  • Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA): food safety and nutritional information on the menu
  • Civil Defence: fire safety in the kitchen and frying equipment
  • Ministry of Commerce: Commercial Registration (CR) and franchise registration if the restaurant is a franchise
  • Transport General Authority (TGA): regulation of app-based delivery

What needs your attention

  • Reliance on delivery apps ties sales to changing delivery rules and platform terms.
  • Calorie and salt disclosure requires analysing every meal before the menu launches.
  • The growth in franchises increases the intensity of competition in fast food.

What a Burger restaurant study calculates for you

  • Ingredient cost and margin for each meal
  • Daily orders to break even
  • Effect of app commissions on margin
  • Kitchen capacity at peak hour
  • Fit-out cost under the restaurant requirements

Every one of these figures appears in your study with its source and date, built on your location and capital, with a clear line between documented facts and assumptions.

Sources

Most sources are Saudi government and press pages in Arabic; titles are kept in their original language so you can find them.

  1. 6 قرارات لتنظيم قطاع توصيل الطلبات في السعودية ورفع جودتهالاقتصادية · 2024-01
  2. اشتراطات المطاعم (قرار وزاري 15/10/1446هـ)وزارة البلديات والإسكان · 2025-04
  3. إلزام المطاعم بالملّاحة والإفصاح عن كافيين المشروبات وحرق السعرات في المنيوعكاظ · 2025-06
  4. بدء تطبيق تعديلات أحكام اللائحة التنفيذية للضريبة الانتقائيةهيئة الزكاة والضريبة والجمارك · 2025-12
  5. 44.6 مليار دولار سوق خدمات الأغذية السعودية بحلول 2030الاقتصادية · 2025-11
  6. عمليات نقاط البيع في السعودية تسجل 181 مليار ريال خلال الربع الأول من 2025مباشر (عن البنك المركزي السعودي) · 2025-05

Last reviewed: 4 November 2026. This page introduces the activity; detailed figures belong in the study.