Restaurant Investment Trends Shaping Hotels in the Middle East

Restaurant investment in the Middle East has shifted from opportunistic growth to strategic infrastructure. Speaking at Future Hospitality Summit, James Hacon, Managing Partner at Think Hospitality, set out how long-term, structural trends are reshaping food and beverage investment and, by extension, hotel performance. His core message was simple: F&B is no longer “everything but rooms”. It is increasingly a deal driver, a destination builder and, in many cases, the differentiator that determines whether an asset wins.

Think Hospitality sits at the intersection of strategy and capital. Hacon described the firm as strategic hospitality consultants and venture partners, working across asset management, deal-making and strategy, historically centred on food and beverage but increasingly spanning adjacent subsectors. With offices across London, Dubai, Copenhagen, Tallinn and San Francisco, and projects delivered in 22 countries, the firm has a broad vantage point on how restaurant concepts are funded, built and scaled.

The Middle East is no longer just importing trends

One of the most notable observations was how quickly the region’s F&B ecosystem has matured. For years, the assumption was that trends travelled east: concepts would emerge in the US, then filter through Europe before landing in the Middle East. In some cases, Hacon noted, even Asian ideas would “go via the US first” before they reached Europe and the Gulf.

That directional flow is changing. Dubai, in particular, has become a centre of restaurant innovation, with concepts increasingly exported east to India and west into Europe and North America. The region is no longer simply a destination for imported brands. It is now a producer of scalable, globally relevant F&B models.

Hacon referenced a recent piece of work for a major Saudi government organisation, benchmarking five global cities on factors such as profitability and ease of opening restaurants, then layering Dubai into the analysis. Across many metrics, Dubai emerged as a compelling market to build in. Yet this also creates a reality check for brands expanding out of the region. When Middle East operators enter Europe or North America, the profitability profile and labour dynamics can be a shock, particularly at the bottom line.

For investors, this matters. The region’s economics can produce concepts that look very scalable, but expansion strategies need to be underwritten with a clear-eyed view of cost structures and margin realities outside the Gulf.

Moving beyond micro fads: the rise of secular trends

Hacon was careful to separate cyclical trends from secular ones. Cyclical trends are surface-level shifts that come and go quickly, often driven by social media or novelty. Secular trends are structural forces that reshape the sector over years or decades, affecting investment theses, asset design and operator expectations.

He outlined five secular trends with long-term implications for restaurant investment and hotel F&B. The first three sit within a broader “intentional living” movement, which is increasingly shaping what guests value and how they spend.

Back to basics and the luxury of simplicity

Across global hospitality, there is growing momentum behind what Hacon framed as “the luxury of simplicity”. This is not anti-luxury, but a shift away from what he described as “bling luxury” towards more refined, pared-back experiences. In the Middle East, both can win, but the growing appetite for simpler luxury is influencing restaurant investment in meaningful ways: design decisions, menu formats and the way brands communicate value.

A key implication for investors is that spend does not always need to be expressed through maximalism. It can be expressed through quality, calm, craft and deliberate restraint.

Connection and community as an asset strategy

The second trend is connection and community. Historically, the Gulf’s cultural diversity sometimes created a perception that it was difficult to deliver experiences that resonated across multiple “tribes” within one development. Hacon argued that this is changing as populations mature and cities evolve. Increasingly, owners and asset managers are prioritising F&B strategies that connect locals to properties and transform hotels into integrated social spaces rather than isolated destinations.

He pointed to 25hours as an example of a hotel that has created an all-round, community-driven environment. For investors, this speaks to the role of F&B as a “localisation engine” that reduces reliance on transient demand and strengthens repeat visitation.

Physical and mental wellbeing, beyond health trends

Wellbeing is often discussed as a trend, but Hacon positioned it as something deeper: a shift towards intentional living that blends physical and mental wellbeing into everyday consumption. This shows up in how guests drink, dine and choose experiences, often beyond religious drivers.

This is also where the conversation begins to intersect with the rise of weight-loss drugs and changing consumption patterns, particularly in the US, which Hacon flagged as a defining force over the next 20 years.

Intergenerational dining and the experience economy

Hacon then explored how family dynamics are shaping restaurant concepts. He described the arc from ultra-processed childhood dining experiences to the modern challenge of screen time, with parents increasingly wanting meaningful connection at mealtimes. This is fuelling growth in intergenerational concepts, including competitive socialising and blended entertainment environments.

He acknowledged that Dubai and the UAE already have an exceptionally strong entertainment landscape, which can make imported competitive socialising concepts harder to land than in the US or Europe. Nonetheless, the direction of travel is clear: restaurants are increasingly expected to provide more than food, particularly for families.

He cited Wavehouse at Atlantis as a local example of blending dining with entertainment in a way that delivers on these multi-generational expectations.

Elevated experience, shifting away from “Instagrammable”

Dubai leads globally in “elevating experience” in F&B, and Hacon highlighted an important evolution within that space. Five to ten years ago, restaurant design meetings revolved around Instagrammability. Today, there is a countertrend emerging, particularly among high-end restaurants, towards encouraging guests to put phones away and re-engage with the experience.

For investors, this is not a contradiction. It reflects a maturation of experiential value: the best experiences now create participation, not just documentation.

Technology becomes plumbing: AI, sensors and robotics

One of the most investable themes in the talk was technology’s shift from novelty to infrastructure. Hacon described a divergence between “food for fuel” convenience on one side, and high-value experience-led dining on the other. Convenience has been reshaped by delivery and the fact that “you can get food from anywhere”, with supermarkets, fuel stations and non-traditional players competing for meal occasions.

In response, restaurant tech is moving beyond consumer-facing gimmicks and into back-of-house “plumbing”: AI embedded in daily operations, sensor-driven environments and control rooms that adapt atmosphere and flow in real time. He referenced Las Vegas casinos as a glimpse of where this is heading, with environments changing dynamically based on sensor technology.

He also noted that major global brands including Starbucks, Domino’s, Uber Eats, Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Applebee’s are already using AI proactively in daily operations. Robotics, meanwhile, is accelerating rapidly in QSR, with humanoid robots “all but ready” and likely to relieve labour pressure in high-cost tasks across segments.

What this means for restaurant investment and hotel owners

Hacon closed with how owner expectations are evolving. Several themes now sit directly on the deal table:

• Michelin and “50 Best” credibility is being used as a conversion tool and incentive driver in the region

• Sustainability has moved from brand messaging to a real estate requirement

• Owners are now evaluating programming, not just menus, as part of investment underwriting

• There is a structural shift away from standalone hotels towards lifestyle districts, where F&B is a primary driver of footfall and dwell time

  
  

The thread connecting all of these is that restaurant investment is no longer measured purely by outlet profitability. It is measured by what it does for the asset: conversion, ADR, dwell time, community relevance, brand equity and long-term demand resilience.

In the Middle East, where ambition and capital are both abundant, the most successful investors will be those who treat F&B not as a department, but as a strategic system. The market has moved beyond importing trends. It is now creating them.