Plan your restaurant before you commit to the wrong next step.

Tell us what you want to open and where you are in the process. Get three priorities, the questions still to resolve and a practical plan you can keep.

Where this comes from, and what state it is in

Built from two GGB documents: the UAE Restaurant Opening Startup Guide as the task library, and the Experience Proposition Worksheet as the conversation.

Content: 69 task records prepared 2026-09-21 · review status: awaiting founder review · reviewer: not yet named.

Two entry points, one project: plan a new opening, or improve a venue that already trades. “Not sure yet” is a valid answer everywhere, and a first plan needs only the short brief.

Your project stays in this browser on this device. Nothing reaches GGB unless you choose to share it, line by line.

Restaurant Blueprint — an unnamed venue

Generated 2026-09-21 on the visitor's device from the GGB Restaurant Blueprint. Progress here is self-reported planning progress. It is not permission to open and not a readiness verdict: approvals, food-safety controls and the opening decision are confirmed by the authorities and by evidence a reviewer has seen.

The brief

Concept: (unnamed)
Stage: not sure
Format: a format not yet chosen
Emirate: an emirate not yet chosen
Sales channels: not sure
Additional activities: not sure
Site status: not sure
Budget band: not sure
Opening target: not set

The guest promise

Not yet composed (guest, benefit, feature missing).

The next three actions

Interview prospective guests and record the sample size — Ask what they currently buy, what they pay, how often they return and what frustrates them. Do not treat polite interest as a purchase commitment; state the number of interviews because a small sample is directional evidence, not a forecast. Owed while the stage of your venue is still open. Owner: founder. Evidence: Interview notes with the number of interviews, the questions asked and the answers grouped by occasion and daypart. (Guide §2 — Test the market and catchment)
Write the one-page project brief with AED price range and channels — "Verify permitted activity, hours, signage and outdoor area in writing" cannot start until this is done, so this is the prerequisite to clear first. Owner: founder. Evidence: A one-page brief stating the business objective, format, guest and occasion, intended AED price range, main sales channels, confirmed facts versus hypotheses, and the decisions that would pause or stop the project. (Guide §1 — Set the owner mandate)
Confirm the authority route for an emirate or activity not covered — This content reviews Dubai sources only. For Abu Dhabi, confirm the current economic-licensing route and food requirements with the relevant Abu Dhabi authorities; for Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, identify the competent economic authority and municipality/food authority for the premises. Record the actual authority and service rather than reusing a Dubai checklist unchanged. The same applies to any additional activity the guide names but does not specify: alcohol, shisha, live entertainment, outdoor seating, late hours, offsite catering or food manufacturing. your venue is planned for an emirate not yet chosen, so the authority for your activity must be confirmed before any permit step is trusted. Owner: licensed-professional. Evidence: The named authority, service and stated requirement for this emirate and activity, with the source, the person who confirmed it and the date. Until then the plan shows this scope as unconfirmed, never as a Dubai rule applied elsewhere. (Guide §6 — Emirate confirmation and Additional activities · Appendix J (sources are starting points, not a complete authority checklist))

Important unknowns

Stage. The plan shows idea and planning tasks until the stage is chosen.
Emirate. Authority steps depend on it; an authority-confirmation task stands in.
Format. Format-specific tasks (dining room, dispatch) are held until it is chosen.
Sales channels. Delivery and dining-room tasks are held until the channels are chosen.
Additional activities. Alcohol, shisha, outdoor seating, late hours, catering or manufacturing each need their authority confirmed; none is assumed. Answer "None of these" if the venue has none.
Site status. Treated as no site: extraction, permitted use and services are owed before a lease.
Budget band. No capital or contribution figure is assumed for you.
Opening target. Without a target, planned dates are not scheduled; nothing is marked late.
Main guest occasion. The guest promise starts from the occasion.
Why guests will come. The promise cannot be composed without it.
The one difference that matters most. The promise cannot be composed without it.
Why choose you at this price. The promise cannot be composed without it.

Critical conditions before opening

Authorised operation: open (2 task(s)) — Required current permissions and conditions for the premises and activities (Guide §19). Insurance is grouped here because the guide names it among the exposures and requirements to confirm with the adviser (§6, §12); the required cover is confirmed with the adviser, never assumed.
Safe and functional premises: open (2 task(s)) — Essential commissioning, safety controls, utilities and critical defects resolved (Guide §19). A practical-completion certificate alone does not establish opening readiness (§10).
Food-safety control: open (2 task(s)) — Approved procedures, a responsible lead, trained coverage and functioning monitoring (Guide §19). The required programme and training are confirmed with the authority; this content states none of them (§14).
People and capacity: open (2 task(s)) — Required work readiness, role sign-offs, coverage and realistic launch capacity (Guide §19). Roles not signed off reduce the opening scope rather than being assumed ready (§16).
Product and supply: open (2 task(s)) — Validated recipes, suppliers, opening stock, packaging and replenishment (Guide §19). Perishable stock is never received into an uncommissioned or uncontrolled premises (§11).
Cash and systems: open (2 task(s)) — Working cash, tested sales and payment flows, a close routine and outage procedures (Guide §19, §13).
Guest delivery: open (2 task(s)) — Rehearsal findings closed or launch scope reduced to match demonstrated capability (Guide §19, §17). Dine-in, café and quick-service plans rehearse the guest room; cloud-kitchen and quick-service plans rehearse dispatch; a format-excluded rehearsal is not a blocker.
Opening decision recorded by the accountable owner: open (1 task(s)) — The decision (open, reduced scope or hold) is recorded with an evidence reference per critical condition (Guide §19, Appendix I). A high completion percentage cannot override an unresolved critical condition; the plan's progress figure never states readiness to open.

The relevant tasks (22)

Section	Task	Owner	Status	Source
Mandate	Write the one-page project brief with AED price range and channels	founder	open	Guide §1 — Set the owner mandate
Concept	Complete the Experience Proposition Worksheet as a hypothesis	founder	open	Guide §3 — Define the concept and guest promise · Worksheet questions 1–9
Test and commit	Test the proposition with a pass condition agreed in advance	founder	open	Worksheet — Test and commit (Test the proposition)
Mandate	Approve the mandate and record the largest unresolved decision	founder	open	Guide §1 — Set the owner mandate · Roadmap gate 0
Market	Interview prospective guests and record the sample size	founder	open	Guide §2 — Test the market and catchment
Market	Map the catchment by travel time, access and daypart	founder	open	Guide §2 — Test the market and catchment
Market	Observe comparable venues across weekdays, weekends and meal periods	founder	open	Guide §2 — Test the market and catchment
Market	Write the market note and decide proceed, revise or stop	founder	open	Guide §2 — Test the market and catchment (gate evidence)
Concept	Define guest, offer, service, price, environment and language together	founder	open	Guide §3 — Define the concept and guest promise
Economics	Build base, downside and upside unit-economics scenarios in AED	finance	open	Guide §4 — Build the unit economics (illustration figures quoted from §4)
Concept	Confirm the concept is coherent before design work starts	founder	open	Guide §3 · Roadmap gate 2 (Concept)
Economics	Stress the model and compare peak capacity with break-even demand	finance	open	Guide §4 — Build the unit economics (stress the model)
Capital	Set the investment budget with operating reserve and contingency	finance	open	Guide §5 — Control capital and working cash
UAE setup	Confirm the licensing authority, legal form and activity codes	founder	open	Guide §6 — Choose the UAE setup route (Commercial setup)
Capital	Decide proceed, revise or stop at the feasibility gate	founder	open	Guide §5 investment gate · Roadmap gate 1 (Feasibility, §2–6)
UAE setup	Confirm the authority route for an emirate or activity not covered	licensed-professional	open	Guide §6 — Emirate confirmation and Additional activities · Appendix J (sources are starting points, not a complete authority checklist)
UAE setup	Confirm work-permit, residency, contract and payroll requirements (critical)	hr	open	Guide §6 — Choose the UAE setup route (People) · §19 critical condition: People and capacity
Site	Have specialists verify extraction, utilities, drainage and flows	licensed-professional	open	Guide §7 — Check the site before the lease binds (Technical capacity, Physical flow, Extraction route)
Site	Verify permitted activity, hours, signage and outdoor area in writing	licensed-professional	open	Guide §7 — Check the site before the lease binds (Permitted use, Permitted activity)
Approval register	Have the accountant check VAT and corporate-tax registration	finance	open	Guide §8 — Tax checkpoint · Appendix J [S3], [S4] (thresholds and periods quoted from §8)
People	Build the labour plan and full employment cost from hours and stations	hr	open	Guide §15 — Recruit for the operating model (Plan the full employment cost, Organisation and rosters)
Appendix H — Action, risk and change register	Keep one current action, risk and change register	operations	open	Guide Appendix H — Action, risk and change register

Sources and review status

Content prepared 2026-09-21 from: GGB UAE Restaurant Opening Startup Guide (20 September 2026); GGB UAE Experience Proposition Worksheet (20 September 2026). Review status: awaiting review; reviewer: not yet named; content version 1. Authority requirements, fees and timelines are confirmed with the authority; none are stated here.

Questions

What does the Blueprint give me?

A personalised plan for one venue: your guest promise in the worksheet’s own sentence, the unknowns you still carry, the critical conditions that stand between you and opening, and the next three actions with the reason each one matters for your situation. Every task traces to a section of the GGB UAE Restaurant Opening Startup Guide.

Is a completed plan permission to open?

No. Progress here is self-reported planning progress. Approvals, food-safety controls and the opening decision are confirmed by the authorities and by evidence a reviewer has seen. The planner never marks a gate complete from elapsed time, and it never claims readiness to open.

What happens to what I type?

It stays on your device. Saving keeps the project in this browser only; exporting gives you a file you own. Nothing is stored server-side unless you choose to send a review request, and the request shows you every line it carries before you send it — you can remove any of them, or send routing only.

My emirate or activity is not covered — what then?

The plan replaces the emirate-specific steps with one task: confirm the licensing and food-control authority for your emirate and activity. The same task applies in Dubai for alcohol, shisha, live entertainment, outdoor seating, late hours, off-site catering or food manufacturing. It never adapts another emirate’s rules for you and never invents a requirement.