Akira Back’s Saudi Expansion
Akira Back’s multi-concept approach to the Saudi market — operating Namu Korean BBQ in The Esplanade and AB Steak in the 1364 complex in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter — demonstrates a strategy that The Mukaab’s dining planners should study closely. Rather than opening a single restaurant, Back has established multiple concepts targeting different dining occasions and price points, creating a portfolio approach that diversifies risk while building brand awareness across the capital’s dining landscape.
Namu Korean BBQ serves the casual-premium segment, leveraging the global popularity of Korean barbecue — a format where communal grilling at the table creates the interactive dining experience that Saudi Arabia’s social dining culture embraces. The format parallels the communal platter tradition of Najdi cuisine — shared food, cooking as social activity, the table as a gathering space — suggesting cultural compatibility that purely Western dining formats may lack. The Michelin Guide Saudi Arabia 2026 selected Namu among its 41 selected restaurants, validating the concept’s quality alongside establishments by Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse, and Michael Mina.
The Multi-Concept Portfolio Model
AB Steak positions Back in the luxury segment, offering a modern American steakhouse experience infused with Korean flair. Located in the Diplomatic Quarter’s 1364 complex, the restaurant targets high-net-worth diners seeking premium protein experiences. The Korean-American fusion approach — applying Korean marinades, side dishes, and technique to the American steakhouse format — creates a distinctive culinary identity that differentiates AB Steak from conventional steakhouses entering the Riyadh market, including Mastro’s at Diriyah (the American steakhouse chain’s first location outside the USA).
Back’s expansion pattern — multiple concepts across different Riyadh developments — illustrates how a single celebrity chef can maximize Saudi market exposure without overextending a single brand. This portfolio strategy aligns with how Saudi Arabia’s F&B market operates: the full-service restaurant segment holds 53.62% market share in 2025, but within that segment, independent and distinctive concepts outperform chains (57.86% independent share versus chains). By creating distinct brands rather than franchising a single name, Back captures the consumer preference for unique dining identities while leveraging shared operational infrastructure.
The portfolio model also hedges against market risk. If one concept underperforms — perhaps the steakhouse market becomes oversaturated as more international brands enter — the other concept provides revenue stability. For The Mukaab, this model suggests inviting established chefs to propose two or three concepts for different zones within the development rather than a single large-format restaurant. The spiral tower’s multi-level dining architecture naturally accommodates this approach — a premium concept at upper elevations and a casual concept at lower levels, both bearing the chef’s creative direction but serving different dining occasions.
Korean Cuisine in the Saudi Market
The success of Korean cuisine in Riyadh reflects broader Asian culinary trends validated by The Mukaab’s competitive landscape. Alongside Japanese concepts like ROKA (Restaurant of the Year, Time Out Riyadh 2022), Hocho (Michelin Guide selected), and SUSHISAMBA (Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion at KAFD), and Chinese options including Mr. Chow (first Middle East branch) and Hakkasan (Michelin-starred at Diriyah), Korean dining adds another dimension to Riyadh’s Asian cuisine portfolio.
Boulevard World is adding a South Korea subzone in its latest expansion alongside Kuwait and Indonesia, further confirming Saudi consumer appetite for Korean culture and cuisine. Boulevard World encompasses 1,600 shops, 350 restaurants, 40 rides, and 24 sub-zones — the addition of a Korean zone demonstrates that Korean cultural influence extends beyond K-pop and K-drama into food culture, creating demand that restaurants like Namu are well-positioned to capture.
The Korean BBQ format carries specific advantages in the Saudi context. The interactive grilling experience — where diners cook their own meats at the table — creates engagement and entertainment that aligns with the experiential dining trend where “diners prioritize experiences over meals.” The communal aspect echoes Saudi hospitality traditions where food is shared from central platters. And the cuisine’s natural halal compatibility (Korean cuisine is predominantly based on beef, chicken, and seafood) reduces the adaptation friction that some Asian cuisines face in the Saudi market.
Immersive Technology Opportunities
For The Mukaab, Back’s concepts present fascinating immersive technology integration possibilities. A concept where robata grilling occurs within the holographic dome’s projected environments — Korean temple gardens, volcanic landscapes like Jeju Island, or cherry blossom forests shifting around diners — would create an experience distinct from both Namu and AB Steak. The dome’s capacity for “ever-changing environments using digital and virtual technology” combined with a high-end audio system providing “acoustic brilliance” could synchronize K-pop soundscapes with visual projections and culinary presentations.
Falcon’s Creative Group, The Mukaab’s Creative Lead Advisor, could design a Korean BBQ experience where the table-side grilling creates smoke effects that interact with holographic projections — the visual boundary between the real charcoal smoke and projected mountain mist dissolving to create an immersive landscape. This kind of technology-integrated cooking spectacle leverages Korean BBQ’s inherent theatricality in a way that conventional restaurant spaces cannot achieve.
The pop-up dining trend — which grew 155% between 2022 and 2023 — also aligns with Back’s multi-concept approach. The Mukaab could host rotating Akira Back pop-up concepts that test new culinary directions before committing to permanent installations. This flexibility is valuable in a development that spans four phases through 2040 — dining concepts can evolve with the development rather than being locked into Phase 1 assumptions about consumer preferences.
Market Data and Competitive Positioning
The Saudi F&B market provides strong financial support for Back’s expansion model. The market reached USD 30.12 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at 8.11% CAGR to USD 48.06 billion by 2031. Consumer spending hit a record SAR 1.41 trillion (US$376 billion) in 2024, a 7% increase. The QSR market — US$9.23 billion in 2024, growing at 6.78% CAGR to US$16.62 billion by 2033 — demonstrates that casual dining formats like Korean BBQ can command significant market share alongside premium steakhouse operations.
The Michelin Guide Saudi Arabia 2026 recognition for Namu within its 52 selected restaurants positions Back’s Riyadh operation for potential star recognition in the 2027 edition. Star distinctions planned for the next guide would create explicit quality rankings that affect restaurant reputations and commercial performance. A Michelin star for a Korean BBQ concept in Saudi Arabia would be globally significant — demonstrating that Korean cuisine can achieve the highest recognition outside Korea — and would validate The Mukaab’s investment in Korean dining programming.
The mega-project F&B pipeline creates competitive pressure for securing Back’s commitment to The Mukaab. Avenues Riyadh (due 2026), Diriyah Square (due 2027), and Qiddiya City (360+ square kilometers with 400 attractions) all represent alternative venues for Back’s potential expansion. Qiddiya’s Six Flags opened December 2025 with 35 food and retail outlets, and the horse racing complex includes nine fine dining restaurants — entertainment-integrated dining contexts that align with Back’s brand.
The Mukaab Multi-Concept Proposal
For The Mukaab’s dining program, Back’s multi-concept model offers maximum flexibility. Rather than committing an entire restaurant allocation to a single concept, the development could invite Back to create two or three smaller-format concepts — perhaps a Korean BBQ experience in the food halls with communal grilling stations, a premium omakase counter in the spiral tower where the chef creates Korean-Japanese fusion tasting menus, and a late-night Korean fried chicken concept in the entertainment zones that serves the Saudi late-night dining culture where some venues operate 24 hours.
This multi-format approach serves different customer segments within The Mukaab’s population. The 420,000 planned residents need casual everyday dining (Korean BBQ). Hotel guests among the 9,000 rooms seek premium dining experiences (omakase counter). Late-night entertainment visitors want accessible, fun food (fried chicken). Back’s portfolio model allows a single chef’s creative direction to serve all three segments, creating brand coherence across formats while maximizing the development’s culinary diversity.
The Saudization workforce requirements — targeting 1.6 million tourism jobs by 2030 — apply to all of Back’s Saudi operations. Training Saudi nationals in Korean BBQ grilling techniques, Korean ingredient handling, and the specific service traditions of Korean dining represents cross-cultural workforce development that contributes to the Kingdom’s hospitality expertise. The Mukaab’s planned technology and design university could include culinary training programs that develop Saudi professionals specifically for Korean and Asian dining concepts.
The sustainable dining dimension of Korean cuisine offers competitive advantages. Korean BBQ’s emphasis on vegetables — banchan (side dishes) typically include kimchi, bean sprouts, pickled radish, and other plant-based preparations — aligns with the plant-based dining trend identified as “the strongest Gulf dining trend of 2025.” The cuisine’s fermentation traditions (kimchi, gochujang, doenjang) also connect to the zero-waste movement, as fermentation preserves ingredients that might otherwise be discarded. With 68% of MENA diners preferring sustainable restaurants, Korean cuisine’s inherent vegetable-forward and preservation-focused approach provides a sustainability narrative that pure protein-focused cuisines lack.
The Vision 2030 tourism targets — 150 million visitors by 2030 — include growing traffic from East Asian markets where Korean cuisine appreciation is deep. The annual Esports World Cup in Riyadh draws audiences heavily influenced by Korean culture (Korea dominates competitive gaming), and K-pop concerts during Riyadh Season attract fans who actively seek Korean dining experiences. Back’s brands are positioned to capture this culturally-driven dining demand, and a Mukaab presence would extend this capture to the development’s visitor base.
Investment Landscape and Economic Context
The broader investment landscape positions Saudi Arabia’s dining sector within a transformational economic framework. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), which wholly owns the New Murabba Development Company, has deployed capital across hospitality, entertainment, and tourism at unprecedented scale. CloudKitchens received a USD 400 million investment from the Saudi PIF, signaling government-level commitment to food delivery infrastructure. The Saudi Coffee Company’s US$320 million investment to boost annual coffee production from 300 to 2,500 tonnes by 2032 demonstrates agricultural diversification supporting the dining sector.
Consumer behavior data reinforces the market opportunity. Over 500 million food delivery transactions are processed annually as of 2023, with 35% of consumers ordering food online at least once per week. The food delivery market alone is projected to grow from USD 8.33 billion in 2025 to USD 19.45 billion by 2031 at 15.18% CAGR. Delivery platforms including Jahez (leading Saudi app), HungerStation (95% Kingdom coverage with sub-one-hour delivery), Rabbit (targeting 20 million deliveries by 2026), Keeta (13,000 restaurant partners, 15,000 riders), and Nana (30 dark stores in Riyadh plus 20 additional announced) provide the infrastructure that connects restaurant concepts to consumers beyond their physical locations.
The entertainment transformation provides demand-side context that directly benefits dining. Saudi Arabia hosted its first public live music concert in over 25 years in May 2017 and opened its first new movie theater in 35 years in April 2018. The General Authority for Entertainment has invested over $2 billion. Riyadh Season, first held in 2019, generates millions of visitors annually. Over 80 international sporting events have attracted 2.5 million tourists in four years. The Jeddah Grand Prix drew visitors from 160 countries with $240 million in economic impact. This entertainment infrastructure creates the social context where dining thrives as both daily necessity and cultural experience. The global events pipeline — Expo 2030 in Riyadh, FIFA 2034, the annual Esports World Cup — ensures sustained international visitor traffic that premium dining concepts require to supplement resident demand.
Delivery Infrastructure and Digital Transformation
Saudi Arabia’s food delivery ecosystem has matured into one of the most sophisticated in the Middle East. The market processes over 500 million food delivery transactions annually, with 35% of consumers ordering food online at least once per week. Leading platforms have established comprehensive coverage: Jahez operates as the leading Saudi delivery app; HungerStation covers 95% of the Kingdom with sub-one-hour delivery guarantees; Rabbit established Saudi operations in April 2025 targeting 20 million deliveries by 2026; Keeta expanded to Jeddah and Makkah in January 2025 with 13,000 restaurant partners and 15,000 riders; and Nana operates 30 dark stores in Riyadh with 20 additional locations announced.
Cloud kitchen operators are expanding rapidly. Kaykroo operates 77+ digital-first brands across Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. Rebel Foods, the Indian cloud kitchen giant, entered Saudi Arabia in 2023 with 2 cloud kitchens and ambitions for 60 online restaurants. Sweetheart Kitchen from Dubai plans 15 kitchens in Riyadh focused on healthy affordable dishes. Kitopi operates as a major cloud kitchen operator in the region. The PIF’s USD 400 million investment in CloudKitchens signals government-level commitment to the delivery-first dining model.
All cloud kitchens must comply with SFDA guidelines for food safety and hygiene. The authority has conducted over 20,000 inspections, and February 2025 amendments introduced penalties up to SAR 500,000 for non-compliant delivery firms. This regulatory framework ensures that delivery dining maintains quality standards comparable to dine-in experiences — a consideration directly relevant for The Mukaab’s cloud kitchen integration strategy.
The Saudi culinary landscape includes four distinct regional traditions. Najdi cuisine from the central highlands features denser, earthier preparations centered on kabsa, jareesh (declared national dish in 2023), margoug, mandi, and mathbi — robust Bedouin flavors built for the desert with long preparation times using cardamom, cumin, saffron, lamb, dates, and desert truffles. Hijazi cuisine from the western coast (Jeddah, Mecca, Medina) is more cosmopolitan, shaped by pilgrimage traffic and Ottoman influence. Al Ahsa cuisine defines the eastern region. Southern cuisine from Asir and Jazan draws on highland and coastal ingredients. Arabic qahwa — light coffee from short-roasted beans, spiced with cardamom, poured from the dalla, always served with dates — anchors every gathering. UNESCO recognized qahwa on its Intangible Cultural World Heritage list in 2015. The Saudi Coffee Company’s US$320 million investment supports domestic Arabica production in the Jazan highlands.