
How Fast-Food Franchising Actually Works
Almost every restaurant you think of as a chain is owned by someone else entirely. What the franchisee actually buys, and why it explains the price on the board.
21 chains tracked in United Arab Emirates, priced in AED. Every menu below is the full local board, not a global template.
The cheapest priced item we hold in each dish category across every United Arab Emirates menu - A rough floor for what each kind of food costs here.
| Dish type | Items tracked | Cheapest we found | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft Drinks, Tea & Juice | 266 | AED 4 | Colas, teas, juices, water and the mark-up on all of them. |
| Pizza | 189 | AED 3 | Every pizza on every menu we track, from margherita to meat feast. |
| Sandwiches & Wraps | 187 | AED 8 | Subs, wraps, melts, toasties and hand-held everything else. |
| Combos & Meal Deals | 182 | AED 12 | Bundles, family boxes, promotions and value platters. |
| Burgers | 177 | AED 7 | Beef, chicken and plant-based burgers priced side by side. |
| Sides & Fries | 170 | AED 1 | Fries, onion rings, dips, slaw and the upsell economy. |
| Coffee | 147 | AED 6 | Espresso, latte, cappuccino and cold brew, market by market. |
| Fried Chicken | 125 | AED 3 | Buckets, tenders, wings, nuggets and rotisserie birds. |
| Shakes & Smoothies | 79 | AED 15 | Milkshakes, frappes, smoothies and blended drinks. |
| Desserts & Bakes | 70 | AED 2 | Cakes, cookies, pies, brownies and the sweet end of the board. |
| Ice Cream & Frozen Treats | 66 | AED 6 | Scoops, sundaes, blizzards, soft serve and ice-cream cakes. |
| Salads | 50 | AED 2 | Side salads, mains and the price of eating light. |
| Bakery & Pretzels | 48 | AED 4 | Pretzels, cinnamon rolls, croissants and counter bakes. |
| Donuts | 41 | AED 7 | Glazed, filled, dozen boxes and the price per donut. |
Cheapest priced option on any United Arab Emirates menu in that category, including small sizes and single-item promos.
21 brands, 21 full menus.
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 1 | 0.27 |
| Average | 21.66 | 5.90 |
| Dearest | 52 | 14.16 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 1.50 | 0.41 |
| Average | 30.57 | 8.32 |
| Dearest | 163 | 44.38 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 4 | 1.09 |
| Average | 22.67 | 6.17 |
| Dearest | 48 | 13.07 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 5 | 1.36 |
| Average | 28.27 | 7.70 |
| Dearest | 54 | 14.70 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 4 | 1.09 |
| Average | 47.64 | 12.97 |
| Dearest | 79.90 | 21.76 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 1 | 0.27 |
| Average | 35.07 | 9.55 |
| Dearest | 154 | 41.93 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 12 | 3.27 |
| Average | 52.91 | 14.41 |
| Dearest | 149 | 40.57 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 3 | 0.82 |
| Average | 22.49 | 6.12 |
| Dearest | 126 | 34.31 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 6 | 1.63 |
| Average | 33.59 | 9.15 |
| Dearest | 120 | 32.68 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 7 | 1.91 |
| Average | 22.32 | 6.08 |
| Dearest | 32 | 8.71 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 7 | 1.91 |
| Average | 30.47 | 8.30 |
| Dearest | 109 | 29.68 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 6 | 1.63 |
| Average | 29.94 | 8.15 |
| Dearest | 165 | 44.93 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 1 | 0.27 |
| Average | 18.36 | 5.00 |
| Dearest | 105 | 28.59 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 3 | 0.82 |
| Average | 28.89 | 7.87 |
| Dearest | 129 | 35.13 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 7 | 1.91 |
| Average | 26.21 | 7.14 |
| Dearest | 56 | 15.25 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 5 | 1.36 |
| Average | 57.01 | 15.52 |
| Dearest | 235 | 63.99 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 13 | 3.54 |
| Average | 24.89 | 6.78 |
| Dearest | 50 | 13.61 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 14 | 3.81 |
| Average | 49.80 | 13.56 |
| Dearest | 286 | 77.88 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 3 | 0.82 |
| Average | 43.72 | 11.90 |
| Dearest | 335 | 91.22 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 6 | 1.63 |
| Average | 21.86 | 5.95 |
| Dearest | 50 | 13.61 |
| AED | USD | |
|---|---|---|
| From | 10 | 2.72 |
| Average | 24.66 | 6.71 |
| Dearest | 39 | 10.62 |
Products United Arab Emirates shares with the most other markets we track, so you can see where it sits.
| Product | Brand | Markets | Cheapest | Priciest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Mac | McDonald's | 16 | $2.90 | $7.84 |
| Little Hamburger | Five Guys | 11 | $1.93 | $11.82 |
| Cheese Dog | Five Guys | 11 | $2.03 | $12.21 |
| Little Cheeseburger | Five Guys | 11 | $2.24 | $13.25 |
| Veggie Sandwich | Five Guys | 11 | $1.52 | $8.67 |
| Hamburger | Five Guys | 11 | $2.74 | $15.07 |
| Cheeseburger | Five Guys | 11 | $3.24 | $16.47 |
| Filet-O-Fish™ | McDonald's | 11 | $1.79 | $5.98 |
The UAE is one of the most brand-dense restaurant markets in the world. A single Dubai mall can hold more international chains than an entire mid-sized European country, and the combination of a large expatriate population, high mall footfall and very high disposable income has made it a standard second or third market for almost any expanding brand.
It is also unusual in drawing chains from every direction at once. American brands sit alongside British ones like Costa Coffee, which counts the Emirates among its largest markets outside the United Kingdom, and alongside South-East Asian operators including The Pizza Company, Swensen's, Black Canyon Coffee and Coffee World, all of which followed regional franchise networks into the Gulf.
Halal certification is the default rather than an exception here, pork is generally absent from mainstream chain menus, and the food-court format at mall scale drives much of how menus are built.
Pick any brand that trades in both and see every shared item priced side by side.

Almost every restaurant you think of as a chain is owned by someone else entirely. What the franchisee actually buys, and why it explains the price on the board.

Localisation is not adding a novelty item. It is a staged process with a predictable sequence, and the menu data shows exactly how far each market has travelled.

Menu boards are designed documents, not lists. Where the money items sit, what the ordering of panels is doing, and how to find the price you actually want.

Menu calorie labelling is mandatory in some markets, voluntary in others and absent in most. What our data shows about how little of it reaches a published menu.
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