Restaurant Company Setup in Saudi Arabia

MISA classifies activities using the ISIC4 system, under which restaurants and cafés are food and beverage service activities. That makes the MISA registration a service registration, paired with a Ministry of Commerce commercial license. Foreign ownership of up to 100% is available, and no Saudi partner is required.

Older guides online describe extra conditions for foreign-owned restaurants under the previous regime. MISA's current investor guide (12th edition, April 2025) sets special capital or Saudi-participation conditions for a short list of activities, and food service is not among them. MISA updates the guide, so we confirm the position for your activity codes before filing.

Trading is the exception that catches F&B concepts. A café that also sells coffee beans, packaged sweets or branded merchandise at retail is adding a trading activity. Under the same guide, a wholly foreign-owned commercial company needs minimum capital of SAR 30 million and presence in at least three regional or global markets. Keep retail out of the license unless the business case justifies that route.

Company-level approvals are done once. The approvals below are tied to a location or to a person, so they repeat as you open outlets and hire staff. The municipal license is the one that most often moves an opening date, because it depends on the premises.

A restaurant that buys ingredients from licensed suppliers and cooks for its own guests deals mainly with the municipality. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority licenses food factories, warehouses and distribution centers through its Ghad platform, and registers imported food before clearance.

That line matters for growing brands. A central production kitchen supplying several outlets, a food store for bulk stock, or direct imports of ingredients can each bring the SFDA in. Decide how you will supply your outlets before you design the first kitchen, because the classification changes the premises requirements.

Restaurants are labor-intensive, so the Saudization ratio shapes the business plan as much as rent does. Every employer is classified under Nitaqat, and the band governs your ability to issue work visas and renew iqamas.

Specific decisions apply on top. A Ministry of Human Resources decision on commercial complexes sets Saudization at 40% for restaurant activities and 50% for café shops inside malls, and where another decision sets a different percentage, the higher one applies. Check the rules for your exact location before you sign a mall lease.

A limited liability company is the usual vehicle. One LLC can run several outlets, with a municipal license for each location. Groups planning to raise capital or bring in investors per brand sometimes use a Simplified Joint Stock Company instead.

After opening, the calendar includes the annual MISA registration update, the annual Commercial Registration confirmation, Chamber membership, municipal license and health certificate renewals, VAT returns at 15% once you pass the SAR 375,000 registration threshold, monthly GOSI contributions, and annual audited statements with the Zakat or income tax return.

Most of these are decided before the first lease is signed.