Restaurant Interior Designer in Dubai

IAIA (Idea Art Interior Architects) is a restaurant interior designer in Dubai. We design restaurants, bars and cafés from the first concept and floor plan through lighting, materials and furniture to supervision on site. Since 1994 the studio has completed more than 320 projects in 12 countries, 69 of them in F&B, corporate and commercial work. 

A restaurant has to work twice: as a room guests want to return to, and as a floor and kitchen that a team can run at full service. We start from the menu, the operator’s concept and the number of covers, and let those decide the plan before any finish is chosen.

Every restaurant project starts with the same questions: how many covers, what service style, what story the operator wants guests to feel from the door to the table. At Villa Yakro Hotel & Resort (DNA Paris 2025 Winner, Architecture / Hospitality) the dining spaces were planned around sightlines and a materials palette that reads calm by day and warm after dark – the same discipline carries into every F&B fit-out: plan first, decorate second. From fine dining rooms to cafés and bars, the brief always comes down to the same loop: concept, floor plan, kitchen coordination, lighting and materials, then fit-out supervision on site.

A floor plan that gets covers and back-of-house flow right from day one saves the operator from costly changes once the kitchen consultant and MEP are on board. Finishes are chosen last, once the plan and the kitchen coordination are settled – never the other way round. 

The result is a room that reads calm to a seated guest and still clears a full service without a bottleneck at the pass.

How long does restaurant interior design take in Dubai?

It depends on the size and condition of the unit. The concept and floor plan are agreed first; full design development and supervision run alongside the fit-out programme, which depends on the unit’s condition and permit timeline. 

Restaurant interior design in Dubai: Portofino Hotel

One example from our portfolio is Portofino Hotel in The Heart of Europe, Dubai, a hotel that takes its cue from the sea. The all-day dining is shaped by arches and round openings in pale timber and stone. On the fifth floor, the Italian restaurant is a room of travertine, rippled steel ceilings, glass-bead curtains and blue mosaic, with porthole mirrors framed in oak; above it, the roof terrace sets daybeds and dining under shade sails, against green walls and the sea.

Each room has its own character, but all three follow one idea, so the hotel reads as a single story from lobby to roof. See also La Donna Restaurant at the same hotel. 

Restaurant interior design FAQ

Can you design the kitchen and back-of-house too?

We design the full floor plan including kitchen and service areas in coordination with the kitchen consultant, so front and back of house work as one operation.

IAIA also designs hotel interiors and private residences across the UAE and abroad – see our interior design services or full portfolio.

IAIA’s F&B and hospitality work includes Villa Yakro Hotel & Resort (DNA Paris 2025 Winner, Architecture / Hospitality) and Nama Abidjan, among 69 F&B, corporate and commercial projects completed since 1994. See the Villa Yakro Hotel & Resort and Nama Abidjan project pages for how the same process plays out in hospitality interiors. 

Do you also design restaurants and bars inside hotels?

Yes. Hotel restaurants and bars are designed as part of the whole hotel story, as at Portofino Hotel, where the all-day dining, the Italian restaurant and the roof terrace share one idea. 

How does a restaurant project start?

Send us the unit’s location and size, the number of covers you are aiming for and the concept or menu. We come back with how we would approach the plan and a proposal for the design stages.  

Our studio is in Dubai Design District, Building 5, A204 — get in touch to arrange a first conversation.