AlBaik Dubai Mall — Restaurant in Dubai

Would like to share a very unpleasant and shocking experience we had recently at Al Baik in Dubai Mall, which completely ruined our day and deeply embarrassed us in front of our family and other visitors.

We were visiting the Dubai Mall food court with family, including my 4-year-old son, and were standing in the common walking area between Al Baik and Texas Chicken, trying to decide where to eat. Due to queues at both counters, we stood in the middle passage, away from both queues, just checking Texas Chicken’s menu from a distance.

Suddenly, a man (later identified as Mr. Hilmy, the manager of Al Baik) came from behind and aggressively told us, “You’re standing on our side and looking at their menu – not good, right?” His tone was disrespectful and completely unnecessary. We were surprised and replied politely that it’s our choice to decide where to eat and that we were standing in a public walking space, not blocking anyone or their queue.

He then claimed he was “just joking” but continued saying “this is our premises, go from here”, and kept making rude remarks. Even though we tried to avoid confrontation and move away, he continued harassing us verbally, even threatening to call security, claiming that Al Baik “pays rent” for that space. This behavior shocked us.

We were not disturbing anyone, not blocking any entrance, nor causing any trouble — just a family deciding what to eat. The situation became so uncomfortable that even my young son got frightened and anxious. The entire experience was deeply embarrassing and disrespectful, especially in a public family-friendly place like Dubai Mall.

As long-time residents of Dubai , we’ve never experienced such unprofessional, rude, and intimidating behavior from a manager of a reputed brand. It felt like he was trying to chase people away who weren’t choosing Al Baik — and we can’t help but feel that our appearance or background may have played a role in how we were treated.

We genuinely expected better from a brand like Al Baik. Before serving food, it’s essential to train staff and managers on basic respect, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity. This kind of behavior is unacceptable in a diverse city like Dubai.

Sadly, we will never return to Al Baik again, and we will be sharing this experience with friends and social media so that others can be aware and hopefully avoid such...

Quick Review: Pros: • Taste, • Affordable, • Charity scheme. Cons: • Service, • Quality Control. Detailed Review:

Detailed Cons: In Saudi Arabia, the system of waiting in line for food might have worked out. However, in dubai, people don't want to stand in line for 30 minutes to an hour. It would be better if people could either order via a app and pick up, or they can order and get a device that alters the customer when the food is ready to pick up, pizza hut does that. Moreover, the quality varys wildy, if you order during non-busy hours the food is really good. I tried on Wednesday and the food was really good. However, on the weekends the quality drops vastly. No to mention the waiter couldn't hear me and from his face he seemed a bit tried due to the number of people coming at AlBaik.

Ways to improve: Shift digital or partly Digital, instead of someone taking your order allow customer to order via a app and if AlBaik doesn't want to do this then atleast implement a altering device like pizza hut. Where people don't have to stand instead they can sit comfortably and wait.

Quality Control can be addressed by a larger kitchen and more motivated staff, this will lead higher capacity for it popularity.

Detailed Pros:

Affordability is rare in this inflation driven economy, able to keep prices affordable for the common man/women is amazing. Not to mention, the 14 AED Big Baik is massive. Al baik doesn't even have to market itself due to its goodwill and charitable work it does. So, just hope that the waiting time can be resolved so that it can expand to other countries as well. Hopefully, in America one...

when I was leaving for Dubai this time, Albaik was in my “to do” list. On my second day in Dubai, we visited Dubai International Expo 2020 and we decided to have our late lunch at Albaik. There was a huge queue (of at least 150 people) outside the restaurant and I found no hope for getting food from there. But to my utter surprise, believe it or not, it took just 22 minutes literally for Ritwik, my son to reach to the delivery counter and get our food…fresh, hot and nicely packed.

We had chicken fillet nuggets, crispy chicken twisters, chicken zinger burgers and cheesy chicken (for me and my wife) and beef (for my son) wraps. And all of them are exceptionally good…easily comparable to KFC, or McDonald’s on any given day. Here I would like to add, in Middle East, people prefer Albaik more than any brand available in the world market.

Now, where lays the difference?

a) They broast chicken to provide customers with a healthier option. Broasting is done through pressure fryer. Here, the chicken has lesser calories and 40-70% lesser fat than the normal ones. Broasting just needs quarter cups of oil compared to 1.5 cups of oil to fry conventionally. b) They fry in 100% pure vegetable oil. c) Cheapest restaurants in its kind of food. d) They invested more on manpower, each areas (frontline, dining, and backline) in the restaurant are manned by a maximum of 2 staff which makes the service swifter. And they have a local worker which serves at the front door. The staffs are flexible and each one of them is ready to help you with anything you request for.

Albaik, like other fast-paced restaurants, faced critical challenges. But they had won over since they were consistent in quality of food and...