العربية

Since 1968: homegrown businesses that have served Abu Dhabi for decades

Some of the most familiar names in Abu Dhabi did not arrive as international chains. They started in the city, often as a single shop or kitchen, and are still trading today. This guide gathers the longest-standing ones in the Neighbours Circle directory whose story has been checked against a published source, from a bookshop that opened in 1968 to a foul cafe that arrived in 2002. Every date and name below comes from the article we cite, and nothing is added from memory or guesswork.

1968: the bookshop that came first

Khaleej Times describes All Prints as the first bookshop in Abu Dhabi. Its headline calls founder Tahseen Al Khayat a Lebanese expat, and the article dates the opening to 1968, when the shop sat on Airport Road, near Al Manhal Palace. Today it is in Khalidiya, on Al Nasr Street. According to the same report, the business has grown well beyond selling books: it now prints and distributes textbooks, supplies learning materials and runs teacher training for schools and universities in the UAE and several other Arab countries (Khaleej Times).

1975: two grills that are still lit

The National's Abu Dhabi Urban Treasures feature names two grill restaurants that opened in 1975. Al Sultan Restaurant & Grill, on Defence Street, was opened by Ali Osman, whom the feature calls a Lebanese resident; his son Houssien later took over. The menu centres on grilled meat, hummus and arayes, the spiced grilled meat sandwich. Abu Kaabi Kabab Restaurant & Grills opened the same year. The feature says its founder had already been an established chef in Lebanon before starting his own place in Abu Dhabi, and that his son Michael Ohan runs it now, still grilling the meat in house. Early residents of Khalidiyah, the feature adds, still remember its original location (The National).

1978: an Iranian kitchen near Hamdan Street

Al Alamain Restaurant was opened in 1978 by a cook, according to The National, and his son, Abdul Hamid Abdul Kader, now manages it. The restaurant moved about ten years after opening to its current spot, a block from Hamdan Street. The menu is Iranian, and the feature singles out a very low priced sandwich nicknamed the rocket, packed with chicken, liver, potatoes and falafel among other fillings (The National).

1994 and 2002: sweets and foul in the Tourist Club Area

Two more entries from the same feature sit in the Tourist Club Area. Chhappan Bhog was opened in 1994 by a married couple, Vinay and Nira Varma; the feature notes that Vinay had arrived in Abu Dhabi by boat from Bombay in 1970. The shop serves Indian sweets alongside street food such as chaat and panipuri on steel plates. Abu Al Afwal Cafeteria came in 2002. Hassan Hamed runs it, and The National says it mirrors his father's original cafe in Sudan, with foul served from the evening rather than at breakfast, as plates and as sandwiches, and beans brought from Sudan (The National).

Late 1997: India Palace on Sheikh Zayed Street

Gulf News traces India Palace back to late 1997, when the first restaurant opened in Abu Dhabi; the official inauguration followed on 20 February 1998. The paper calls founder Kesavan Muraleedharan (spelt K. Muralee Dharan in the article) an Indian expat from Kerala who arrived in the UAE at 20. Butter chicken is the dish the article names as the signature, with daal makhni and biryani close behind (Gulf News).

Before you go

These businesses have outlasted several generations of malls and road layouts, and several are now run by the founders' children. Long-running places move, rename and change hands, so check opening hours with the business before a special trip. Each listing here links to the source we used. If you run one of these businesses, you can claim your page with a trade licence and tell us what has changed. If a place has closed, use Report a problem on its page and we will review it.

Sources