Rafikis Dubai celebrates East African family recipes.
Menu highlights include Chooza Chicken and Beef Mishkaki.
The restaurant will open on 10 October 2026 at Alserkal Avenue in Al Quoz.
East African grills and family recipes are at the heart of this Al Quoz restaurant.
UAE diners have another exciting restaurant to add to their radar. Rafikis is preparing to open on 10 October 2026 at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, with an East African menu centred on charcoal cooking.
East African cooking tells a story of trade, migration and cultural exchange. Along the Swahili coast, African ingredients and traditions meet influences from Arabia and South Asia, with coconut, fragrant spices and rice featuring prominently. Dishes such as chapati, samosas and pilau have become part of the region’s own culinary identity, adapted across generations and shared around family tables. Rafikis in Dubai draws on recipes preserved by families who left East Africa and settled overseas, carrying these flavours with them. In their new homes, community restaurants became places to gather, share familiar dishes and maintain a connection to the places they had left behind. It is this relationship between food, memory and belonging that shapes the concept.
On the grill menu, Chooza Chicken offers an East African take on tikka, alongside Beef Mishkaki skewers, spiced beef ribs, and lamb chops marinated with garlic, ginger, and Kenyan spices. All grills come with fries or Rafikis rice.
The address adds another reason to get excited. Alserkal Avenue has become a cultural destination where contemporary galleries sit alongside independent businesses spanning design, performance and lifestyle. Its industrial setting makes exploring part of the experience, with different creative spaces offering reasons to pause along the way. With a programme that includes art weeks, festivals and community events, the Avenue offers plenty of opportunities to combine a meal with a little cultural discovery.
Alserkal Avenue has also become a culinary destination in its own right, with a growing collection of homegrown concepts giving visitors plenty of reasons to arrive hungry. Piehaus, Nightjar, Kokoro, LILA Molino, Middle Child and Window sit alongside FACT award-winning bkry, creating a dining scene as varied as the district’s cultural offering. So, Rafikis is in good culinary company, placing its East African cooking in a neighbourhood where independent restaurants have become as much of a draw as the galleries.
Where: Rafikis, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai
When: Opening 10 October 2026
Contact: rafikis.ae