In Middle East, Al Baik is Making its Mark in The Fast Food Business

In 1974, in a street in the historic quarter of Jeddah, the entrepreneur Shakour Abu Ghazalah opened the first fast food of the Kingdom. If its founder died one year later, the Al Baik chain would have never stopped growing. Today, the favorite brand of the Saudis makes up over 80 shops in the country.

A furious competition

The specialty of Al Baik remains the same despite the passage of time: fried chicken. Despite a furious competition in Jeddah and in the Kingdom involving American fast food giants McDonald’s and KFC, the Al Baik chain continues to hold onto the secret recipe to success. The secret to this typical Midwestern american plate is in sauce, which sports 18 spices, and to the garlic, which accompanies the chicken.

Baptised in 1986 the yellow and red chicken brand was first called “Broast Restaurant”. In 1990, the chain opened its first shop outside of Jeddah, in Mecca. Today, the holy city has six Al Baik stores.

80 restaurants in the country and tens in Middle East

In 1994, the menu diversified. In addition to fried chicken, the team added spiced chicken, nuggets, as well as shrimp. But the menu grew with the infrastructure: in 2001, Al Baik opened its largest restaurant in Medina. It has a surface area of 1500m2, and is able to welcome up to 500 customers.

The favorite brand isn’t stopping, and has over 80 restaurants in the country and tens in Middle East.