Urban RetrEAT celebrates one year of success

Home-grown food incubator, Urban RetrEAT will complete one successful year of supporting up and coming food businesses across the UAE through its space at Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi.

Founded by local foodpreneur, Dana Alsharif, this unique food pop-up concept helps new food concepts to boost their business by creating a community and offering them a space to cook and sell their dishes to interested customers.

“Urban RetrEAT was created to give local food start-ups a platform for exposure. We aimed to provide a space where new food concepts could come in, cook their signature dishes and serve them up to customers in an affordable space, where they might not have previously had the chance to do so. As the first concept of its kind in the UAE we were thrilled to have secured a great spot in one of the best malls in Abu Dhabi at Yas Mall,” says Alsharif.

In the course of the past one year, Urban RetrEAT has housed 52 different food vendors on a 3-6-month rotation, and served up to 16 different types of international cuisines. More than 80,000 meals have been served at Urban RetrEAT over the past year and over 150 applications have been submitted by local food start-ups for a spot at Urban RetrEAT.

“As we look to the future, we have been having interesting conversations about potential expansions across the UAE. The format of Urban RetrEAT is such that there is a constant rotation of vendors meaning that there is an ever-changing dining experience. We’ve had some great success stories in our first year with one vendor even being offered a permanent location in Yas Mall to operate from,” she added.

One of the most popular home-grown food concept launched at Urban RetrEAT, Off The Hook, has now been given an independent location in Yas Mall to operate, following high demand from local customers.

Currently on their fourth rotation, Urban RetrEAT also supports local creative talent such as musicians and artists by offering them a platform to showcase their work and perform for customers within its space.