Short answer: a new Dubai restaurant needs four separate print batches before day one — licence-day stationery, guest-facing print, branded packaging and opening-week marketing. A 60-seat casual concept spends roughly AED 6,000–9,000 on the lot. Packaging sets the timeline because it carries real production time; menus and business cards can be turned around in days. Start four weeks before soft opening and nothing will be missing on the night.
This checklist follows the order a Dubai opening actually runs — trade licence, fit-out, soft opening — and every figure below is a live store price in AED, VAT inclusive, with delivery across the UAE. If you want the service overview rather than the checklist, see Restaurant Opening Printing in Dubai.
The four-week print timeline
The lead times below are production days after you approve final artwork — not calendar days from your first enquiry. Add two or three days if the design is still being drawn.
| When | What to order | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Week −4 | Business cards, NCR books, presentation folders | Needed the day the licence lands — suppliers, aggregators, landlord and bank paperwork |
| Week −3 | Paper cups, food boxes, bags, napkins, labels | Longest production time and the most artwork approvals |
| Week −2 | Menus, table talkers, danglers, QR stickers | Menu prices keep changing until the last minute — lock them here |
| Week −1 | A-boards, posters, flyers, opening vouchers | Short print runs, high impact, and they keep your opening date flexible |
Phase 1 — Licence-day stationery
The first print run has nothing to do with guests. It is the paperwork layer, and skipping it is the most common opening mistake we see: owners arrive at supplier meetings and aggregator onboarding with a phone number typed into a note.
Order at minimum:
- Business cards — matt laminated 350 gsm at AED 99 for 500 or AED 119 for 1,000. Two names minimum: owner and operations manager. See the full range in business card printing.
- Express cards if the licence beat your schedule — next-day matt lamination 350 gsm at AED 149 for 500 or AED 179 for 1,000 from express printing.
- NCR books — 10 A5 books, one-colour 1+1, at AED 390. You will use these for goods received, petty cash and supplier deliveries from week one.
- Presentation folders — 100 A4 folders with pocket, 400 gsm art matt, velvet lamination and 3D gold foil at AED 1,425. Worth it if you are pitching for catering contracts or mall units; skip it for a single takeaway counter. Browse folders.
Phase 2 — Menus and guest-facing print
Menus are the one item where restaurants consistently over-order. Prices, suppliers and half your dishes will change in the first ninety days. Print 500, not 5,000.
| Menu format | 500 pcs | 1,000 pcs | 2,000 pcs |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 to A5, 350 gsm, glossy or matt laminated | AED 550 | AED 800 | AED 1,300 |
| A3 to A4, 350 gsm, glossy or matt laminated | AED 900 | AED 1,500 | AED 2,550 |
For fine dining, the format changes completely: 10 A4 leather menus, 350 gsm inserts printed both sides with matt lamination, run AED 2,210. Ten covers cover a 40-seat room comfortably because they are handed out and collected, and you reprint only the inserts when prices move.
Add QR stickers for the table if you run a digital menu alongside the printed one — but read the QR code design rules first, because a QR printed below 2 cm on a glossy laminate will not scan reliably under warm restaurant lighting. Full range: menu printing in Dubai.
Phase 3 — Branded packaging (the long pole)
Packaging is where your opening budget is actually spent, and where MOQs bite hardest. The cost per unit swings enormously with quantity, so decide early whether you are buying for the first month or the first year.
Paper cups
Double wall 8 oz is the default for hot drinks in the UAE — single wall plus a sleeve works out more expensive once you count the sleeve.
| Quantity | No lids | Standard lids | Premium lids |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 double wall 8 oz | AED 510 | AED 565 | AED 630 |
| 1,000 double wall 8 oz | AED 760 | AED 870 | AED 1,000 |
That is AED 0.87 per cup with a lid at 1,000 pieces. Now compare the bulk route: 25,000 single wall 8 oz cups, one-colour, no lids, at AED 5,245 — about AED 0.21 a cup. Four times cheaper per unit, but it is a year of stock and a storeroom you may not have. Most new cafés start at 1,000 and move to bulk after month three, once the artwork is settled. See all sizes in paper cup printing, or read the full paper cup guide.
Food boxes
- 2,000 fried chicken takeaway boxes — AED 1,190 (AED 0.60 each)
- 5,000 pearl burger boxes — AED 2,030 (AED 0.41 each)
- 100 corrugated boxes, 35 × 25 × 10 cm, black print — AED 1,500 for catering trays and delivery outers
Everything else — pizza, dessert, salad — sits in custom box printing.
Napkins, bags and labels
- Printed table napkins — AED 895; cocktail napkins — AED 985
- 500 luxury shopping bags, 25 × 25 × 10 cm — AED 1,940 for retail-style takeaway
- 1,000 economy stickers, glossy laminated 80 gsm — AED 370, or 1,000 premium self-adhesive labels at AED 730
- Transparent round stickers, 10 cm — AED 375 for 100, AED 575 for 500, AED 775 for 1,000: the cheapest way to brand plain containers you buy off the shelf
That last point is the single best budget trick for a new kitchen. Buy unbranded deli containers and close them with a printed label from sticker and label printing — you get branded packaging for well under a dirham a unit, with no packaging MOQ at all.
Phase 4 — Signage and opening week
- Spring A-board — small 80 × 115 cm at AED 900, medium 90 × 190 cm at AED 1,000, large 110 × 260 cm at AED 1,110
- Round dangler 60 × 60 cm — AED 210, or four 15 × 15 cm danglers for AED 220
- 15 custom A4 posters — AED 140
- Neon signage — from AED 550
- Flyers — 1,000 A5 170 gsm glossy at AED 270, 1,000 DL at AED 380, 5,000 A6 at AED 590
- Opening vouchers — 20 books of 50 leaves (1,000 vouchers), 5 × 7 cm, 170 gsm glossy, double-sided, numbered and perforated: AED 1,000, or exactly AED 1 per voucher
Numbered vouchers matter more than they look. Sequential numbering is how you find out whether the flyer drop in the neighbouring tower actually brought anyone in, instead of guessing. Mall and community signage usually needs landlord approval before installation, so send artwork for sign-off the same week you order.
What a 60-seat casual restaurant actually spends
| Item | Quantity | Price (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Business cards, matt laminated 350 gsm | 1,000 | 119 |
| NCR books A5, one-colour 1+1 | 10 books | 390 |
| Menus A4 to A5, 350 gsm laminated | 1,000 | 800 |
| Paper cups double wall 8 oz with lids | 1,000 | 870 |
| Fried chicken takeaway boxes | 2,000 | 1,190 |
| Economy stickers, glossy laminated | 1,000 | 370 |
| Printed table napkins | 1 order | 895 |
| Spring A-board, small | 1 | 900 |
| Flyers A5, 170 gsm glossy | 1,000 | 270 |
| Round dangler 60 × 60 cm | 1 | 210 |
| Total | 6,014 |
Add numbered opening vouchers (AED 1,000) and premium folders (AED 1,425) and you are at AED 8,439 — the realistic ceiling for a first-site casual concept. Strip the A-board and napkins and a lean takeaway counter opens on about AED 3,500.
How to order
- Send print-ready artwork — PDF, CMYK, 300 dpi, 3 mm bleed. Our print-ready artwork checklist covers every setting, and CMYK vs RGB explains why your brand red prints differently than it looks on screen.
- No artwork? Use the free design service. Send your logo and menu text and we will lay it out for approval.
- Approve the proof. Production days start from approval, not from the order.
- Receive delivery. Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are routine; the northern emirates add a day.
One practical warning: get the trade name spelling and licence number on the artwork exactly as they appear on the licence before you approve anything printed in thousands. A reprint of 2,000 boxes costs more than a careful ten minutes.
FAQ
How far ahead should I order restaurant printing in Dubai?
Four weeks before soft opening for packaging, two weeks for menus, one week for signage and flyers. Production is five to seven business days for most items after artwork approval, but the real delay is usually artwork revisions, not the press.
What is the minimum order for printed paper cups?
500 pieces for double wall cups — AED 510 without lids, AED 565 with standard lids. Bulk single wall runs start at 25,000 pieces and drop the cost to around AED 0.21 a cup. If 500 is still too many for a test, brand off-the-shelf cups with printed stickers first.
Can I print menus before my trade licence is issued?
Yes — menus carry no licence details. But hold business cards, NCR books and anything showing a TRN until the licence and tax registration are final, because those numbers cannot be corrected with a sticker.
Do printed food boxes and cups need food-grade material?
Yes. Food-contact packaging must be printed on food-grade board with food-safe inks, which is what the cup and box ranges above use. It is also why food packaging cannot be produced as fast as a flyer — the stock is specified before printing, not chosen at the press.
What is the cheapest way to look premium on an opening budget?
Spend on the two things guests touch: menus and packaging. Matt or velvet lamination on a menu costs almost nothing extra and reads as expensive. Then brand plain containers with printed labels instead of ordering custom-moulded packaging in year one.
Do you deliver outside Dubai?
Yes — across all seven emirates at the same prices. Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are same-week; Al Ain, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain typically add one day to the schedule.
Ready to print your opening kit?
Send your logo and opening date and we will come back with a single quote covering every item on this checklist, sequenced against your soft opening so nothing lands late. WhatsApp +971 52 210 0909 or call 052 210 0909.
Start browsing here: paper cups · food boxes · menus · the full restaurant opening print page.
