Al Balad goes to Egypt

New local outlet to open in Dbayeh

Lebanese cuisine restaurant Al Balad will expand to Egypt through a franchise deal during 2013. Tony Aoun, operations’ manager at Sineco, the company behind Al Balad, said franchising into Egypt was planned a couple of months ago: “The project was delayed due to the situation there.”

Al Balad has franchises in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In March it opened a franchised branch in Qatar.

Aoun said Al Balad will also be opening another local outlet in December. The new branch will be located in Dbayeh, within the new dining court, BlueBerry Square. The restaurant stretches over 160 square meters. The location’s lease is $168,000 a year.

Aoun said the restaurant was scheduled to open in August, but that it had been delayed due to logistic obstacles. The Dbayeh branch is Al Balad’s third local outlet, after Jounieh and Beirut’s downtown.

BlueBerry Square, located along the marina, will be hosting 16 restaurants once fully operational. These so far include, alongside Al Balad, Leil Nhar, Let’s Burger, Margherita, and Couqley.