Berenjak, a buzzy Iranian restaurant that started in London before expanding abroad, opens a permanent location in Riyadh today. In the current mood, don’t expect a line.
The concept, built by chef Kian Samyani around the kebab houses of Tehran, has outposts in Doha, Dubai, and Los Angeles. Its Saudi chapter began with a pop-up during Riyadh Season 2025 which sold out. Saudi operator Cool Inc. decided the city was ready for the full thing. But that was before the war.
For years, Riyadh’s restaurants used “Persian” to brand Iranian food as a way to sidestep sensitivities when the two governments clashed. That changed after the 2023 Beijing-brokered rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran, but public sentiment hardened after the war began. Some people who were booked for the opening said they were giving up their table because of the optics. Cool Inc. didn’t respond to requests for comment.