Richy's launches its first location in Dubai

The restaurant mainly offers take away and delivery services as well as a casual dine-in alternative. The homegrown concept aims to change the way people think of salads, to take it beyond just a healthy diet item, or one that is usually served as a side dish or afterthought, and turn it into a fulfilling and delicious meal in its own right, placing it, for the first time, centre stage.

"When the epiphany to create Richy's occurred, it was definitely out of a need; an obvious gap we had felt in Dubai's food landscape," says Mazen Hawwa, co-founder, Richy's.

"When we started thinking about Richy's, we imagined what we were looking for in a lunch option: something fulfilling, something rich and something delicious. We started to realize that salads had a bad reputation, and we could see why - people either saw them as a diet food or a side item with sparse ingredients. We saw them as the star of a meal!" explains Mazen.

The menu at Richy's consists predominantly of salads, with a few side items such as wraps, soups and desserts. Customers are invited to customize their own salad creations from an extensive and generous list of both common and exotic ingredients, including artichoke hearts, quinoa, baby spinach and a host of cheeses, with the option to throw in 'add-ons'; proteins and other specialty ingredients. For those preferring the comfort of a classic salad, the usual suspects are available, ranging from the globally popular "I am Caesar" to the regional favorite "Fattoush Medley".

"For us, customization was important, but so was the way the salad was put together. Our approach follows a 'chopped and mixed' philosophy, where hungry customers will always be greeted with a salad that has been chopped into bite-sized ingredients, spread generously throughout the salad portion. Customers are always pleasantly surprised when they realize that we have abandoned the 'ninety-percent lettuce' approach and instead embraced a new one, where all ingredients are given a place in the spotlight," says Richard Naddaf, co-founder, Richy's.

"To go with this, we revamped the idea of a salad dressing and introduced new flavors, such as the raspberry and wasabi dressing," he added.

Signature salads, the original and creative creations of Richy's, are becoming fast favorites, with the Citrus Influential Salad and the Wasabi VIP already high on the list for fans of the brand, especially across social media channels. Signature salads give everyone's inner foodie the chance to experience new and exciting combinations of flavors and dressings, reshaping the way salads are seen.

"The menu was the first step in the Richy's journey, but perfecting the user-experience was something which was also considered with much attention. We feel strongly that everything from our point-of-sale system in the shop, to our online ordering experience, had to be seamless," explains Mazen.

"Throughout our design of the menu, the space and the processes, we remained acutely aware that a customer's user experience does not necessarily begin and end with the salad, but rather with a Facebook "like", a website log-on or a follow-up call. We look forward to redefining lunch, and changing the face of salads in the region," concludes Richard.

Richy's is located in the HDS tower, in the F cluster of Jumeriah Lake Towers. Delivery areas include Tecom, The Greens, Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City, Knowledge Village, The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Emirates Hills, The Gardens and Discovery Gardens. Opening hours are from 11:00am to 10:00pm, Sunday through Thursday.