For homegrown restaurant brands looking to expand, finding the right location is only part of the equation. Vietnamese Foodies founder Lily Hoa Nguyen explains how understanding customer behaviour, building repeat business, and adapting to different neighbourhoods can help a concept grow without losing its identity.
For restaurant operators, a location with high footfall and favourable demographics can look like an obvious opportunity. But getting people through the door is only the beginning. The longer-term challenge is understanding why they visit, what brings them back, and how a restaurant can become part of their everyday routine.
For Lily Hoa Nguyen, founder of Vietnamese Foodies, that lesson began in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), where the homegrown Dubai restaurant brand opened its first location.
“JLT was our little classroom where the learning curve was really steep. It was a small street-corner store with about 20 indoor seats and no reservations, and it taught me the most important lesson early: people weren’t coming for novelty. They were coming back because the food made them feel good. Guests told us our pho, with its broth simmered for 14 hours, tasted the same as it did in Vietnam, and that is what built loyalty. We also learned that Dubai was hungry for food that is fresh, healthy and honestly priced, but still delicious.”
That early demand helped shape Nguyen’s ambitions for the brand. However, as Vietnamese Foodies expanded across Dubai, the challenge was no longer simply establishing an appetite for Vietnamese cuisine. It was understanding how the same proposition could serve customers with different needs, routines, and expectations.
Finding the right fit
“I always say: don’t fall in love with the rent, fall in love with the people. Before we commit, we look at who actually lives and works there. Are they families, office crowds, shoppers or residents who order in? Then we ask whether our core promise fits their everyday life. That promise is fresh, healthy, authentic Vietnamese food at a fair price.”
For Nguyen, this understanding comes from observing customers as well as analysing the numbers. “It’s also why I still carry a small notebook when I visit our restaurants at lunchtime. I watch who comes in, what they order and how they eat. You learn more from twenty minutes of watching than from a whole spreadsheet. If the neighbourhood has a need that our Pho and rice paper rolls can meet, we know we belong there.”
A restaurant’s identity may remain consistent across locations, but how customers engage with it depends on the neighbourhood, its audience and the occasion. The same concept can cater to business lunches in one area, family gatherings in another and delivery-led demand elsewhere.
“Absolutely, and that’s the fun part! In DIFC, we are a lunch spot. Busy professionals want something nourishing that won’t leave them sleepy at 3pm, which is why our business lunch there works so well. At Dubai Hills and Arabian Ranches III, it’s all about families. There are weekend lunches, free family games and long tables with grandparents. At Palm Jumeirah Mall, shoppers stop by in between errands. In JLT, a big part of the story is delivery to the surrounding communities. The cuisine is the same, but the occasion changes. Once you understand that, you stop asking “will they like our food?” and start asking “when and how do they want it?””
Beyond footfall
Footfall figures can indicate a site’s potential, but they reveal less about when customers are likely to visit or what they expect from the experience. For Vietnamese Foodies, observing these patterns after opening has helped the team refine staffing, operating hours, and promotions.
“Of course. Every restaurateur who says no is being a little shy! Analytics can tell you footfall and demographics, but it can’t tell you much about their behaviours. Some sites we expected to be busy all day turned out to have a very specific rhythm. A mall site such as Damac Mall might peak with shoppers at weekends while staying quite steady during the week, while a business district goes almost quiet after office hours and during weekends. Those lessons made us humbler and sharper. Now we look beyond the numbers at how people actually move through a space, and we’re quicker to adjust hours, staffing, and offers in the first few months. A new opening is a conversation, not a speech, so you have to listen.”
For Vietnamese Foodies, this also means looking beyond the initial attraction of a new address to whether it can generate repeat visits. Nguyen believes the most sustainable locations are those that become part of a customer’s regular routine, whether through a weekday lunch, a family gathering or a delivery order.
“Genuine demand lives where people eat regularly, not just where they visit once. Tourist footfall and big names can be exciting, but the locations that grow with you are the ones where you become part of someone’s weekly routine. That could be the Tuesday pho, the Saturday extended-family lunch or the delivery order on a tired evening.”
Knowing what to change
While adapting to a neighbourhood is important, expanding a restaurant brand also requires consistency. For Vietnamese Foodies, that means maintaining one core menu rather than creating a different food offering for every location.
“Early on, we decided that instead of creating new menus every season, we would fine-tune one Vietnamese Foodies menu until it was the best it could be, then bring it to every location. A guest should get the same pho and the same service in Dubai Creek as in Arabian Ranches. What we do adapt is everything around the food: the layout, seating, service rhythm and deals. DIFC has a sharp business lunch where service needs to be quick, family locations have kids’ after-school workshops and free ice cream on weekdays, and larger sites have open kitchens where guests can watch the cooking.”
The execution varies according to the audience. “Think of it like your favourite outfit. You don’t change who you are, you just dress it up or down for the occasion.”
That distinction is central to how Nguyen approaches growth. “I keep a very short list of things that never change. The same menu and consistency of food quality and portioning. Cosy ambience and quick service. A fair price. The remaining part of the balance is our team. A restaurant is only as good as its people, and when your team understands why the non-negotiables matter, they know how to be flexible everywhere else without losing the soul of the place. Identity isn’t about being rigid. It’s about being recognisable, like a good friend who’s the same person at a party and in your kitchen.”
Where the next opportunity lies
As Dubai’s residential communities continue to expand, Nguyen sees opportunities for homegrown restaurant brands beyond established dining districts and high-profile destinations. Newer neighbourhoods need places where residents can eat regularly, whether dining in or ordering at home, while business districts continue to require quick, affordable lunch options.
“Dubai keeps building new communities faster than restaurants can follow. Places like Dubailand, the newer Ranches and the family neighbourhoods further out are full of residents who want a good neighbourhood restaurant they can walk to or order from. Business districts still need lunch options that are healthy, quick, and affordable. I also see opportunity in the wider UAE beyond Dubai.
My advice to fellow homegrown founders: don’t try to beat the international brands by copying them. At Palm Jumeirah Mall, we sat right beside some very established global names and held our own, because guests chose us for quality and value. Homegrown concepts have something the big chains can’t import: a real story and a founder who still tastes the soup at lunch. Use it.”
Ultimately, finding a suitable location is only one part of restaurant expansion. Understanding the people, recognising how their needs differ, and knowing which elements of the proposition should remain unchanged can determine whether a restaurant becomes a passing attraction or a regular part of the neighbourhood.
