Fifty years after Ajaz Khan lit the first flame at a small counter in Bangalore’s Richmond Town, his legendary seekh kebab brand Fanoos has crossed the Arabian Sea. Fanoos Bangalore makes its historic international debut in Karama, Dubai — bringing with it the smoke, spice, and soul that turned a humble street-side stall into one of India’s most fiercely loved food institutions. From the lanes of Johnson Market to the streets of the UAE, the OG has arrived.
Why Dubai — The Vision Behind the Move
For Nasir Hussain, who now stewards the brand his father built from nothing, the decision to bring Fanoos to Dubai was not a business calculation — it was a calling. “Every week, I would get messages from Bangaloreans in Dubai asking when we were coming,” says Hussain. “These are people who grew up on our rolls, who got their first Rambo on the way home from school, who proposed to their spouses outside our outlet on Hosur Road. Dubai was not just an opportunity — it was a responsibility. Our people are there. And they deserve the real thing.”
Karama was a deliberate choice. The neighbourhood has long been the cultural heartland of the South Asian diaspora in Dubai — a place where the smell of biryani drifts from open doors, where Kannada, Tamil, and Urdu spill into the streets side by side, where homesickness has always been softened by familiar flavours. Hussain knew instantly that this was where Fanoos belonged. “Karama feels like Bangalore to me,” he says simply. “The energy, the people, the hunger for something real. This is our home in Dubai.”
The Night Bangalore Came to Karama
The response to the Fanoos Dubai grand opening exceeded every expectation. Hundreds gathered well before the doors opened — families who had tracked the brand’s announcement for weeks, bachelors reliving college years, couples for whom a Fanoos seekh roll is threaded into the memory of a first date or a late night shared years ago in Bangalore. The queue snaked down Umm Hurair Street with a warmth that no evening in March in Dubai could account for.
When the first seekh rolls came off the grill — still wrapped in the same gossamer roomali roti, still finished with a hit of fresh lime — grown men closed their eyes. Women texted family back home with a single word: “Same.” That word, perhaps more than any other, encapsulates what has made Fanoos endure for half a century. Through five outlets and now an international leap, the flavour has not moved an inch. “We have never chased a trend,” says Hussain. “We just wake up every day and try to make the same perfect seekh roll my father made. That is the whole secret.”
Fifty Years of the Same Perfect Roll
Founded in 1975 by the late Ajaz Khan, Fanoos — named after the ornate lanterns that light up homes during Ramzan — was among the first establishments in Bangalore to introduce the concept of fast food. Yet fast never meant careless. The seekh at Fanoos is made from freshly minced meat, spiced with a blend refined over decades, grilled over high heat and tucked into hand-pulled roomali roti so thin it is almost translucent. The menu has grown to include biryanis, shawarmas, and Irani-style kebabs, but the seekh roll remains the soul of the brand.
The brand’s legendary roll sizes — the Rambo, the Shambo, the Mambo, and the towering Mogambo (named after the iconic Bollywood villain from Mr. India) — have become a rite of passage for generations of Bangaloreans. The rolls are now a rite of passage for Dubai as well.
What Comes Next — The Road Ahead
The Karama opening is only the beginning. Fanoos has mapped an ambitious expansion across the region and beyond, with Hussain making clear that the brand intends to move thoughtfully but boldly. “Dubai is the first step. But our people are everywhere,” he says. “Wherever there is a Bangalorean, wherever there is someone who has heard of Fanoos and never had the chance to try it — that is where we want to be.”
In the UAE, the brand is actively scouting locations in prominent Dubai malls, with a flagship mall-format outlet planned for later in 2026. Talks are also underway for expansion into Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, bringing Fanoos to the full breadth of the Emirates. This next phase of growth is being driven in partnership with Mohammed Zaid of the Espada Group, whose expertise in regional brand development and market entry positions Fanoos for a scaled, strategic rollout across the Gulf and beyond. Looking further afield, the brand has set its sights on Saudi Arabia — where demand from the Indian diaspora is immense — with Riyadh and Jeddah identified as priority markets for 2027. And for the Indian community in the United States, the long wait may soon be over: Hussain confirms that feasibility studies are underway for a US entry, with cities including New York, Houston, and the San Francisco Bay Area under consideration.
“We are not in a rush,” says Hussain. “We expanded to five outlets in Bangalore over fifty years because we wanted every single one to be right. We will bring Fanoos to the world the same way — one city at a time, one perfect seekh roll at a time.”
About Fanoos
Founded in 1975 by the late Ajaz Khan in Richmond Town, Bangalore, Fanoos is one of India’s most iconic fast food and kebab institutions. Named after the lanterns of Ramzan, the brand has spent fifty years perfecting the seekh kebab roll and building a devoted following across Bangalore, Kochi, and now Dubai. All food is halal-certified. Expansion into malls across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the United States is planned through 2026–2028.
