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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In a city of champagne brunch with ocean views, Michelin-starred restaurants and an endless choice of high-end Asian cuisine, there’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant with plastic chairs and metal tables It is one of the must-see attractions in Dubai.
Ravi Restaurant is a small family run Pakistani restaurant rooted in the South Asian worker community that helped build Dubai. Over the decades, however, it has become a staple of the city’s food culture, which is generally drawn to all things pomp and exaggeration.
The restaurant opened in Dubai’s Satwa neighborhood in the United Arab Emirates in 1978, when it was a sandy place full of big trucks and small construction shops. The emirate was largely a desert land in the 1970s, with a low skyline overlooking the bay.
Ravi serves home cooking, mainly serving South Asian construction workers.
His son and restaurant operations manager, Chaudary Abdul Hameed, said its founder, Chaudary Abdul Hameed, wanted ” Find a way to feed the working class better.” That means keeping prices reasonable, with meals costing an average of $7.
As Dubai has boomed over the years, it has become a huge hit in the UAE and among the Western and Asian expats who flock to the emirate.
Famed food critic Anthony Bourdain helped put him on the map when he visited Ravi in 2010 for one of his TV series. A few years later, rapper Snoop Dogg joined in, and Ravi was elevated to a must-see attraction.
Aside from its portion size, price, and taste, Ravi’s lack of pretentiousness, ironically, gives it cache.
Customers wearing everything from suits to traditional sarees or sneakers flock to restaurants for big meals or late-night snacks. It is common to see long queues at the door, or people eating food on the side of the road.
Inside, customers sit at tables with plastic hoods under flickering neon lights. Chatter eliminates the sound of ceiling fans. Chicken biryani, chicken tikka, daal and naan were thrown off the kitchen serving counter, and the smells of curry and grilled meat wafted in the air as waiters pushed plates to the table.
Last week, the low-key restaurant staged a very Dubai-inspired feast: social media influencers came together to promote the brand collaboration between shoe maker Adidas and Ravi.
Adidas has created a specially designed limited-edition Superstar Ravi sneaker – green and white, with the restaurant’s name and year of opening, and six of the menu’s most famous dishes printed on the inside of the tongue.
Both Ravi and Adidas declined to disclose terms of the deal to The Associated Press or to answer questions about whether the restaurant would make money from selling the shoes.
Waseem Abdul Hameed said this reflected that the restaurant was part of the cultural fabric of Dubai. “You have to eat at Ravi, so that’s why they chose us.”
That’s in stark contrast to other recent Adidas releases, such as Gucci’s, which includes $899 sneakers in Dubai and other cities. But the collaboration illustrates how brands like Adidas are finding new ways to connect with consumers looking for uniqueness.
On a recent hot summer day after the shoe’s release, customers lined up outside Ravi.
“It’s real, that’s what it is, that’s why I love it,” said Dana, a 32-year-old Dubai resident who has been visiting Ravi with friends for years.
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