This Sheikh Zayed Restaurant Is Reviving the Egyptian Deli Concept

In the warm embrace of an Egyptian household, a young child faces countless challenges: 6 AM wake-up calls for the school bus, sky-high academic standards set by some overachieving cousin, and the ever-present threat of a thrown ‘shebsheb.’ But amidst all this, there was one comforting constant: the love that Egyptian parents showed through food. And for us, it was the beloved ‘fino’ sandwiches we had for breakfast.

Somehow, those sandwiches powered us through elementary and middle school—and, frankly, we miss them. On tough workdays, we long for the super strength these sandwiches seemed to contain. While we can’t just dash to the local bakery for a bag of fino bread, now we have Fino—capital F.

Located in Sheikh Zayed’s Majarrah Mall, Fino brings back the concept of a classic Egyptian deli based on fino bread. As part of the larger Tayf holding company, it’s only the first of many ventures aimed at satisfying an overlooked market.

“Through our research, we found a huge gap in the market for fast, high-quality breakfast options,” Tayf’s founders tell us. “So, we decided to create gourmet Egyptian sandwiches made with our own freshly baked fino bread. It’s our way of bringing back the Egyptian deli, with a modern twist.”

At the heart of Fino is, of course, the bread itself, which they bake fresh in-store every day. The founders understood early on that in the sandwich business, bread can make or break you. That’s why Fino’s fino bread is central to their brand, taking eight months of trial and error to perfect.

Naturally, with such an investment in the bread, Fino’s founders took equal care with the fillings. To create a menu that works for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they conducted focus groups and surveys to capture what a modern Egyptian deli should be. Their research produced a lineup of mouthwatering options—from roast beef and cheddar to pastrami egg sandwiches, even halloumi, all ready from the start of the day.

For lunch, try Fino’s fries, cheese, and sujok sandwich, or their aromatic ‘lahma b basal.’ Pair it with a cup of their signature karkadeh iced tea, and you’re set with a new culinary obsession—at least for the month.