Awani at Street 12 Mall: Is New Cairo’s New Levantine Spot Worth the Drive?
Awani is officially heading to New Cairo
Fifth Settlement’s restaurant map is about to get a notable new name. TMR, the Egyptian retail and F&B operator, has signed a franchising agreement with Kitopi to bring Awani and CATCH22 to Egypt for the first time. The key detail for New Cairo diners is the one that matters most locally: Awani’s first Egypt branch is set to open at Street 12 Mall in New Cairo, according to the companies’ announcement published on November 2, 2026. The deal was signed by TMR chief executive Omar Hisham Talaat and Kitopi co-founder and CEO Mohamad Ballout.
That instantly makes Awani one of the most talked-about incoming restaurant openings in Fifth Settlement, especially for diners who feel New Cairo’s food scene is full of burgers, sushi and polished all-day concepts, but still has room for more distinctive, full-service Levantine dining.
What Awani actually is
Awani is not being positioned as a generic “Middle Eastern” restaurant. In both the Egypt launch announcement and the brand’s own official site, it is described as a contemporary Levantine concept built around the cuisines of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. On its official website, Awani says it aims to pair authentic regional food with a more polished, modern restaurant setting.
That matters because New Cairo already has no shortage of mashawi, mezze and Lebanese-leaning menus. For Awani to land well in Street 12 Mall, it will need to offer something more specific than broad Arab comfort food. Based on the brand’s currently operating branches in the Gulf, the menu mix appears to lean into recognizable Levant staples and shareable table dining rather than niche fine dining.
What diners can expect on the menu
Awani’s current public menus in the UAE show a lineup that includes fattoush, tabbouleh, hummus, hummus with meat, hummus Beiruti, mutabbal and stuffed vegetable dishes such as koussa warak enab. Delivery listings also show more substantial mains and wraps, including beef shawarma and grilled items, alongside mixed breakfast and mezza options. In other words, this looks like the kind of place designed for group ordering and familiar favorites, not an experimental chef’s table.
- Cold mezza: hummus, tabbouleh, fattoush, mutabbal
- Levant comfort dishes: stuffed vegetables and pomegranate-led dishes
- Grills and wraps: shawarma and charcoal-grilled items
- Breakfast and all-day dining: a format that has helped the brand scale in Gulf malls and lifestyle destinations
That menu profile should translate well in New Cairo, where family dining, business lunches and weekend group meals remain the backbone of the area’s restaurant trade.
Why the Street 12 Mall opening matters for Fifth Settlement
Not every new restaurant opening changes a neighborhood. This one could matter because it sits at the intersection of three ongoing New Cairo trends: mall-based dining growth, regional brand imports, and the rise of professionally scaled operators.
First, Street 12 Mall gives Awani a built-in New Cairo audience rather than asking it to create destination traffic from zero. In Fifth Settlement, diners are already used to eating inside mixed-use retail hubs rather than treating restaurants as standalone venues. That means Awani is entering a market where convenience, valet access, parking and adjacency to shopping are often part of the decision.
Second, this is a Kitopi-TMR launch, not a one-off owner experiment. Kitopi describes itself as one of the Middle East’s biggest F&B operators, with more than 80 brands across 200-plus kitchens in markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. TMR, for its part, says it is developing a broader portfolio across fashion, beauty, entertainment and food and beverage in Egypt. For Fifth Settlement, that suggests a more systemized rollout with expansion ambitions rather than a soft, uncertain debut.
Third, Awani is arriving at a moment when New Cairo diners are increasingly sorting restaurants into two camps: ultra-casual chain convenience and high-ticket social dining. A solid, mid-to-upper casual Levantine restaurant with a recognizable regional identity could fit neatly in the space between those two.
So, is it likely to be worth the trip from Maadi or Heliopolis?
The honest answer: probably yes for some diners, but not automatically for everyone.
When it could be worth the drive
If you live in Maadi or Heliopolis and like trying major new openings before they become overfamiliar, Awani has a strong case. It is the brand’s first branch in Egypt, it comes with real regional name recognition, and it adds a specific Levantine identity rather than another broad “international cuisine” opening. It also helps that Awani already operates in major destinations including The Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Dubai Hills Mall, JBR, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah and Bahrain, which gives some confidence that the concept is already road-tested.
For families or friend groups planning a New Cairo outing anyway, Awani could be a smart anchor stop: lunch or dinner, then coffee elsewhere in Fifth Settlement, or a wider evening built around the area’s malls and promenades.
When it may not justify a special cross-city mission
If your priority is discovering something radically different from what Cairo already does well, Awani may not be a must-drive destination on day one. The confirmed menu style points to polished Levantine comfort food, not a new cuisine category. Cairo already has many strong options for mezze, grills and sharable Arabic dining. The question will be execution: portioning, bread quality, charcoal work, consistency, speed of service, and whether the room itself feels special enough to beat closer alternatives in Maadi, Korba or Heliopolis.
So the better framing is this: Awani looks promising enough to put on your New Cairo shortlist, but whether it deserves a dedicated trip from Maadi or Heliopolis will depend on pricing, local execution and early word of mouth once doors actually open.
What to watch once the branch launches
Several details are still unconfirmed publicly, including the exact opening day, menu pricing in Egypt, the final fit-out, and whether the New Cairo branch will mirror the larger dine-in branches seen in Gulf malls. Those specifics matter because they will decide whether Awani lands as a casual weekly option, an occasion restaurant, or a one-time curiosity.
Once it opens, these are the practical indicators worth tracking:
- Price positioning: whether it sits close to premium Lebanese dining or more accessible group dining
- Bread and mezza quality: essential for a Levantine concept trying to win repeat business
- Peak-time service: especially on New Cairo weekend nights
- Dining room appeal: whether Street 12 Mall gets a genuinely attractive flagship atmosphere
- Expansion signals: because TMR and Kitopi have already said more openings are planned in strategic locations across Egypt
The bottom line for Egypt diners
Awani’s arrival at Street 12 Mall is more than just another opening notice. It is one of the clearer signs that Fifth Settlement remains Egypt’s most active landing zone for regional restaurant brands. For New Cairo, that means more competition and, ideally, better standards. For diners in Maadi and Heliopolis, it means one more reason to keep an eye on the east side when planning where to eat next.
For now, the verified takeaway is simple: Awani is coming to Street 12 Mall as its first Egypt branch, backed by TMR and Kitopi, with a Levantine menu identity centered on Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinian dishes. That is enough to make it one of the more interesting New Cairo restaurant openings to watch closely.