---
title: "Franchise Times: Kuwait’s Gourmania stretches Ruby Tuesday"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/204ec585-c916-4811-97de-8a1aae5fa9b7
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-kuwaits-gourmania-stretches-ruby-tuesday-12463
category: "Casual dining"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Casual dining"
published: 2018-02-26T16:11:40.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T03:06:12.598Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/6a5984b7e33e7bdd4c945f74c4916cf74221.jpg
---

# Franchise Times: Kuwait’s Gourmania stretches Ruby Tuesday

**TL;DR:** Ruby Tuesday has seen momentum in its popularity in other countries, with master franchisee Mahmoud Mousavi operating six locations under its Gourmania flag. The company is pushing into the Middle East and North Africa using a regional approach.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-02-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-kuwaits-gourmania-stretches-ruby-tuesday-12463).*

## Story

Despite challenges in the casual dining segment in the U.S., as consumers cut back or shift spending to quick service options, Ruby Tuesday has seen momentum in the brand's popularity in other countries .

For example, master franchisee Mahmoud Mousavi operates six Ruby Tuesday locations under its Gourmania flag and has franchisees in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and, coming soon, Qatar.

“American casual dining is still a big hit in our area,” said Mousavi, director of franchising and real estate for Kuwait City-based Gourmania International. “We saw, our owners saw, an opportunity, and now we’re ready to capitalize on it and reignite growth.”

Local and regional relationships, like its partnership with Gourmania, are crucial for Ruby Tuesday's successful growth internationally.

“They know how to position the brand in the region,” Ruby Tuesday General Counsel and Vice President Global Franchise DevOps James Vitrano told Franchise Times. “That relationship is what matters most to us,” as does Gourmania’s ability to find qualified sub-franchisees, including a group that recently signed a development for five Ruby Tuesdays in Qatar.

Ruby Tuesday’s push into the Middle East and North Africa is part of the company’s move to reestablish its international presence using a regional approach, Vitrano added, as opposed to the previous strategy “where we rolled dice or threw coins and wherever they land, that’s where we’re going.” The company is also eyeing expansion in South America, East Asia and the Pacific Rim.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- international expansion (topic)
- casual dining (topic)
- master franchisee (topic)
- Ruby Tuesday (company)
- Kuwait (location)
- Qatar (location)
- regional approach (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-kuwaits-gourmania-stretches-ruby-tuesday-12463). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/204ec585-c916-4811-97de-8a1aae5fa9b7).