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Agence France-Presse

During his nine years living in the US state of Tennessee, Fahd, a Saudi national, found comfort and consistency at Dunkin' Donuts, where he placed the same order every day.
Now back in Riyadh, Fahd is doing something similar, highlighting the Saudi Arabian love affair with all things American that many find surprising.
“When I came here, thank God, the same cafe and same order were here too,” says the 31-year-old mechanical engineer, who does not want to give his family name.
“I started living the same lifestyle here as I did in America.”

Saudi Arabia, often known for its religious austerity, is home to Islam’s holiest sites, and welcomes millions of Muslim pilgrims every year.
It also has – as just one example – more than 600 branches of Dunkin' Donuts, serving roughly 250,000 of its 35 million population each day, according to the franchise.
Despite its image as a cloistered and traditional society, life in Saudi is awash with Western corporate influence, especially from American companies.
Buffalo Wild Wings, Chuck E. Cheese and Starbucks populate Riyadh’s sprawl of office parks and shopping centres, while the capital’s traffic-clogged streets heave with hulking American SUVs and pickup trucks.
The nations have shared a tight bond since king Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and US president Franklin Roosevelt shook hands on board a US cruiser in the Suez Canal during the final months of World War II.
You’ll find American restaurants in every neighbourhood here. We eat it weekly, almost like Saudi food
Dalal Abdulaziz, a Saudi fan of American food
In the ensuing decades, the United States has been at the forefront of providing military protection in return for privileged access to Saudi’s colossal oil reserves.
The Saudi riyal is pegged to the US dollar and US leaders have been regular guests, including Donald Trump who arrives in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on the first major overseas trip of his second term.
The relationship has faced rough patches – including the oil embargo in the 1970s, the September 11 attacks carried out by mostly Saudi hijackers and the gruesome murder of US-based dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul in 2018.
But for Saudis, the ties that bind, including a love of American food, cars and movies, remain strong – even after a grass-roots campaign to boycott US products that has swept the region during the Israel-Gaza war.

“The one thing we never disagree on is going to an American restaurant – especially Buffalo Wild Wings,” Dalal Abdulaziz, 28, says. Chicken wings are one of her favourite foods, she adds.
“You’ll find American restaurants in every neighbourhood here. We eat it weekly, almost like Saudi food.”
Khaled Salman Al-Dosari agrees, saying it is hard to find a single street in Saudi Arabia without an American brand on offer.
“American companies’ products have become an inseparable part of our day,” adds the 21-year-old student in Riyadh.
While many American companies have been in Saudi Arabia for decades, its Vision 2030 agenda – the oil-dependent country’s giant economic diversification plan – has opened it up and paved the way for further investment.
Live music and cinemas were all forbidden until recent years, but MMA fights and US professional wrestling are now among the entertainment offers available to Saudi consumers.
“I think many Americans would be surprised at the extent to which American brands are all over Saudi Arabia,” says Andrew Leber from the department of political science at Tulane University, in New Orleans.

Some see further correlations in terms of climate, architecture – dry, dusty Riyadh, with its wide concrete boulevards, evokes an Arab Dallas – and even mindset.
“Texas is close to Riyadh in terms of climate,” says Fahd, the mechanical engineer.
“And its people are conservative like us.”
Meanwhile, the Saudi taste for US products has benefits for the tens of thousands of Americans working in the kingdom, many of them in the oil industry.
“It always … reminds me of home and keeps that connection with the places that I’ve seen since I’ve been growing up,” says Joshua Dunning, a 36-year-old American business developer working at a Saudi tech firm.
“It’s always a nice reminder seeing those places and products here in Saudi.”


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Starbucks, Dunkin’, SUVs. For Saudis, US brands and culture an ‘inseparable part’ of life

A customer at a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop in Riyadh. Photo: AFP

People walk past a Starbucks branch in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, where a love for all things American endures. Photo AFP

People sit at a Dunkin’ coffee shop in Riyadh. Photo: AFP

Saudis enjoy a meal at a branch of Buffalo Wild Wings in Riyadh. Photo: AFP

A Saudi man enters a branch of Buffalo Wild Wings in Riyadh. Photo: AFP

Trump trade war gives US producers of a seafood prized in China that sinking feeling

Geoducks harvested in Washington state in the US. Photo: AP

Geoducks at a restaurant in Sanya in China’s Hainan province. US exporters of the clam have seen orders dry up after China retaliated against Donald Trump’s tariffs, leaving the door open for Canadian exporters to raise their prices. Photo: AP

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A chef prepares a geoduck for sashimi at a restaurant in Olympia, Washington. Photo: AP

Joshua George (left) after a quick dive in Puget Sound off Washington state to gather geoducks for testing. Photo: AP

Daniel McRae uses a pulley on his boat to pull up a bag of harvested geoducks as his brother Derrick works underwater. Photo: AP

Derrick McRae pulls a geoduck from the seabed after using a water gun to flush out the burrowing clam. Photo: AP

AI in the restaurant kitchen? Top French chefs debate the use of ChatGPT

French-Israeli chef Matan Zaken at his Michelin-star restaurant Nhome in Paris. He is an advocate of using artificial intelligence to create new recipes and flavour combinations. Photo: AFP

French-Israeli chef Matan Zaken at his restaurant Nhome in Paris. He embraces the use of ChatGPT in the kitchen. Photo: AFP

Many chefs are reluctant to admit just how much they are already consulting services such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT to help them with recipes and ideas. Photo: Reuters

Philippe Etchebest (right) and a member of his team in the kitchen at Maison Nouvelle. Photo: Instagram/chef.etchebest

What to see and eat in Melbourne’s Chinatown, cultural hub that grew from gold rush roots

A dragon dance troupe perform in Chinatown in Melbourne, Australia during Lunar New Year festivities in 2024. The Chinatown is one of the world’s oldest. Photo: Getty Images

Chinatown in Melbourne, Australia. One of the oldest in the world, it was founded by Chinese prospectors who stayed on after the 1850s gold rush and opened businesses. Photo: Shutterstock 

People in Chinatown, Melbourne, celebrate the 2025 Chinese Lunar New Year. Photo: Instagram/chinatownmelbourne

Yum cha is best enjoyed at Secret Kitchen, known for dim sum favourites, Peking duck pancakes, fried rice in an omelette pouch and piggy-shaped steamed buns. Photo: Secret Kitchen

A A$450 million lifestyle, dining and residential complex being built in Box Hill, Melbourne, has been referred to as “New Chinatown”. Photo: Golden Age Group

6 of Singapore’s best hidden speakeasy bars that will take you back in time – and how to find them

Bartenders at Chandu create drinks with a narrative that are loosely based on history. Photo: The Robertson House by the Crest Collection

A bartender mixes a drink at Chandu, one of our picks of six of the best hidden speakeasy bars in Singapore. Photo: The Robertson House by the Crest Collection

The Mizuwari whisky highball at Live Twice uses Hokkaido soft water rather than soda to accentuate the malt notes of the Japanese Nikka whiskies. Photo: Instagram/@livetwicesg

Chandu is inspired by Singapore’s colonial era, when opium dens flourished in the city state. Photo: The Robertson House by The Crest Collection

Chandu’s Mata Hari cocktail is named after a Dutch dancer and courtesan. Photo: Facebook/Chandu

Oriental Elixir, located in a Peranakan rowhouse, is a dimly lit watering hole for nonconformist cocktails. Photo: Philipp Meier

Oriental Elixir’s Malabar Tamarind cocktail combines the sour ingredient with roasted cherry tomato gin, dry vermouth. Photo: Instagram/@oriental.elixir

Junior the Pocket Bar is a small, 25-seater speakeasy that tasks itself with changing the menu completely every few months. Photo: Philipp Meier

A cocktail titled Sesame from the Korea-inspired menu at Junior the Pocket Bar. Photo: Junior the Pocket Bar

Jade Harbour is part of The Bund menu currently offered at Junior the Pocket Bar, inspired by the Shanghai district. Credit: Junior the Pocket Bar

For its Korean Joseon dynasty-inspired menu, the interiors of Junior the Pocket Bar featured dragons. Photo: Philipp Meier

Roxy is a hip-hop-inspired speakeasy hidden inside the Miss Fitz restaurant in Singapore’s Marina Bay. Photo: Facebook/Roxy

The drinks at Roxy are based on classics, but are given their own spin. Photo: Facebook/Roxy

Last Word has finessed tipples that were invented in the 1920s. Photo: Philipp Meier

Last Word’s eponymous cocktail is a classic, blending gin, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse and lime. Photo: Instagram/@lastwordsg

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Motoring

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a country long open to American cultural influence, US chains fill the malls and US pickup trucks clog the streets


In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a country long open to American cultural influence, US chains fill the malls and US pickup trucks clog the streets.


Saudi Arabia

Starbucks