Dubai, UAE: Careem has launched Far-Away Gems, a new feature that stretches the boundaries of food delivery for customers in the UAE. For the first time, Careem is more than doubling its delivery range, making it the only food delivery app in the UAE to do so, and unlocking hundreds of restaurants that were previously out of reach. The feature comes as customers increasingly search for restaurants outside their immediate neighbourhoods in pursuit of local favourites considered “worth the distance”.

The campaign features more than 600 restaurants across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Every restaurant on the list has been hand-picked against a clear set of criteria: they are loved, highly rated, and, until now, only accessible to customers lucky enough to live nearby.

Far-Away Gems was built around a simple insight: some of the most beloved restaurants in the UAE are neighbourhood institutions, the kind of places that locals swear by but visitors rarely discover. They're not big chains with locations everywhere. They're gems. And they deserve a bigger stage.

Highlights from the Far-Away Gems collection include:

●    Al Ustad Special Kabab – a UAE institution with decades of loyal fans.
●    Pechka – known for its Eastern European comfort food and wood-fired flavours.
●    Aqaya – a go-to for specialty coffee, crafted sweet and savoury delights.
●    Café De Paris – bringing a taste of classic French café culture to the UAE.
●    Al Sultan Restaurant & Grills – a neighbourhood favourite for grilled meats and Middle Eastern flavours.

Alongside many other local favourites. 

Restaurant partners say the feature is helping neighbourhood favourites connect with entirely new audiences beyond their traditional delivery radius.

"We built this restaurant on loyalty and word of mouth. Careem's Far-Away Gems is the modern version of that. A recommendation that reaches further than we ever could on our own." – Abbas Ansari, Al Ustad Special Kabab

Nourhan Farhat, VP of Marketplace Businesses at Careem, adds:

"The UAE is home to some truly extraordinary restaurants that have built loyal followings over years, sometimes decades. People search for them, recommend them, and make the trip across the city just to eat there. But for most customers, ordering from them has never been an option. Far-Away Gems changes that. It is our way of making sure that where you live is never the reason you miss out on a great meal."

Far-Away Gems is available now on the Careem app for customers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Customers can browse the full collection directly in the app under Food.

About Careem
Careem is building the Everything App for the Middle East, making it easier than ever to move around, order food and groceries, manage payments, and more. Careem is led by a powerful purpose to simplify and improve the lives of people and build an awesome organisation that inspires. Since 2012, Careem has created earning opportunities for over 3.5 million Captains, simplified the lives of over 75 million customers, and built a platform for the region's best talent to thrive and for entrepreneurs to scale their businesses.

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