Most of Dubai seems like someone had an idea and they just rolled with it rather than do some research (or maybe it was just franchising fees/licenses). I imagine the conversation went like…

“Hey, what do people in America eat?”

“I was there on a business trip and remember seeing commercials for things called ‘Red Lobster’ and ‘Ponderosa’. Perhaps we should put together a research grou–”

“Nah, build six of them and we’ll see what happens.”

Love that for them. May Cheddar Biscuits and Pondo Combos never die.