First Ramadan in Saudi Arabia as a non-Muslim expat — what should I actually expect?

Anonymous · Elite 02 Aug 2026

This will be my first full Ramadan living here and I want to be respectful and prepared rather than caught off guard. I've read the basics (no eating/drinking in public during fasting hours) but curious about the day-to-day stuff — how much do work hours actually shift for non-Muslim staff, are restaurants genuinely all closed during the day, and is there anything specific that tends to catch new expats off guard during the month? Any advice from people who've been through a few of these already would help a lot.