9 Best Restaurants in The Southern Atlantic Coast, Morocco

Small but buzzy, this cash-only salad-and-crepe bar offers great-value healthy snacks and small meals, including DIY salads, quiches, and panini. It attracts local office workers, foreign residents, and tourists for its healthy food, excellent Italian espresso, and fresh juices and smoothies. Take a form and pen and design your own salad, picking the size, base, ingredients, and dressing to suit. It's often packed by midday, but service is fast.

A good stop in the center of town, this popular bakery serves a wide range of breads, cakes, and traditional Moroccan pastries for breakfast, lunch, or a light snack. Highlights include buttery croissants, indulgent cakes, savory panini, and sandwiches. Enjoy them on the street-side terrace of the attached café and watch the world go by.

Come here for the best coffee and the best ice cream in town; its location on the main square is also great for people-watching.  Pick a shady seat on the inside of the terrace under a parasol to avoid the passing street hawkers.

This local institution off the main square dates back to 1929. Prices are very reasonable, so you can start your day with great coffee and breakfasts; you can also take your pick from the French and Moroccan pastries baked fresh every day.  Take away some cakes and coffee in the late afternoon and eat them at one of the cafés on the square—it's what the locals do.

A few blocks east of the beach is one of the city's best cafés, where excellent salads, pasta, pizza, and meat and fish dishes are served all day. Breakfasts come in European or Moroccan style. During Ramadan, the ftour (the meal to break the fast) is particularly good value. Otherwise, just come by for a nous-nous (half milk, half coffee) and watch the world go by.

Haute cuisine it isn't, but the tagines here are fresh and cheap and appreciated by many locals. The cool, fresh-squeezed juices make this a nice spot to catch your breath and get out of the sun.

Popular among the guests of local riads and hotels, Riad Le Lieu is a beacon in the dining scene of Tiznit. In a part of the former palace next door, chef Jihad prepares a range of Moroccan specialties, which are served on the patio and terraces; the rabbit and camel tagines are always great choices. The riad also runs a B&B, with simple rooms priced from 220 DH, so don't be surprised to see guests making their way to the shared bathroom.

Near the ramparts, this vegetarian restaurant creates a cozy atmosphere, with quirky design and simple, tasty, seasonal food such as the falafel platter, sardine ball tagine, and stuffed eggplant. The chocolate gâteau is pretty amazing, too.

One of Essaouira's best-kept secrets, this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant never fails to impress. Manager Brahim offers freshly prepared Italian mains (fish, chicken, and pasta), all served with a trio of salads and two juices to start. The ray with caper butter sauce is especially incredible. The place is tiny, so if you can't get in at first, come back later.