101 Best Restaurants in Egypt

This cozy restaurant, with a highly patterned tiled floor and pale stucco walls adorned with Lebanese crafts, comes alive in the evening. Grilled meats are staples here, as are hot and cold mezze. Wines, spirits, and Lebanese arak (an anise-based liqueur) are also available.

This is more a pizzeria than a real Greek taverna, but the pizza is delicious, assembled in front of you and baked in an oven to the left of the entrance. The baladi oven to the right is used for fiteer, a kind of Egyptian pizza than can be sweet or savory; it's also often fairly oily—ask them to go light on the ghee (clarified butter) by telling them "semna khafeef." The menu also includes fish and shrimp dishes. The proper seating area is upstairs, but it's even cheaper if you eat at the informal area downstairs, where a shawarma (pressed lamb carved from a vertical rotisserie) sandwich makes a nice midday snack.

After a day of sightseeing, this atmospheric, courtyard-style café, set amid buildings that date from the 15th century just south of al-Azhar Street, is a great place to grab a tea or a coffee and a dessert. You can only get here on foot, and it's a little hard to find, but don't worry—the area is safe, and you can ask a local for directions if you get lost.

Alexandrians swear by this place, and it's packed with families in the early evenings and an older crowd later on. It has surprisingly elegant decor and a magnificent setting next to the water, though the atmosphere can be a little manic as waiters rush around with trays full of food. The menu is wide-ranging, but you'd be best to stick with the Egyptian dishes. The roasted meats make good choices, as do the cold mezze. Try to get a table by the window for fantastic views across the harbor.

One of Alexandria's most stylish institutions and one of its oldest coffee shops is also the city's most gorgeous restaurant, with high ceilings, elaborate carved wooden chandeliers, and swirling art nouveau murals. The food is enjoyable but unspectacular; try avocado salad and gambari konfa (fried shrimp pastry) for appetizers, and main courses of fattah (lamb) or kebab samak (fish with green rice). In the adjoining café where, behind elaborately carved wooden cabinets, a series of Venetian wood-panel paintings of sensual water nymphs will take your breath away. 

With its polished granite walls and floors, and a small outdoor terrace, this restaurant is the best of a cluster of cheap eateries around the square. It even has a "family section," really just an alcove separated by a wooden panel. There is no menu, but you can choose from grilled chicken, meat kebabs, or a rather chewy steak. All are served with the usual soup, salad, and rice. Check prices before ordering.

Just before the entrance to Fort Qaitbay and the city's famous Citadel, you'll find the Greek Nautical Club, commonly referred to as the "Greek Club." Head to the White & Blue restaurant on the second floor, where you'll find some of the city's best views of the Mediterranean Sea and the harbor. White & Blue manages to pull off an upscale atmosphere while remaining accessible and unpretentious. The pickled octopus, smoked fish, and array of Greek salads are artfully presented and rarely disappoint.

Tucked in an alleyway, this hip eatery takes street food to the next level by using premium ingredients in its consistently delicious sandwiches. The bread rolls are addictively soft, filled with a variety of meats and generously drizzled with tahini; they come with a side of French fries, too.

The menu at this modest eatery, run by the same family since the 1960s, focuses on thin-loaf sandwiches with meat fillings, some of which are very spicy, though you might consider trying scrambled eggs with basturma (seasoned, air-dried, cured beef). In the evening, locals flock here to share a meal with family and friends, so you might have to wait to be seated.

Inside the Maritim Jolie Ville Hotel, this Italian restaurant has been serving some of the best food—the lamb chops and the spaghetti with fried garlic and shrimp are especially good—in town since 1998. Grab a table by the window for a nice view of the shopping promenade. Note that the restaurant is in what was formerly the Movenpick Hotel, which is what might still appear on maps.

This air-conditioned, upscale coffee shop is the perfect refuge from the clamor of the Khan. Have a drink, a light lunch, or—at the adjoining restaurant—a proper meal. To get here, face the Sayyidna al-Husayn Mosque and turn left into the passage that begins at the level of the minaret. Follow this through a couple of archways; the café is on the right.