28 Best Restaurants in Fez and the Middle Atlas, Morocco

On Riad Laaroussa’s lovely roof terrace, you can indulge in your choice of two distinct dining experiences while enjoying stellar views over the medina. Opt for the bistro menu (lunch and dinner) and feast on Mediterranean-influenced dishes (perhaps seafood risotto and crème brûlée); or in the evenings, you can reserve ahead for a classic, three-course Moroccan menu—think pastilla, tagines, and couscous, with a great selection of local wine. Dine under the stars in summer; in cooler months, the cozy salon has a log fire. Note that there are steep stairs to the terrace.

Set in the heart of the medina, this crosscultural café is a Fez institution. It’s the perfect place to take a sightseeing break with a tea or mocktail, or a bite from the eclectic menu of Moroccan and international fare, like the justly famous camel burger; there are vegetarian-friendly options as well. Spread over two traditional dars, the Clock is much more than a café: if you want to learn to cook Moroccan cuisine, pick up some Moroccan Arabic, try your hand at calligraphy, listen to ancient storytelling, learn to play the oud, or have a henna tattoo, just check out its cultural workshops.

This popular bistro-style café-cum-restaurant is set in the delightful oasis of Jardin des Biehn. The daily changing chalkboard menu reflects the Moroccan chef’s love of Gallic gastronomy, as he happily mixes Moroccan and French culinary influences, using fresh ingredients from the market and the owners’ organic garden. Feast on meat or fish; vegetarians are well catered to with delicious quiches, soups, and salads. Eat alfresco in the garden or on the rooftop under the sun and stars, or in the brightly colored interior room with lots of creative decorative touches, including nods to the Biehns’ Provençal roots. 

Set in a stylish reinvented riad, a mix of contemporary decor and antique features at this women-owned restaurant matches the focus on modern Moroccan fusion. Multiple seating areas are spread over three floors, from the light-filled patio flanked by a living wall to the rooftop with medina views. The menu incorporates Mediterranean influences and international ingredients alongside a new take on Moroccan dishes, such as black couscous with beef and caramelized pumpkin, and lamb shank with grilled almonds. Pair it with a creative mocktail, and don’t miss the poached pear with rosemary, served with date coulis and amlou ice cream. 

The menu features Mediterranean-influenced fare such as steak tartare and gnocchi with truffle cream, and Moroccan favorites including pigeon pastilla, all backed up with an impressive wine list. One of the city’s most stylish eateries, the minimalist design channels industrial chic with rough-hewn stone walls, slate floors, and floor-to-ceiling windows, complemented by sleek contemporary furniture.

Indulging in a long, leisurely lunch looking down on the sacred city of Moulay Idriss and the plains of Meknès is certainly something to savor, especially when it’s served on the terrace at Scorpion House. Private groups—from 2 to 40 people at a time—can enjoy a menu personalized in advance (all dietary requirements are catered for) and including grilled meats, fish, and seasonal Moroccan salads, rounded off with fruit and sweet treats. Advance reservations are essential.

One of the city’s best fine-dining eateries is in the strikingly beautiful courtyard of hotel Dar Roumana, where Moroccan chef Youness Toumi creates two- and three-course fixed-price Franco-Moroccan fusion menus. The menu makes the most of seasonal produce from top local producers in creative salads, such as figs with crispy pancetta, goat cheese, and date dressing, and a meat or fish dish like a perfectly cooked veal T-bone or pan-fried John Dory. Desserts are sumptuous, like vacherin and black cherries or Sephardic bitter orange and almond cake. There’s an excellent wine list, too.

Set in the romantic remains of a ruined riad associated with Riad Idrissy, this casual alfresco restaurant comes complete with crumbling mosaic floors, fountains, and lush foliage. The à la carte menu and daily specials focus on street food–style dishes prepared using fresh produce from the souk. Think salads such as zaalouk and sardines marinated in chermoula (a marinade including herbs, oil, and lemon juice) with a polenta batter and mini maakouda (potato cakes in tomato sauce). Moroccan tapas are on the menu at lunchtime, and tea and cakes are served all day, as well as healthy juices and smoothies, like date milk and orange-blossom water. You can also preorder the delicious Fassi specialties, such as pigeon pastilla and slow-cooked mechoui lamb, a day in advance. Take the Moroccan bread, pastries, or vegetarian cooking classes, and watch couscous being hand-rolled every Friday lunchtime.

Head to this cupboard-size restaurant for outstanding Moroccan cheap eats, perhaps freshly made bread and thick harira soup, a plate of grilled brochettes, or fluffy couscous. Portions are generous, and a full meal will cost less than a cup of coffee back home. It’s vegetarian and vegan friendly, too.

A mulberry tree shades the best of the small restaurants in Huddadine (Ironmonger) Square in the center of Sefrou's picturesque medina. Try the delicious rotisserie chicken, brochettes, fries, and salad.

This modern, family-friendly eatery is popular with both locals and visitors for its great location. The menu offers a range of international dishes, including steak frites and pizza, as well as authentic Moroccan tagines; it also serves fresh juices and good coffee, as well as French pastries. It's cavernous inside, so grab a seat on the terrace on warm days.

This is a good, convivial place to enjoy a drink or a snack, with the added bonus of first-rate people-watching at the top of one of the medina’s busiest thoroughfares. Thami’s has expanded over the years from a single table and four chairs under the shade of a mulberry tree to a full-fledged restaurant. What hasn’t changed is the friendly service and the cheap and cheerful dishes on offer, from hearty bowls of harira to popular tagines. 

They say the best Moroccan food is served at home, and Dar Hatim is the next-best thing. In the convivial, exquisitely tiled dining room of this family home-turned-restaurant, you can choose from three three-course set menus of traditional Moroccan dishes. Vegetarians can be catered to as well. It's tucked away in a corner of the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter of the medina, and they will escort you from your lodgings. 

Dining under the stars in this Andalusian-style, gardenlike oasis is a delight, surrounded by citrus trees and next to a twinkling fountain, or eat inside the Art Deco–influenced dining room. The chefs take traditional recipes and give them a contemporary presentation, creating a three-course dinner using seasonal produce from the market, a five-course wine-tasting menu for groups, and a lighter tapas menu that can be eaten on the rooftop terrace. They also have an à la carte lunch menu: think Moroccan salads and tagines. 

In the heart of the medina, the open kitchen of this chilled café-restaurant creates Moroccan flavors and Mediterranean-inspired dishes that make the most of seasonal ingredients. Go for the tapas dishes, such as aubergine fritters, or a more substantial main, perhaps marinated lamb chops. There’s a spacious, plant-filled patio but try to bag a table on the roof terrace and don’t miss the lavender lemonade or refreshing iced mint tea.

Just a five-minute walk from the medina, this lounge-bar and restaurant is a haven of Fassi cool. It's undergone a modern Moroccan redesign and now the air-conditioned interior is cool white tadelakt with splashes of vivid red. The roof terrace with its lounging cushions and oversize lanterns is the perfect place for a sunset drink overlooking the lush Jnan Sbil gardens. Or enjoy a casual meal of salads (the Caesar is particularly good) and fusion tapas, such as Roquefort-filled briouates (savory pastries ) and patatas bravas. Naturally, this chic oasis managed by an equally hip and friendly staff is outfitted with Wi-Fi and a sound system.

Tired of tagines? This light, bright, contemporary riad has been turned into a family- and vegetarian-friendly café-restaurant that serves up pasta dishes, fresh salads, and soups, as well as delicious French desserts like tarte tatin. Set down a winding derb off the Talaa K'bira (there are signs), it's a great place to take a well-earned break from pounding the pavement with a tea, coffee, or soda, as well as exotic local fruit juices, such as almond, avocado, and date on the roof terrace. There's Wi-Fi, too.

Need a break from couscous? This chain of French restaurants provides some of the best traditional cuisine in town. Le Relais de Paris offers a prix-fixe and à la carte menu in a relaxing atmosphere overlooking Mt. Zerhoun and a lovely garden. Gastronomic delights on offer include classic steak frites, braised lamb, eggplant-and-goat-cheese lasagna, and addictive chocolate profiteroles.

Compact and colorful, this convivial café-restaurant occupies a superb spot on one of the medina’s main streets. Try their take on Moroccan tabbouleh made with couscous or get a merguez (spicy sausage) pizza to go. Or grab one of the outdoor tables, perfect for people-watching over an avocado milk shake, caramel iced coffee, or homemade rosemary lemonade. 

After a morning pounding the medina alleyways, this cute and contemporary café on the Talaa Kbira is the perfect place to take a break with a fresh juice or mint tea, malawi (Moroccan pancakes), or a more substantial tagine. The chocolate mousse comes highly recommended.

Chef Najat Kaanache returned to her Moroccan roots to helm this chic riad-turned-restaurant. The seasonally inspired tasting menu—around eight courses (there's a three-course lunch, too)—changes often, reflecting market finds with a focus on artful presentation and inspired flavor combinations. Najat has worked in fine-dining restaurants around the globe, including California's The French Laundry. Now she's turning her culinary skills to dishes such as sashimi with zaalouk (a cooked eggplant and tomato salad) and chicken with a Moroccan mole sauce. The restaurant serves a selection of Moroccan wines, too. A vegetarian menu is available with 24-hour notice.

If you seek a change from tagines, head to the sophisticated surrounds of the Hotel Sahrai and this classic bistro, decked out in soothing neutral tones with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the terrace. Steak frites and chocolate fondant are the go-to dishes, washed down with a fine French red, but Italian dishes, the catch of the day, and burgers are also on the menu. Sunday brunch is expansive and popular.

This cozy riad serves home-cooked Moroccan cuisine (traditional tagine and lighter options like salad, pasta, and pizza) to guests and nonguests on the roof terrace, with sweeping views over Moulay Idriss, the ruins of Volubilis, and the mountains beyond. Dishes make the most of fresh, local ingredients. Opt for the three-course set lunch or dinner—perhaps the famed Moulay Idriss kefta or a tasty tagine, or choose something lighter such as Greek salad (made with local cheese), pizza, fajitas, or vegetable soup.

The cozy, ground-floor salon of a family riad has been turned into a family-run restaurant; just knock on the door to be let in. Expect generous portions of traditional Moroccan home cooking, with favorites such as smoky zaalouk, fluffy couscous, beef and prune tagine, and camel meatballs. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, too.

This fine-dining restaurant sits on the top floor of Palais Faraj, with stunning views over the medina—especially from the terrace—making it especially romantic at night. The decor is sleek and sophisticated, the service is attentive, and the chef has re-created age-old Fassi recipes. Start with a selection of cooked vegetable salads—smoky eggplant, carrots glazed with honey, delicately spiced roasted peppers—then try one of the slow-cooked tagines, such as the chicken with olives and preserved lemon or the veal shank, which falls off the bone. There's a Mediterranean menu available in the evening. 

Seek out this lovely family-run restaurant in the heart of the medina serving incredibly delicious cuisine with warm smiles in an authentic traditional atmosphere. The selection of Moroccan salads, spicy harira soup, and couscous or tagine are part of a set menu that finishes off with mint tea and honey-laden pastries. As an added bonus the prices are attractively low.

This attractive stone-walled restaurant, a two-minute drive from Volubilis, serves a varied menu of Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian, and Mediterranean-influenced dishes. Dine on harira Meknessi or beef with ras el hanout (a mix of a multitude of spices) surrounded by Roman-style columns, on the terrace with panoramic views over the ruins, or in the lovely garden. Don’t miss the olives and olive oil pressed from their own trees.

Traditional Moroccan fare—choose from an à la carte or set menu—is prepared with fresh produce from the souk and served at candlelit tables in this riad’s pretty courtyard. Typical dishes include hearty harira, an array of salads, and tasty tagine. Nonguests are welcome to drop in and enjoy the Moroccan afternoon tea but should book in advance for dinner. No alcohol is served.