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Marrakesh has arguably the largest selection of restaurants in Morocco, which serve equal parts Moroccan and international cuisine at varying price points. Restaurant dining, once reserved mainly for the wealthy or very special occasions, is now part of the norm for virtually all Marrakshis. Options vary from inexpensive snack bars, cafés, and fast-food restaurants to the more pricey French bistros, sushi bars, and sophisticated Moroccan fine-dining options. In restaurants where alcohol is served, meal prices tend to be high as licenses are expensive. Home entertaining, however, with lavish meals to impress visitors, is still very much part and parcel of the old Marrakshi way of life. To get an idea (albeit a rather expensive one) of traditional yet sumptuous Moroccan entertaining, treat yourself to an evening at one of Marrakesh’s popular riad gastronomique restaurants in the medina. Morocco is a Muslim country, so don't assume that all restaurants will serve alcohol. Licenses are expensive and, inside the medina especially, are very hard to come by.
You can also eat well at inexpensive sidewalk cafés in both the medina and Guéliz. Here, don't miss out on a famous local dish called tanjia, made popular by workers who slow-cook lamb or beef in an earthenware pot left in hot ashes for the whole day. Food is cooked and served from an outdoor street-kitchen with shared tables, but it's a hearty meal with locals for around 30 DH.
Most restaurants in Marrakesh tend to fall into two categories. They're either fashionable, flashy affairs, mostly in Guéliz and the outlying areas of Marrakesh, which serve à la carte European, Asian, and Moroccan cuisine, or they're more traditional places, often tucked inconspicuously into riads and old palaces in the medina. Both types can be fairly pricey, and, to avoid disappointment, are best booked in advance. They also tend to open quite late, usually not before 7:30 in Guéliz and 8 in the medina, although most people don't sit down to eat until 9 or 9:30. In recent years a third dining category, the dinner-cabaret, has become a popular format, attracting tourists, expats, and well-heeled Moroccans for their entertainment value, if not necessarily for their cuisine.
There's no set system for tipping. Your check will indicate that service has been included in the charge; if not, tip 10% or 15% for excellent service.
Serving some of the best à la carte Moroccan food in the city, the affordable menu here includes tasty tagines, tender brochettes with saffron rice, couscous topped with caramelized onions, succulent tangia, and sweet-savory pigeon pastilla. There's an extensive choice of Moroccan wines, too. The restaurant can be noisy and crowded with slow service if there are large party bookings.
A nonprofit center established this lunch-only restaurant to help women from difficult backgrounds learn culinary skills and earn an independent living. The result is this friendly, brightly furnished restaurant and garden terrace, which attracts locals and expats for its excellent Moroccan and international dishes. Friday is couscous day, but make a reservation in advance! No alcohol, but lots of freshly squeezed juices are served.
The airy courtyard in the 1910 building that houses the Dar Bacha Museum is all orange trees and colorful tiles: it's a perfect oases for a quick bite. There are over 100 types of coffee, from all over the world, and perfect pastries, as well as a selection of main dishes. Prepare to arrive early, as wait times can be up to three hours in the afternoon.
The Spanish-Moroccan chain, which has restaurants in Casablanca and Rabat, opened this location in 2016. Fresh fish is shipped in from Agadir or Casablanca each morning, and the authentic tapas selection includes classics such as tortillas, shrimp with garlic, patatas bravas, and the more adventurous Galician octopus. The well-chosen wine list includes mostly Moroccan and French wines, but there is a small selection of Marques de Riscal reds, whites, and rosés. There is a main restaurant, but the pleasant outdoor terrace has stools at the bar that are perfect for a quick informal tapas snack, and guests can drink alcohol on the terrace, which is unusual for Marrakesh. The atmosphere is lively and convivial in the evenings, but lunchtime is a more laid-back affair.
Not much English is spoken so come prepared with your phrase book.
Located just a five-minute walk from Marrakesh's bustling main square Jemaa el-Fnaa, Dardar is a stylish restaurant and bar that boasts a lively atmosphere and some of the best views the medina has to offer. The menu features a variety of Moroccan, European, and Asian dishes. (The shrimp pil pil is great for garlic and chili lovers.) Cocktails, beer, and wine are also served. Dardar fills up quickly, so you absolutely must book ahead of time if you want to secure a reservation, particularly at sunset.
This 1920s-style French café is a fabulous backdrop for salads, pastas, steaks, and seafood specials including oysters from Oualidia. It's long-standing favorite in the neighborhood, and a great place for a meal or a drink on the covered veranda. For an indulgent dessert try the gâteau chocolat coulant (chocolate cake).
This modern terrace café at the edge of the Marrakesh Plaza, in the heart of Guéliz, is a popular lunch spot. The range of salads is imaginative, and even the half portion makes a satisfying meal; main dishes include chicken in mushroom sauce as well as several solid pasta options. A kids' menu is available, as well as ice cream, delicious homemade pastries, and cakes.
The seasonal menu at +61 reflects the laid-back Australian lifestyle, and all the produce is organic and grown within 30 minutes of Marrakesh. Cocktails and wine are served on-site. This place is a favorite for the city's expats and reservations on weekends are a must.
The shaded entryway of this pretty little restaurant gives way to a small dining area lovingly decorated with comfy seating areas and lots of plants. It's a local favorite, especially for brunch.
This café is a popular spot for expats to gather over avocado toast and matcha lattes. The menu features healthy and delicious feel-good dishes made using ingredients from Sanctuary Slimane, a 25-acre regenerative farm in Marrakesh's suburbs. You can also buy vegetables and products like honey that are grown and produced on the farm.
This Italian-owned three-story restaurant in the heart of the medina serves both Moroccan and Italian food. The trendy terrace, complete with a trickling fountain and relaxing music, is a good place to stop for drinks, while the ground-floor, shaded patio is better suited to a lunchtime visit.
An outpost of Fez's popular Cafe Clock, this so-called cultural café combines a fun vibe with tasty contemporary Moroccan cuisine. Signature dishes include camel burgers, a blue cheese and fig salad, veggie platters, and homemade ice cream. There's also a menu of cultural activities: exhibitions, live traditional gnawa music, local bands, cooking classes, and al halqa (traditional storytelling). No alcohol is served.
In keeping with the name, this café in the medina's "spice square" offers spiced teas and coffees along with a range of freshly squeezed fruit juices, smoothies, and light snacks, salads, and sandwiches. Ever popular, it expanded into the neighboring property and teeters over three levels with a great rooftop view over the veiled women selling basketware and woolly hats below. No alcohol is served.
Perennially popular, this homey Italian spot has a good selection of salads, pasta, and pizzas at prices that make them a fabulous value. Alcohol is served, and at reasonable prices for this part of town.
It won't win prizes for design, but this cheap joint is perfect for a lunchtime or evening pit stop. Locals and visitors alike frequent this friendly little canteen just on the right before the road opens into Djemâa el Fna. Tagine pots stand two rows deep on the street stall outside, and a barbecue sizzles away. There are much more interesting specialties available on the menu than some of the other little snack-restaurants, including spiced aubergine tagine, sardine tagine, and pastillas. It's cash only and there's no alcohol.
Slightly more elegant than its hole-in-the-wall branch in the souks, Chez Lamine has a reputation for the best mechoui (whole roasted lamb) in town and couscous on Friday. Its street-side tables in Guéliz are regularly filled with Moroccan families on Friday and weekends; there's also inside seating. Apart from mouthwatering tagines, try the restaurant's other specialty, tangia marrakchia (lamb cooked very slowly for hours in earthenware jars). No alcohol.
Although the row of severed lambs' heads out front may not be everyone's idea of culinary heaven, Marrakshis love Chez Lamine Hadj Mustapha, and you'd be missing out not to try it. English TV chef Jamie Oliver chose this spit-and-sawdust street restaurant in a filming trip for a gutsy example of Moroccan roast lamb specialty, mechoui—it's served as a simple sandwich or as a laden plateful priced by weight.
An airy 16th-century riad turned café turned library turned art gallery, Dar Cherifa is wonderful spot to take a break from shopping for a pot of mint tea. They also have occasional cultural evenings, including poetry readings, traditional music, and storytelling.
You can dine on delicious adaptations of traditional dishes---such as tiny melt-in-the-mouth pastilla (sweet pigeon pie) filled with a vegetable puree---at this lovely restaurant with a reputation for nouvelle cuisine marocaine. Andalusian lutes and Gnaoua music accompany dinner, which is a fixed five-course tasting menu at 650 DH; lunch is à la carte, with a limited menu for children. Alcohol is served.
Vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free diners may feel unloved in Marrakesh until they get to Earth Café, where they rule the roost. Generous portions are served all day at this wholesome little eatery that's tucked into a side alley near the main square. As you walk through to the seating areas out back you'll be tempted by the aromas swirling up from the open kitchen. Up the winding narrow stairs are cushioned seating alcoves with orange-painted walls and a balcony hung with tropical plants. A beetroot, ginger, and orange juice cocktail will perk you up, or try a satisfying flaky pastry stuffed with goat cheese, pumpkin, spinach, and apple. The only downside is that there isn't an open roof terrace, and as such it gets hot and rather claustrophobic. No alcohol is served, and it's cash only.
If you want to eat with the locals, this is the perfect spot, though be forewarned that the menu is meat-only. Everything is ordered by weight and you'll get side dishes of olives as well as a tomato and onion salad. Expect a crowd around meal times but service and dining are quick.
This tiny restaurant on a side street of central Guéliz is run by India-native John Jinendrom, who imports spices, like masala, directly from Europe. This means authentic-tasting Indian halal cuisine at local prices, which is a rarity in Marrakesh. The menu offers traditional dishes like butter-chicken curry, but the real house specialty is Masala Dosa, a huge stuffed pancake filled with dhal and your choice of vegetables, meat, or chicken. There are also homemade samosas, naan breads, and Indian ginger milk tea. The setting is very simple with small sidewalk tables perfect for warm weather dining; life-size Bollywood movie-star posters adorn the walls of the often hot and cramped restaurant interior.
It's cash only and there's no alcohol.
Perfectly positioned just opposite the entrance to the Saadian tombs, this Spanish-owned café is a welcome retreat for those who find themselves "kasbahed-out" at the end of a trek through the monuments of Marrakesh. The menu features Moroccan standards, as well as pizza, salads, and a cool gazpacho. An ornate Andalusian archway modeled on the mosque at Cordoba opens into a three-level restaurant finished with beige tadlak (a traditional, shiny, smooth effect) walls, wrought-iron balustrades, and bejmat tiling. The prices are definitely for tourists (pizzas 90 DH, tagines 130 DH), but the food is fresh and well presented, and the shaded terrace has a great view across to the Moulay el Yazid mosque in this up-and-coming area.
Bistro meets resto in this popular, affordable French eatery at the edge of Guéliz where service is warm and welcoming. The three-course set lunch menus are an exceptional value at 120 DH. In true Parisian style, the menu favors carnivores: foie gras, beefsteaks, braised lamb chops, and confit of duck, for example; homey country dishes such as salade Niçoise or Provençal fish soup, as well as tempting grilled swordfish, red mullet, and tuna might please the rest. There's a good wine list that includes French and Moroccan wines at reasonable prices.
Choose the upstairs mezzanine dining area for a more intimate atmosphere; the downstairs bistro-style restaurant gets crowded.
Just off the Rehba Kdima ("Spice Souk"), L'Mida is a pleasant spot serving a fresh, modern take on Moroccan flavors. There are plenty of meaty options, but vegetables get the royal treatment in dishes like a seven-vegetable vegan couscous and pastilla with chickpeas. Be sure to book a table if you want to sit on the terrace and take advantage of the great views.
Parisian Michael Gabbay has been in the bistro business since he was 17 years old. He's brought this expertise and hands-on approach to Marrakesh creating a distinctly urban-styled, modern restaurant that attracts crowds of young Marrakshis as well as tourists and expats. The menu is a carnivore's dream with rib steaks, T-bones, fillets, and Halal "'bacon"' burgers taking pride of place, but there are vegetarian options as well.
Check the "'blackboard specials'" as they change daily according to season and the whim of the chef.
The hip retro-style 1950s industrial decor together with the deliciously meaty menu and live music on Friday and Saturday evenings means the place is packed, so it's best to book a table; lunchtime is best for families. Alcohol is served.
Just beyond the fringes of Guéliz, this tiny Lebanese restaurant is a winner on all counts, serving tasty Lebanese food, with a warm welcome in a quirky, colorful setting. The fresh meze platters include hummus, tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, marinated chicken wings, stuffed Lebanese bread, and shawarma.
In a tiny garden, off one of the medina's main shopping streets, the French owner serves a constantly changing menu derived from fresh local ingredients; think enormous main-course salads or pizzettas topped with anything from carrots and apples to raspberries, mint, and beetroot. Homemade cakes, fresh-brewed coffee, and freshly squeezed juices are served through the afternoon. Make a reservation and come early as the main dish of the day usually sells out.
The prestigious Royal Mansour hotel is home to four restaurants, each with a different vibe, but La Grande Table Marocaine, which serves classic Moroccan dishes with a modern twist, is the one worth a splurge. You can order à la carte but the prix-fixe menu with seasonal variations is the best bet. Alcohol is served and reservations are essential.
The tables at this Italian spot are tightly packed around the pool area and reservations are recommended as the evenings attract Instagram-obsessed diners. Tapas and predinner drinks can be enjoyed in the lush terrace bar, with jungle foliage in danger of dipping into your aperitif and background music courtesy of the resident pianist. Alcohol is served.
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