233 Best Restaurants in Morocco

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.

The menu at Ostrea II features various types of seafood, but most people come for the oysters—which can be accompanied with wine chosen from a respectable list and followed by a classic French dessert. Just after entering town, a sign for the restaurant points toward the lagoon. Head down the twisty road, then grab a table inside overlooking the oyster farm or out on the lagoon-side terrace.

This ice-cream parlor and café is at the very far end of Guéliz, but well worth the journey. The ice cream and sorbet (possibly the best in Morocco) are made with all-natural ingredients and no additives, and flavors vary every month. In summer choose from fig, banana, watermelon, peach, even ginger with lavender. In autumn you'll find spiced chocolate, orange with cinnamon, date, and saffron flavors. There's a comfortable indoors eating area and an outdoor terrace where you can scoop your whipped-cream-topped sundae on any Sunday.

Tucked down a skinny street in the Quartier Habous, this famous family-owned bakery has been cooking up traditional treats since the 1930s. Satisfy your sweet tooth with cornes de gazelle (crescent-shape cookies stuffed with almond paste and laced with orange-flower water), chebekia (made with sesame and honey), or almond macaroons; there are savory mini pastillas, too. 

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.

If you've got time to relax in Ouarzazate, there's no place better for people-watching than the terrace of Patisserie Habouss. Locals and visitors can be found indulging in its famous homemade cake or honey-soaked Moroccan pastries accompanied by cinnamon coffee or freshly squeezed fruit juice. As the sun sinks, witness the sleepy Place el Mouahidine transform into a busy evening marketplace. A small restaurant on the upper terrace of the café serves regional food at very reasonable prices.

This fashionable restaurant that specializes in Mediterranean seafood is a great choice for a night out or long lunch. Delicious choices include seafood paella, grilled calamari, octopus tagine, lobster, and more. Wine is also available to pair with your meal. 

A café, bakery, and French restaurant all rolled into one, Paul is a popular spot in the Agdal district for coffee and pastries. The bakery, a standout in its own right, makes some of the best bread in town. Lunch and dinner are also available.

This friendly Mediterranean-style restaurant offers "cuisine du marché," or cooking from the market. It serves a broad selection of fish, meat, and pasta dishes in a charming setting. White linens top the tables in the cheery dining room, and the beautiful airy garden, where intimate tables snuggle amid the greenery, is a delight. Alcohol is served.

Take a break from tagines and head to this popular restaurant just outside the medina. Pizza and pasta are the mainstays of the menu, but they also serve meat dishes and good-size salads. Be sure to save room for the sinful chocolate fondant.

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.

Whether you prefer sweet or savory, this café's got a plethora of artisanal treats ranging from croissants and cheesecake to empanadas and samosas and quiche. They also make a stellar flat white, which can be hard to find not only in Essaouira, but in all of Morocco.

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.

Right near Sidi Bouzid Beach, the Requin Bleu serves a wide variety of fresh seafood and fish dishes (early risers can also get breakfast or a cup of coffee here). It's conveniently placed and the views are great.

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.

This restaurant's jasmine-scented courtyard is one of the prettiest dining spots in the city. The menu of modern Moroccan cuisine features dishes such as orange, carrot, and orange blossom water salad; a selection of tagines; and the catch-of-the-day from the Mediterranean. There's a roof terrace, too.

Set in an exquisite Art Deco villa, this restaurant focuses on refined French classics. Alfresco diners can choose a seat on the swish yet sunny garden patio; inside, the dining rooms stretch out with French poise. The wine list is excellent and service is immaculate.

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.

Stop for lunch at this social enterprise, whose name means "Our House," and you won't just enjoy a scrumptious home-style meal; you'll also be supporting local women and children in need. The traditional couscous served on Friday shouldn't be missed, especially when eaten in the sun-drenched, tiled patio. Don’t forget to check out the small on-site shop.

If you're craving pizza, try this tourist-friendly spot just opposite the gas station as you enter Erfoud from the direction of Errachidia. It serves standard pies plus a local variation on the theme called madfouna tafilalt (aka Amazigh pizza), which is a baked flatbread stuffed with meat. Tagines and pastillas are also available. Dine in or take a seat on the terrace.

Befitting its name, this elegant restaurant is right on a park, in a 1950s building with a dining terrace. As is often the case in Mohammedia, the menu bears a distinct fish and seafood theme, so your choices will largely depend on what’s been caught that day, though there is also a good selection of salads and meat dishes, plus some Moroccan fare and French-influenced desserts. Alcohol is not available. Be sure to book at weekends as Moroccan families flock here.

This outdoor restaurant is a long-standing favorite for Moroccan families, offering great food and lots of space. Traditional cuisine is served under a caidal (white canvas) tent around two small swimming pools, in a garden full of orange, fig, and papaya trees and flowers. Weekending Moroccan families are drawn to the excellent specialties of the house, such as the briouates (phyllo pastry parcels) and mechoui (roasted shoulder of lamb, best ordered in advance). No alcohol is served. Non-Moroccan families with children should be advised that only girls under 12 are allowed to enjoy the swimming pool with the boys.

This laid-back lounge and restaurant is a great place for coffee and a crepe, or pizza and a beer. It's right next to the beach on a peninsula that overlooks the sandy sweep of Bouznika bay. It's a simple place with plain white tables and chairs and plenty of shade and you can't get much closer to the sea.

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. 

Since 1968 the "Star of the South" has been dishing up ample servings of couscous and tagines in a red-velvet dining room or under a huge red-and-green velvet caidal tent. The harira is hearty and satisfying after a long day's drive, and there is plenty of parking. The staff is friendly, and the atmosphere is cheery, with many tour agencies choosing this spot for their groups. The restaurant also serves alcohol.

The food here is simple, traditional, and tasty, but the atmosphere is particularly lovely, especially in the evening, when lights and candles bring the small space to life. This is the most popular of several salon-style Moroccan restaurants in the area, which means you may have to wait for a table.

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.

This popular restaurant and café sits right next to the rocky beach at Temara, overlooking the sea. It's the perfect place for fresh fish, though meat-eaters are not forgotten. It's open for lunch and dinner and alcohol is served.

Boasting an undeniably romantic ambience with intimate nooks, antique furniture, and sparkling stained-glass lights, this hotel restaurant serves traditional Moroccan dishes with a creative twist. The catch of the day is popular, along with dishes like chicken and olive tagine cooked over a wood fire. In fine weather, eat on the open-sided balcony overlooking the sea and out to Spain. It's worth having an alfresco pre- or postprandial drink in the terrace bar for the views alone.