Marrakech travel guide — where to stay, what to do, and where to eat in Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi, Morocco.
Marrakchi cuisine centers on slow-cooked tagines simmered with preserved lemon, olives, dried fruit and warm spices like cumin, cinnamon and ginger, alongside couscous served Friday-style with seven vegetables. Street food radiates nightly from Jemaa el-Fnaa, where grilled meats, snail soup and fresh juices are served at communal stalls. Riad dining rooms and rooftop terraces across the Medina serve refined versions of the same repertoire — pastilla, mechoui and seffa — while Gueliz's New Town restaurants mix French bistro classics and international menus alongside Moroccan standards.
Top restaurants
Handpicked picks for the best dining experiences.
Nomad
A rooftop restaurant overlooking Rahba Lakdima (the spice square), serving Moroccan food reworked into small, shareable plates rather than the usual single tagine per person. The room is minimalist and modern by medina standards - white walls, wooden lattice screens, plants - a deliberate contrast to the ornate riads nearby.
Known for: Contemporary Moroccan dishes served on a plant-filled rooftop terrace above the souks
1 Derb Aarjan, Rahba Lakdima, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Le Jardin
A restaurant built around a planted courtyard - palms, banana trees, a fountain - tucked off the souks near Sidi Abdelaziz. The menu mixes Moroccan staples with lighter Mediterranean dishes, aimed at a slower lunch than the market stalls outside.
Known for: Leafy palm-shaded courtyard restaurant inside a restored riad near the souks
32 Souk Sidi Abdelaziz, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Cafe des Epices
A simple rooftop cafe on Rahba Lakdima, the spice square, with a terrace that looks directly down onto the market stalls and porters below. The food is café-level rather than fine dining - eggs, salads, juices, tagines - aimed at people watching the square rather than a formal meal.
Known for: Casual rooftop cafe overlooking the spice square, popular for people-watching over mint tea
75 Rahba Lakdima, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Dar Yacout
A restored riad in Bab Doukkala converted into a fine-dining house, with several small dining rooms and a rooftop rather than one big room. Dinner is Moroccan cooking done at its most traditional and elaborate - the seven-vegetable couscous and the lamb tagine with prunes and almonds are the kind of dishes that take real preparation time.
Known for: Multi-course set dinners in a lavishly decorated riad, with rooftop cocktails before the meal
79 Sidi Ahmed Soussi, Bab Doukkala, Medina, Marrakech 40000
La Maison Arabe Restaurant
The restaurant of one of Marrakech's oldest hotels, in a riad in Bab Doukkala, pairing traditional Moroccan dishes with French technique - the hotel also runs its own cooking school on site. Dining rooms are formal, with tiled floors, carved ceilings and a courtyard option in warmer months.
Known for: Historic riad restaurant dating to the 1940s, credited with popularizing Moroccan haute cuisine
1 Derb Assehbe, Bab Doukkala, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Al Fassia
A Gueliz restaurant, away from the medina, specializing in Fassi cuisine - the refined, slow-cooked style associated with Fes. The dining room is plain compared to the riads across town, which fits the kitchen's approach: the cooking, not the décor, is the draw.
Known for: Entirely woman-run kitchen and dining room serving refined Fassi family recipes since 1987
55 Boulevard Zerktouni, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Comptoir Darna
A restaurant and lounge in Hivernage that runs dinner as a full evening out - the kitchen serves Moroccan and Mediterranean fusion dishes, and later in the night the room shifts into music and dancing. It's a bigger, louder space than the riad restaurants in the medina, built for groups.
Known for: Two-floor restaurant and bar with nightly belly-dancing and live music shows
Avenue Echouhada, Hivernage, Marrakech 40000
Kosybar
A rooftop bar and restaurant on Place des Ferblantiers, right by the Mellah, mixing Moroccan dishes with international and Japanese-influenced plates like sushi. The multi-level terrace looks out toward the Badii Palace walls, home to a resident stork colony.
Known for: Multi-level terrace bar overlooking Place des Ferblantiers with storks nesting on the palace walls
47 Place des Ferblantiers, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Restaurants by cuisine
Browse picks grouped by cuisine type.
Moroccan
Dar Moha
This is chef Moha Fedal's riad restaurant, set in a house once owned by Pierre Balmain, built around a courtyard pool with orange trees. The menu reworks classic Moroccan dishes with lighter, more refined technique than you get at a typical tourist tagine house. Dinner here often runs as a multi-course tasting rather than an à la carte order.
Known for: Poolside riad dining once helmed by the late celebrity chef Mohamed Fedal, refined takes on classic dishes
81 Rue Dar El Bacha, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Cafe Clock
Founded by a British expat as a cultural hub as much as a restaurant, Cafe Clock built its reputation on serving camel meat in a burger to curious travelers. The kitchen otherwise leans casual Moroccan-fusion — wraps, juices, cake — served across several floors of a converted Kasbah house. Storytelling nights and music events are part of the draw beyond the food.
Known for: Cultural cafe near the Madrasa with a rooftop terrace, storytelling nights and cooking classes
224 Derb Chtouka, Kasbah Ben Youssef, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Amal Women's Training Center Restaurant
A nonprofit restaurant that trains disadvantaged Moroccan women in hospitality skills, cooking a rotating daily set menu of home-style dishes rather than a fixed printed menu. The food is plainer and less spiced-for-tourists than most Medina restaurants, closer to what's actually cooked in Marrakech households. It seats in a simple courtyard garden in Gueliz, away from the Medina restaurant circuit.
Known for: Social enterprise restaurant where disadvantaged women train for culinary careers; proceeds fund the program
Rue Allal Ben Ahmed, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Cafe de France
A long-standing cafe on the northeast side of Jemaa el-Fnaa, valued less for its food than for its rooftop terrace looking straight down over the square. The kitchen serves basic cafe fare — sandwiches, tea, juice — pitched at people who are there for the view and people-watching rather than a serious meal. It gets busy at sunset when the square fills up and the food stalls start setting up below.
Known for: Landmark rooftop terrace with a direct panoramic view over Jemaa el-Fnaa square at sunset
Place Jemaa el-Fnaa, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Terrasse des Epices
A rooftop restaurant tucked into the Souk Cherifia area near Sidi Abdelaziz, with low lounge seating, umbrellas, and views over the tangle of Medina rooftops rather than a single landmark. The menu mixes Moroccan grills and couscous with Mediterranean touches like salads and lighter mains, aimed at a younger, more design-conscious crowd than the square-side cafes. It functions as a lounge as much as a dinner spot, with music in the evening.
Known for: Airy multi-level terrace above the souks shaded by parasols and citrus trees
15 Souk Cherifia, Sidi Abdelaziz, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Chez Chegrouni
A no-frills terrace restaurant on the northwest corner of Jemaa el-Fnaa, popular with backpackers and Marrakchis alike for cheap, straightforward tagines and couscous rather than the tourist-menu food at the pricier square-side terraces. Seating is simple plastic chairs on a covered terrace overlooking the square. It's a working kitchen turning out plates fast, not a leisurely sit-down meal.
Known for: No-frills local favorite on the square, serving generous tagines at some of the lowest prices nearby
Place Jemaa el-Fnaa (northwest corner), Medina, Marrakech 40000
Jemaa el-Fnaa Food Stalls
Rows of numbered open-air stalls set up each evening on the main square, each cooking a narrow menu over open grills and gas burners rather than a slow-cooked restaurant menu. The setup is plastic stools and shared benches with smoke, shouting touts, and drummers and snake charmers working the crowd around you, not a sit-down dining experience.
Known for: Nightly open-air food market of numbered stalls grilling skewers and simmering soups over charcoal in the main square
Place Jemaa el-Fnaa, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Earth Cafe
A small vegetarian and vegan restaurant tucked into a Medina derb near Riad Zitoun Kedim, run out of a converted house with a few simple tables. The kitchen turns out plant-based versions of Moroccan staples like tagine and soup rather than a European vegetarian menu.
Known for: Garden courtyard restaurant dedicated to plant-based Moroccan cooking, a rarity in the Medina
2 Derb Zawak, Riad Zitoun Kedim, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Bo & Zin
A garden restaurant and lounge on the Route de l'Ourika outside central Marrakech, spread across an outdoor terrace and lawn area lit for evening dining. The menu mixes Moroccan dishes with international plates like sushi, and the later hours lean toward a lounge and DJ crowd rather than a strictly dinner-focused one.
Known for: Palm-garden restaurant and lounge outside the city center with live DJ sets and lantern-lit tables
Km 4.5, Route de l'Ourika, Marrakech 40160
Kabana
A rooftop restaurant and lounge directly overlooking Jemaa el-Fnaa, with tiered terrace seating built specifically for square views over dinner and drinks. The menu spans Moroccan grills and Mediterranean plates alongside sushi, reflecting a bar-and-view crowd as much as a dining one.
Known for: Multi-tier rooftop with unobstructed views over Jemaa el-Fnaa and the Koutoubia minaret
37 Place Jemaa el-Fnaa, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Le Salama
Known for: Three-floor restaurant near the square with a rooftop lounge and nightly live music
40 Rue des Banques, Medina, Marrakech 40000
French
Le Foundouk
A restored riad near the souks done up with a mix of Moroccan lanterns and French bistro furniture, reflecting its Moroccan-French menu. The ground floor courtyard is for dining while an upstairs lounge with low seating functions more as a bar. The cooking sits between French bistro technique and Moroccan ingredients — duck confit tagine rather than a straight couscous house.
Known for: Restored 19th-century caravanserai with a candlelit courtyard and rooftop lounge
55 Rue du Souk des Fassi, Kaat Benahid, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Grand Cafe de la Poste
A colonial-era-style brasserie in Gueliz, built to evoke a 1920s French Marrakech rather than the Medina's riad style — rattan chairs, ceiling fans, a proper bar. The menu is straightforward brasserie food, steak tartare and seafood, aimed at a mixed crowd of expats and visitors who want a break from tagines. It's one of the few Marrakech restaurants where a full wine list is part of the point.
Known for: Colonial-era brasserie from 1925 restored as an elegant all-day dining spot in the New Town
Boulevard El Mansour Eddahbi at Avenue Imam Malik, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Patisserie des Princes
Known for: Long-running Gueliz patisserie known for gazelle horns and elaborate celebration cakes
32 Rue de la Liberte, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Amandine Patisserie
A French-style patisserie and cafe on a busy Gueliz avenue, with glass counters of pastries up front and table seating for coffee and tea. It draws a mixed crowd of residents and visitors doing a sit-down breakfast or afternoon coffee rather than a quick takeaway stop.
Known for: Popular French-style bakery-cafe favored for breakfast pastries and espresso in New Town
177 Rue Mohamed El Beqal, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
La Table du Marche
Known for: French deli-bistro and gourmet grocery popular with expats for breakfast and lunch
Residence Al Andalous III, Rue Moulay Ali, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Italian
La Trattoria Marrakech
A long-running Italian restaurant in Gueliz set inside a converted villa, with dining spread across an interior courtyard and connecting rooms decorated with a mix of Moroccan and colonial-era touches. The kitchen sticks to Italian classics — pasta and grilled meats — rather than Moroccan-Italian fusion.
Known for: Long-standing Italian restaurant in a converted colonial villa with a poolside garden
179 Rue Mohamed El Beqal, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Pepe Nero
An Italian restaurant in a restored Kasbah riad, built around a plant-filled courtyard with a wood-fired pizza oven visible from the seating. It's a quieter, more residential part of the Medina than the souks, which suits its low-lit, sit-down dinner service.
Known for: Riad-set Italian restaurant near the Kasbah mosque with a candlelit courtyard
17 Derb Cherif, Kasbah, Medina, Marrakech 40000
International Tapas
Sky Bar (La Renaissance)
This rooftop bar sits atop the La Renaissance building on Boulevard Mohammed V, one of the taller points along Gueliz's main avenue, so the draw is the vantage point rather than the kitchen. The menu of tapas, sushi rolls and club sandwiches is built to be shared over drinks rather than eaten as a sit-down meal. There's a pool deck and lounge seating arranged for watching the sun go down toward the Atlas Mountains and the Koutoubia minaret in the distance.
Known for: Rooftop lounge atop a department store with panoramic Atlas Mountains and Koutoubia views
Boulevard Mohammed V, Gueliz, Marrakech 40000
Lebanese
Naranj
Known for: Lebanese-Moroccan crossover restaurant in a quiet Mouassine courtyard
18 Rue el Ksour, Mouassine, Medina, Marrakech 40000
Food tours & tastings in Marrakech
Eat your way through Marrakech with a guide.
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Street food
Local flavours at affordable prices.
Food markets
Where locals shop and graze.
Jemaa el-Fnaa Night Food Market
Numbered open-air food stalls fill the main square each evening, grilling skewers, simmering snail soup and pouring fresh juice; the largest and most famous street-food gathering in Marrakech.
Hours: Daily, stalls open roughly 6pm–midnight
Rahba Lakdima Spice Market
Small square in the souks lined with spice, dried fruit and argan-oil vendors, alongside rooftop cafes; a good stop for buying saffron, ras el hanout and preserved lemons to take home.
Hours: Daily roughly 9am–7pm
Marche Central Gueliz
Covered New Town market selling fresh produce, meat, fish and flowers, used more by residents than tourists and useful for self-catering.
Hours: Daily roughly 8am–8pm
Dining etiquette & tips
Navigate the local food scene confidently.
Lunch is typically served 12:30pm–3pm and dinner from 7:30pm, with riad restaurants often requiring reservations a day ahead
Alcohol is served at international restaurants, hotel bars and licensed rooftop venues but not at most traditional Medina restaurants
Tipping 10% is customary at sit-down restaurants; rounding up is enough at cafes and food stalls
Fixed-price set menus (menu du jour) at riad restaurants often represent better value than ordering a la carte
Friday lunch is traditionally couscous day — some restaurants only serve couscous on Fridays
Bargaining is not expected at restaurants, but is normal at Jemaa el-Fnaa food stalls if a price is not posted
Ramadan changes restaurant hours significantly; many close during the day and open after sunset for iftar
Food budget guide
What to expect at different price points.
| Level | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | $5-15/meal | Street food, local eateries, and simple restaurants. |
| Mid-range | $15-40/meal | Sit-down restaurants with good service and varied menus. |
| Upscale | $40+/meal | Fine dining, international cuisine, and premium experiences. |