Where to eat in Chefchaouen [Feel Morocco Blog] (2024)

Last Updated: 2021-03-22

To really enjoy a new culture, you need to experience the best food they have to offer. This is especially true of a country with a culinary tradition as rich and diverse as Morocco.

Chefchaouen is a magical place and, despite its small size, it never fails to amaze.

In this article, I’ll show you the best places to eat in Chefchaouen. Although this guide’s based on my personal tastes, I think it’ll be useful to everyone.

Let’s get started!

Inside the Medina

Because you will most likely spend most of your time inside the medina, that’s where most of the restaurants I’ll recommend are too.

Traditional Local Food

The average price at most traditional restaurants is 80-95 dirhams per person. That may seem a little expensive, but the quality is very good, and remember that this area is prime tourist real estate.

The best known is the Aladdin Restaurant. It offers a meal that is around 80 dirhams and includes two dishes, a drink, bread and dessert. Their individually-made bastillas (chicken pastry pies) are also worth trying. Without a doubt the best part of this restaurant is its views of the Kasbah and Outa el-Hammam Square, especially at night. If you want to enjoy these views, make sure to reserve a table in advance on the rooftop if you can take the cold or one floor down next to the fireplace if you prefer the warmth.

Aladdin Restaurant
Rue Targui, 17 (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 539-989071

Another very well-known restaurant is Casa Hassan, with a similar offering but at a slightly higher price (90 dirhams). Their couscous is especially good, which they only make on Fridays in accordance with the tradition. It’s somewhat smaller and only offers inside dining, but it’s tastefully decorated.

Casa Hassan Restaurant
Rue Targui, 22 (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 539-986153

These two are the best known restaurants in Chefchaouen, but they have the disadvantage of being mainly geared towards tourists. So, if you’re looking for an even more authentic and homemade flavor, or if you’re already familiar with Moroccan cuisine and want to be surprised, the Beldi Bab Ssour Restaurant is the place to go. Furthermore, because it targets local clientele, it’s quite inexpensive (the full lunch, including drinks and dessert, usually costs less than 60 dirhams).

If you notice an unusually high proportion of Asians when you enter, don’t be surprised. The clever owner has found a market niche with Japanese tourists and this restaurant is the only one in Chefchaouen where Japanese is spoken fluently.

The manager recommends going on Friday―couscous day―at around 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon at the latest, which is when it’s freshly made. I totally agree and I always put down more than my fair share of couscous every time I go.

Beldi Bab Ssour Restaurant
Rue El Kharrazin, 5 (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 660-261128

Other Recommended Traditional Local Food Restaurants in the Medina

I’d like to point out two more restaurants, because you can never have enough recommendations. There’s a good chance too that the Medina of Chefchaouen will leave you so mesmerized that you lose track of time and that restaurant you really wanted to try will already be full.

Assaada Restaurant
Rue Abi Khancha (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 619-569778
The tajines are very good, but the food is made fresh every day and the best dishes sell out quickly. So, the later you go, the fewer the options on the menu

Marisco Twins
Uta el-Hammam Square (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 622-699015
Inexpensive traditional food, and their paninis and sandwiches are also very good

Light Food and Beverages

Travelers sometimes need a little boost so they can keep on moving. The best street candy stall in Chefchaouen is located in Outa el-Hammam square on the corner of the street that leads to Casa Hassan. You’ll easily recognize it by the bees surrounding it attracted by the honey and the sweetness of the cakes. If you don’t trust me, trust the bees: thousands of bees can’t be wrong.

Another place I recommend is located right on the opposite corner. There is a gentleman with a little pastry stand who sometimes sets up here. If he happens to be there, his delicious pastries are lightly drizzled with honey, so they offer an option that is less sweet than the candy across the way.

You can take tea practically anywhere in the city. In the Outa el-Hammam Square, there are many bars where I would certainly not recommend the food, but I would have a nice time sipping tea. Of course, there are also small restaurants by the river with their unbeatable views.

If you’re looking for the locals’ favorite Moroccan mint tea, I recommend the Alkasaba Café located at the intersection between Outa el-Hammam Square and Debnat Al Makhzen Square (where the Hotel Parador is located), just to the right of the exchange house.

Alkasaba Cafe
Debnat Al Makhzen Square (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 675-559292

Fast Food

If you have one hour or less for lunch, you can opt for a sandwich or something similar. After all, a minute not spent admiring and photographing the nooks and crannies of Chefchaouen is a minute wasted.

My favorite is the Chez Hizam Pizzeria & Snacks, located right in front of the Alkasaba Cafe. Despite being very small, it has quite a variety: kebabs, pizza, sandwiches, etc. They offer quick service and the average price is 15 dirhams. You can get a side order of fries too, so for less than 30 dirhams you can have lunch, including a drink.

Chez Hizam Pizzeria & Snacks
Uta el-Hammam Square (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 642-881370

Here’s another similar place with good quality food and a slightly higher price. This place is almost always open.

Le Coin
Bab Al Ain (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 670-858515

Probably the most famous element of the local cuisine in Chefchaouen is its fresh sweet goat cheese. If you love cheese, like me, this is a great bargain: for approximately 20 dirhams you can buy a good piece of nutritious cheese that you won’t be able to finish in one sitting. But I must warn you that it’s not pasteurized and therefore not suitable for sensitive stomachs.

I won’t tell you where to buy it because you can find it on practically every other street. Local cheese is easy to recognize because it’s usually wrapped in palm leaf and displayed on the counter at businesses.

Something different…

This section proposes two other places in the Medina of Chaouen for reasons that are a bit different from the recommendations based strictly on food: the first one is a very lively place and in the second one, unlike most places in Chefchaouen, you can drink alcohol.

Café Clock
Derb Tijani, 3 (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 539-988788
This cafe stands out for its cultural events, such as storytelling every Thursday afternoon

Hotel Parador
Debnat Al Makhzen Square (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 539-986324
The ideal place to sit on a terrace to have a beer and enjoy impressive views of the valley, although it’s a little on the expensive side with an average price of 30 dirhams

Outside the Medina

If you are one of those lucky travelers who gets to spend several days exploring the city, check out these places a short distance from the medina, taking advantage of the fact that they usually have better quality at a cheaper price and a somewhat different and even more international menu.

Mandala Pizzeria
Avenue Hassan II (no number, on the corner with Sidi Ahmed El Ouafi Street) (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 539-882808
Their pizzas and pastas are high quality with a low price. Average of 50 dirhams per person

Chez Aziz
Avenue Hassan II, 13 (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 539-988894
Fast food (pizzas, hamburgers and paninis) and a diverse assortment of pastries to take away. Top recommendations: seafood pizza and the creamy avocado smoothie, with a base of chopped strawberry, banana and apple and topped with whipped cream and almonds.

El Jaleo
In front of the Avenue ras el maa, below the waterfall (location on Google maps)
Tel: +212 601-403160
Food with a more international flare at somewhat higher prices, but with a large terrace overlooking the river

Hope you savor the recommendation on this guide on where to eat in Chefchaouen. Much love to all and see you in the next post!

If you want to know more about the city, check out our visit Chefchaouen guide.

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