In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Five Marrakech restaurants are in MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026: La Grande Table Marocaine (#19), Le Petit Cornichon (#21), Sesamo (#24), +61 (#31) and Farmers (#49). Book them ahead. The medina places named most often are Nomad and L’Mida; in Guéliz, Mizaan, Sahbi Sahbi and Amal. At Jemaa el-Fnaa, ask the price first, order from the menu board and pay cash: the food stalls are being replaced with fitted stands under a tender issued on 18 September 2026. Alcohol is legal only in licensed venues. For a guide to choose for you, Marrakech food tours compared sets the walks side by side.
The ranks are from MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (the50.com). “Named” counts guides, magazines, blogs and one forum, each counted once; a count is not a recommendation.
⚠️ Check the day before you go. Sahbi Sahbi is closed on Mondays and +61 on Sundays. Le Petit Cornichon is open Monday to Friday, La Famille and Naranj Monday to Saturday, and Farmers Tuesday to Sunday. La Famille serves lunch only and Sahbi Sahbi dinner only.
MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026
MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants, a ranking of the Middle East and North Africa, lists five Marrakech restaurants in 2026.
La Grande Table Marocaine
Royal Mansour, Rue Abou El Abbas Sebti · MENA’s 50 Best: #19 · Royal Mansour
The Moroccan restaurant of the Royal Mansour hotel, where Hélène Darroze took over the kitchen alongside chef Karim Ben Baba. Its site names pastilla and couscous in the Royal Mansour style. Open every day for dinner, 19:00 to 22:30, and on Friday for lunch too, 12:00 to 14:30. Book through the hotel.
Le Petit Cornichon
Guéliz · 27 rue Moulay Ali · MENA’s 50 Best: #21 · website
A French bistro with a weekday lunch that changes weekly and a more elaborate dinner by the season. The lunch is a set menu at 230 MAD for two courses and 290 MAD for three (about £18 and £22), and the wine cellar is mostly small French growers. Open Monday to Friday, 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 22:30. Reserve on its site.
Sesamo
Royal Mansour, Rue Abou El Abbas Sebti · MENA’s 50 Best: #24 · Royal Mansour
The Italian restaurant of chef Massimiliano Alajmo, with his brother Raffaele. The menu mixes the brothers’ classics with dishes made for the hotel: its site names a risotto with spicy pesto, beef carpaccio and a “Majorelle cappuccino”. Open every day for dinner, 19:00 to 22:30. Book through the hotel.
+61
Guéliz · 96 rue Mohammed el Beqal · MENA’s 50 Best: #31 · website
A lunch room at the same address as Farmers. Its site says the food is fresh, simple and seasonal, and meant to be shared across the table. Open for lunch Monday to Saturday, 12:00 to 16:00; its site lists Sunday as closed. Book on its site.
Farmers
Guéliz · 96 rue Mohamed El Bequal · MENA’s 50 Best: #49 · Sustainable Restaurant Award 2026 · website
A vegetarian-friendly restaurant that buys organic produce from a permaculture farm outside the city, Sanctuary Slimane. The chef, Driss Aloui, cooks in an open kitchen, and the bar lists natural and organic wines and spirits. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 23:00, and Sunday 19:00 to 23:00. Reserve on its site.
Medina and Guéliz places the guides name often
Of the guides, magazines, blogs and one forum counted for this page, Nomad is named by 11 and L’Mida by 9; Amal and Mizaan by 7; Kabana, La Famille, Naranj and Sahbi Sahbi by 6; and Al Fassia by 5. Several are medina rooftops, which are the evening places.
Nomad
Medina · 1 Derb Aarjane, by the spice square · website
A “Modern Moroccan” restaurant that revises traditional dishes and adds international ones with a Moroccan twist, in a building that was once a carpet shop. Time Out says its tall rooftop is in constant high demand and to reserve ahead for a sunset seat; the site’s number is +212 5 24 38 16 09. Time Out’s highlights include calamari from Agadir and organic chicken in sweet harissa.
L’Mida
Medina · 78 bis Derb Nkhal, Rahba Lkdima · website
Moroccan fusion from chef Narjisse Benkabbou in a two-level traditional house, with a rooftop bar looking over the roofs to the Atlas. The family menus are meant for sharing. The site lists mint tea and fruit cocktails on the roof, and offers a tuk-tuk to the door.
Amal
Guéliz and Targa Center · website
A non-profit that trains women in cooking and then finds them work. Its Guéliz restaurant, on Rue Allal Ben Ahmed, serves a seasonal menu that changes daily, and on Fridays it serves only hand-rolled couscous, according to Condé Nast Traveller Middle East. The Targa Center serves a garden brunch every day from 09:00 to 15:00, from 180 MAD (about £14) a head, and runs cooking classes: see Marrakech cooking classes.
Mizaan
Guéliz · 255 avenue Mohammed V · website
Moroccan cooking with Oriental and Mediterranean influences, in Guéliz. Its site lists signature cocktails in the evening, when it becomes a livelier room. Open Sunday to Wednesday 12:00 to 01:00 and Thursday to Saturday 12:00 to 02:00.
Kabana
Rooftop at the gates of the medina · website
A rooftop bar and restaurant with views of the Koutoubia, a Mediterranean menu and a sushi menu, and DJ sets and live music in the evening. Its site lists an extensive selection of cocktails and spirits and a wine list. Open every day from 11:00 to 02:00.
La Famille
Medina · 42 Riad Zitoun Jdid · website
A vegetarian restaurant in a garden of lemon trees, open since 2015, with a menu that changes daily: two vegetable dips with homemade crackers, then a choice of the day’s salad, a pasta or a focaccia pizza, and desserts such as chocolate fondant with peanut butter. Lunch only, Monday to Saturday, 12:00 to 16:00.
Naranj
Medina · 84 Rue Riad Zitoun el Jdid · website
A Lebanese restaurant on a rooftop terrace, cooking Levantine dishes designed to be shared, with mocktails on the roof. Open Monday to Saturday, 12:30 to 22:30. Reserve by email at reservation@naranj.ma.
Sahbi Sahbi
Guéliz · 37 boulevard Mansour Eddahbi · website
Moroccan cooking by women, in the tradition of the dadas, the cooks who pass recipes down the generations. Lonely Planet names it for polished service from an all-female crew in a room designed by Studio KO. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 19:00 to 01:00; closed on Monday. Book on its site or by WhatsApp on +212 662 682 312.
Al Fassia
Guéliz and Aguedal · 9 bis Zone Touristique de l’Agdal · website
A restaurant that has employed only women, in the kitchen and the dining room, since it opened in 1987. The Guéliz restaurant opens for lunch and dinner, and the Aguedal one every evening, with a garden for dinner outside.
The Jemaa el-Fnaa food stalls
The stalls are set up in the evening on the middle of the square. They are being replaced: Al Omrane Marrakech-Safi, the body running the works on the square, published tender 147/2026 on 18 September 2026 for making, installing and connecting fitted stands for the food sellers (Bladi.net). Bids close on 12 October 2026. The notice does not say how many stands there will be or when they will arrive, so the stall numbers below may change. See Jemaa el-Fnaa for the square by time of day.
The rules:
- Ask the price first, and ask what it includes: bread, olives and sauces.
- Order from the stall’s menu board. Do not accept a string of extra dishes you did not ask for.
- Pay in cash.
- Choose a stall with a local crowd, and walk away from anyone calling you to a table.
Condé Nast Traveller Middle East names three stalls: stall 75 for harira, the soup of tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas; stall 66 for a vegetarian bread sandwich stuffed with egg, potato, olive oil and cumin; and stall 14 for fried fish, prawns and calamari. It says there are a few good stalls but plenty have become tourist traps, and sends readers who want more reliable street food to Derb Dabachi, a busy local street a few minutes from the square. A guided evening is the other route: see Marrakech food tours.
The food stalls on Jemaa el-Fnaa at night. Photo: Barbara-Ingeborg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What to order
| Dish | What it is |
|---|---|
| Tanjia | Marrakech’s signature dish: lamb with preserved lemon, spices and olive oil, slow-cooked in a terracotta pot |
| Mechoui | Lamb roasted for three to four hours in an underground oven and sold by weight, usually by the half or full kilo, on a board with bread |
| Couscous | On Fridays Amal serves only hand-rolled couscous |
| Harira | The tomato, lentil, chickpea and coriander soup of the stalls |
| Msemen and sfenj | Flaky folded flatbread, often stuffed, and airy ring-shaped doughnuts, both street food |
| Pastilla | A layered pastry pie; Amal serves a crispy chicken one |
Tanjia jars on a shelf in the Marrakech souk. Photo: Adam Harangozó, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Alcohol
Alcohol is available in licensed venues only. The FCDO says drinking alcohol in the street, or anywhere other than a licensed restaurant or bar, is illegal and can lead to arrest. It also warns of deaths and serious illness from alcoholic drinks containing methanol, which cannot be detected by taste or smell (FCDO).
Of the places above, Kabana says it serves cocktails, spirits and wine, Farmers lists natural and organic wines and spirits, and Le Petit Cornichon keeps a wine cellar of French bottles. Naranj lists mocktails, and L’Mida lists mint tea and fruit cocktails. Ask a riad whether it serves alcohol before you book, and ask any venue before you go if a drink matters.
Plan the rest
For the sights that need booking, what to book before you go to Marrakech lists them. The guided options are in Marrakech food tours compared, and the hands-on one in Marrakech cooking classes. Jemaa el-Fnaa covers the square and the Marrakech souks the lanes round the spice square, where Nomad and L’Mida are. Royal Mansour’s restaurants are at the hotel: see where to stay in Marrakech. For after a meal, Marrakech hammams compares the baths. In Ramadan the daytime opening hours change: see best time to visit Marrakech. 3 days in Marrakech builds days round the sights, and Marrakech safety and scams covers touts.
Common questions
Which Marrakech restaurants are in MENA's 50 Best 2026?
Five: La Grande Table Marocaine at #19, Le Petit Cornichon at #21, Sesamo at #24, +61 at #31 and Farmers at #49. La Grande Table Marocaine and Sesamo are inside Royal Mansour. Farmers also won the list's Sustainable Restaurant Award 2026.
Which Marrakech restaurants are closed on a Monday or a Sunday?
Sahbi Sahbi is closed on Monday and +61 on Sunday. Le Petit Cornichon opens Monday to Friday, La Famille and Naranj Monday to Saturday, and Farmers Tuesday to Sunday. Mizaan, Kabana and Royal Mansour's restaurants open every day.
Are the Jemaa el-Fnaa food stalls being replaced?
Yes. Al Omrane Marrakech-Safi, the body running the works on the square, published tender 147/2026 on 18 September 2026 for making and installing fitted stands for the food sellers. Bids close on 12 October 2026, and the notice gives neither the number of stands nor a date.
How do I order at a Jemaa el-Fnaa food stall?
Ask the price first, order from the stall's menu board and pay in cash. Condé Nast Traveller Middle East names stall 75 for harira, stall 66 for a vegetarian egg-and-potato sandwich and stall 14 for fried fish, prawns and calamari, and says plenty of stalls have become tourist traps.
Can I drink alcohol in Marrakech?
Only in licensed venues. The FCDO says drinking in the street, or anywhere other than a licensed restaurant or bar, is illegal and can lead to arrest, and warns of deaths from alcoholic drinks containing methanol. Kabana says it serves cocktails, spirits and wine, Farmers wines and spirits, and Le Petit Cornichon has a wine cellar.
