Discovering...
Mechoui at Bab Mansour, harira that actually has spice in it, and a wine region most visitors never discover. Here is what to eat and exactly where to find it.
Leila Tazi· Fes, Culture & Cuisine Editor
Fes-based journalist with a food and crafts obsession, Leila spends her weeks between the tanneries, the Qarawiyyin quarter and the kitchens of the old city. She covers Fes, Meknes, food and Moroccan culture. Fes · 11+ years covering Morocco
Published 28 May 2025 Last updated 15 May 2026
Meknes feeds its visitors better than almost any other Moroccan city — and almost no one talks about it. Where Fes gets the headlines for food sophistication and Marrakech has the tourist restaurants on Djemaa el-Fna, Meknes quietly does what a proper imperial city always did: it grows its own food on the fertile Saïss plain, roasts its own lamb by the gate, and pours its own wine from vineyards just outside the walls.
The medina here is less pedestrianised and more genuinely lived-in than Marrakech’s. You will find yourself eating next to people who commute through those same alleys every day, which does something important to the cooking — the food has to be good because locals will not put up with anything less. Portions are generous, prices are lower than Marrakech or Fes, and the mechoui at Bab Mansour on a weekday lunchtime is one of the quieter pleasures Morocco offers.
Five dishes worth going out of your way for, with where to find them and indicative prices.
Meknes claims mechoui as a point of civic pride. A whole lamb is slow-roasted over charcoal until the skin crackles and the meat pulls away with your fingers. The best version in the city comes from the mechoui stalls just inside Bab Mansour — they open around noon and often sell out by 2 pm. Expect to pay 80–120 MAD (about $8–12) for a generous portion served with cumin, salt and khobz bread.
Meknes breakfast is non-negotiable: a bowl of harira — the thick tomato, lentil and chickpea soup seasoned with ras el hanout and brightened with lemon — alongside msemen (folded semolina crepes, flaky and crisp at the edges). Every café in the medina serves this combination from 7 am for 20–35 MAD. It is also the soup that breaks the Ramadan fast, so the whole city smells of it at sunset during that month.
The sweet-savoury Fassi pastilla made its way to Meknes via the old imperial court connections between the two cities. A good pastilla layers shredded pigeon (or chicken), spiced almonds and egg in wafer-thin warka pastry, dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. It is a feast-day dish, so you will find it at the better medina restaurants rather than street stalls — budget around 80–130 MAD as a starter.
The kefta tagine — spiced meatballs in a tomato-cumin sauce with eggs cracked in at the end — is Meknes's workhorse dish, available on every street corner and cooked with noticeably more spice here than in tourist-facing Marrakech restaurants. Order it with a clay pot of warm bread to mop the sauce. Price from stalls: 30–50 MAD. At a sit-down restaurant inside the medina: 60–90 MAD including bread and a small salad.
This surprises many visitors: Meknes sits in Morocco's main wine-producing region, the Meknès-Fès corridor, where the altitude (600–800 m) and clay soils produce some of the country's most structured reds. Labels to look for include Domaine de la Zouina and the CB Initiales range from Celliers de Meknès. You will not find wine in medina restaurants (alcohol is not sold there), but licensed restaurants in the Ville Nouvelle such as Le Collier de la Colombe offer bottles from roughly 150–300 MAD.
Street food in Meknes is best after 5 pm, when the city winds down and the food stalls light up. These four spots cover the range from market snacking to proper evening grills.
| Location | What you find there |
|---|---|
| Place El Hedim | Harira, msemen, grilled meats, fresh orange juice — the main evening food square; most active from 6 pm |
| Souk Sebat | Dried fruits, spiced nuts, amlou (argan oil & almond paste) sold by weight — edible souvenirs worth buying here rather than in tourist shops |
| Rue Rouamzine | Kefta stalls, m'semen griddles, bissara (fava bean soup) — working-class medina food at its most unpretentious |
| Near Bab Berdaine | Mechoui pits and lamb brochettes; more local clientele, lower prices than the Bab Mansour stalls |
Tip: most stalls do not have written menus. Point at what other people are eating, confirm the price before you order, and keep small change handy (50 and 100 MAD notes are easiest).
Morocco is not a country most people associate with wine, but the area around Meknes produces almost all of it — and some bottles are genuinely worth seeking out. The Saïss plateau sits at 600–800 metres, which keeps summer temperatures lower than the coast and gives the grapes a longer ripening window. The soils are clay-limestone, not dissimilar to parts of southern France.
Celliers de Meknès is the dominant player, and their CB Initiales Cabernet-Syrah is a reliable, easy-drinking red at around 80–120 MAD a bottle in supermarkets. For something more interesting, Domaine de la Zouina produces smaller batches from French clones; their Volubilia Gris rosé is worth trying if you spot it. You will not find wine inside the medina — licensed restaurants are in the Ville Nouvelle, and several of the better hotels also serve wine. If you want to buy bottles to take home, the Marjane supermarket on the Ville Nouvelle edge stocks the widest range.
Meknes runs noticeably cheaper than Marrakech or Fes for food. Indicative 2026 prices in MAD (roughly 10 MAD ≈ $1).
| Meal / Scenario | Low (MAD) | High (MAD) |
|---|---|---|
| Harira + msemen, medina café | 20 | 35 |
| Kefta tagine, street stall | 30 | 55 |
| Mechoui portion, Bab Mansour | 80 | 120 |
| Set lunch, medina restaurant | 80 | 130 |
| Dinner, Ville Nouvelle (with wine) | 200 | 400 |
| Pastilla, riad restaurant | 80 | 130 |
Mechoui stalls open at noon and sell out by 2 pm. Street food picks up after 5 pm on Place El Hedim. Harira is an all-day staple.
Meknes medina is smaller and less maze-like than Fes el-Bali. The main food axis runs between Bab Mansour and the covered souks behind Place El Hedim.
Amlou (argan paste), dried figs from the Saïss, olives and raw almonds from the souk make excellent and authentic edible souvenirs.
A food-focused guided tour of the medina unlocks restaurants and stalls a solo visitor typically walks past. A private guide for half a day costs roughly 300–500 MAD and pays for itself in discovery.
Mechoui — whole lamb slow-roasted over charcoal until the meat melts from the bone — is the dish Meknes is most proud of, and the stalls near Bab Mansour gate are the city's informal temple to it. Beyond mechoui, Meknes is notable for its harira (Morocco's everyday lentil soup), kefta tagine with a notably spicier hand than Marrakech versions, and the fact that it sits at the heart of Morocco's wine country. If you are visiting in olive or almond season, the souk also overflows with fresh produce from the surrounding Saïss plain — one of Morocco's most fertile agricultural zones.
For the most honest medina experience, skip dedicated tourist restaurants and eat where locals eat. The café strip along Rue Dar Smen is good for breakfast (harira and msemen). Place El Hedim transforms into a bustling food square after 6 pm with grills, soups and fresh juice stalls. For a sit-down meal with tablecloths, the lane behind the Bou Inania Madrasa has several family-run restaurants serving set menus at 80–130 MAD — ask your riad host to recommend one that is currently open, as they come and go. Avoid anywhere with a tout standing outside waving a laminated menu in English.
The mechoui stalls immediately inside Bab Mansour are genuinely worth seeking out — this is arguably the best spot in the city for roasted lamb, served from around noon until they sell out (typically by 2 pm). For a sit-down meal in the same area, Place El Hedim just beyond the gate has cafés and informal restaurants on the square's edges. For a more formal experience, the Riad Yacout and a handful of other riad restaurants are within a 10-minute walk of the gate and serve set Moroccan menus by reservation, typically 150–250 MAD per person for three courses.
Yes, genuinely — and it is one of Morocco's best-kept wine secrets. The Meknes region produces most of the country's wine, and the altitude (around 600–800 m) gives the reds more structure and acidity than you might expect from a North African wine. Celliers de Meknès is the dominant producer; their CB Initiales Cabernet-Syrah blend and the Médaillon range are reliable. Domaine de la Zouina produces smaller-batch wines from French varietals planted in the foothills. You cannot buy wine inside the medina, but licensed Ville Nouvelle restaurants and the city's supermarkets stock local bottles from about 80 MAD upward.
Meknes is noticeably cheaper than Marrakech or Fes for food, because it sees far fewer tourists. Street food — harira, msemen, a kefta sandwich — runs 20–55 MAD (roughly $2–5). A mechoui portion at the Bab Mansour stalls costs 80–120 MAD. A set lunch at a medina restaurant is typically 80–130 MAD. A full dinner with wine at a licensed Ville Nouvelle restaurant will run 200–400 MAD per person. These are indicative 2026 prices; always confirm before ordering.
Place El Hedim is the centre of gravity for Meknes street food, particularly in the evenings. Expect harira, grilled kefta and brochettes, fried fish, msemen cooked on a flat griddle, and freshly squeezed orange juice. The Souk Sebat area is better for snacking on dried fruits, roasted nuts, and amlou — a rich Berber paste of argan oil, almonds and honey that functions as both a spread and a snack. For purely local, unsexy and outstanding food, Rue Rouamzine has bissara (pureed fava bean soup drizzled with olive oil and cumin) from around 10 MAD a bowl.
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