Chefchaouen · Food
Eat Rif mountain food in the medina side streets, take the rooftops for the view, and save one evening for a picnic at the Spanish Mosque.
Blue stairs in the medina. Photograph: Galanda23, CC BY-SA 4.0
Chefchaouen sits at about 600 metres in the Rif Mountains, among farms, forest and pasture, and its food is simpler and more seasonal than in the big cities. Founded in 1471, the town was shaped by Andalusian settlers, and northern dishes show it.
Fresh goat cheese is sold at the market, herbs from the slopes flavour the tagines, and bread comes from communal wood-fired ovens. Vegetarians eat well: produce is plentiful and the goat cheese turns up everywhere.
Six places we could confirm, from rooftop terraces to a cultural café. Opening hours change with the seasons: check before you go.
Rooftop · Moroccan
A multi-level restaurant whose roof terrace looks over the square and the Kasbah. Come for the view at sunset; the menu is traditional Moroccan, with tagines and harira.
Home-style · Moroccan
Home-style Moroccan cooking in a small blue-walled dining room. Ask what is cooking that day.
Moroccan · Terrace
A small medina restaurant with a terrace, often recommended for its tagines and breakfasts.
Café · Cultural events
The Chefchaouen branch of the cultural café known from Fes and Marrakech, with a roof terrace, a menu that mixes Moroccan and international dishes (including its camel burger), and storytelling, music and cooking-class events. Check its calendar.
Moroccan · Vegetarian
A small restaurant serving traditional Moroccan dishes with good vegetarian choices.
Café · Terrace
A terrace café known for its view over the blue town. Good for tea or a light meal between walks.
Not a restaurant, and free. Buy bread, cheese, olives and fruit in the medina, then walk about 20 minutes uphill to the disused Spanish Mosque and watch the sun set over the blue town and the Rif.
Rif mountain cooking: fresh goat cheese (jben), mountain honey, herb-scented tagines, kefta brochettes and produce from the farms around town. Bread is baked in communal wood-fired ovens, and dishes of the north show the town’s Andalusian roots.
Eating out is inexpensive by Moroccan standards. Street snacks and small local restaurants in the medina side streets are the cheapest; terrace restaurants on Plaza Uta el-Hammam charge more for the view. Check the menu prices before you sit down.
Yes. The mountain setting means plenty of fresh produce, and vegetable tagines, lentil soup, salads and the local goat cheese are on most menus.
The plaza restaurants have similar menus; the location is the draw. Take a terrace facing the Kasbah and order drinks or a light meal, then walk into the medina side streets for dinner.
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