Essaouira, Morocco: The best places for food & drink

Essaouira is by far the best city in Morocco, well, in my opinion anyway. One of the main reasons I love Essaouira is it’s incredible food & drink culture. In this blog post, I’m going to share my favourite Essaouira food & drink spots.

If you want more information on Essaouira then you can check out my “Why Essaouira is the best city in Morocco” blog post.

For a more in-depth look at how to travel Morocco consider checking out my “Morocco Travel Guide PDF”. On sale right now!

Essaouira Food & Drink guide

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Food

Glacier Chez Said

Whilst Glacier Chez Said doesn’t have the plastic furniture that you’d expect in a local and cheap restaurant it certainly has the vibe. 

The menu follows a similar trend you will see throughout all of Morocco. 

Pizza, Burgers, Paninis, Sandwiches, Tagines and that’s about all. Same as everywhere in Morocco.

However, that’s one of the things I love about the country. You know exactly what you get. 

Unlike the rest of Morocco, this place doesn’t have the typical slow service. Which was a pleasant surprise.

No sooner had we ordered and sat down was our food ready. 

A great option for food on the go. 

Snack Mogador

Locals, plastic furniture, cheap delicious food. Am I back in Southeast Asia? No, you’re still in Morocco. However, if you head to Snack Mogador you’ll certainly get flashbacks to Southeast Asia.

To this day, I have no idea what the name of the food is that they serve for breakfast but it’s amazing.

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It’s essentially a massive piece of warm bread with Nutella inside. Unbelievable. For just 5dh too! 

I used to get two of them and a coffee all for 20dh.

Crepes Delices D’Essaouira

What you’re about to read might seem like a lie or a joke or a typo. It’s not. This is all true.

There is a very small, local crepe place that is very famous. 

It’s so popular it actually only opens at 10 pm. Yes, that’s 10 o’clock at night.

He stays open for 2, maybe 3 hours at most. Then closes.

I’m going to include the rough location below. 

However, you will easily know if you’re at the correct place.

It will be the only crepe place on that street open at 10 pm.

There will be quite a big queue.

The guy working there will have a huge beard, a tooth missing and the biggest smile you’ve ever seen (maybe except for the guy at Cafe L’Esprit). Everyone seems to be incredibly happy in Essaouira. Rightfully so, their city is amazing.

Snack la Facade Bleue

This place isn’t actually on google maps. However, I know the exact location so if you go to the location on google maps below, you’ll find it opposite Cafe France.

Once again, this is another local spot. Plastic furniture, loud music, cheap food… perfect. 

On my first day in Essaouira, I noticed this place was full around 2 pm. So the next day I had to check it out.

I’m glad I did as it became my lunch spot for the next 2 days. 

The menu has a lot of variety and is very cheap.

I got a cheeseburger, fries and Fanta for 28dh (£2.20).

Drink

Cafe L’Esprit

The best coffee in Morocco.

The owner, Mohammed, is the nicest local I met. Honestly, this guy is the happiest and most welcoming person I met in Morocco. 

In such a busy and hectic country, Cafe L’Esprit offers a much-needed break from the chaos. 

Its location is down a small alley in the medina near the city walls. There are no other shops on this particular road, just local houses and riads. Making it a lovely quiet spot to chill out at.

This cafe displays one of the best signs I’ve seen during my travels – “No wifi, talk to each other”. 

Inside the cafe, there is a small seating area, almost designed to encourage socialising. Accompanied by a large collection of books that I can only imagine are there for a rare moment when there is no one to talk to.

However, at this cafe that will be a rare moment. As the owner is always about for a conversation.

On our final day, he went through his photo collection that his family was gifted. The photos are of Essaouira from over 100 years ago. Mohammed is clearly very proud to be Moroccan and from Essaouira. Which I found very refreshing.

Top person, top coffee. 

Tara Cafe

Honestly, ignore this and just go to Cafe L’Esprit. 

I’m only putting this cafe in so this section has more than one place.

However, I rate Cafe L’Esprit so highly that I feel like there shouldn’t be any other options.

Tara Cafe is a nice alternative if for whatever reason you can’t get to Cafe L’Esprit.

The coffee was good and the vibe was chilled out. 

I recommend the Moroccan mint tea if you do visit here.

They are in my opinion, the best places to eat & drink in Essaouira, Morocco.

If you want more information on Essaouira then you can check out my “Why Essaouira is the best city in Morocco” blog post.

For a more in-depth look at how to travel Morocco consider checking out my “Morocco Travel Guide PDF”. On sale right now!