Marrakech dining
Modern Restaurants in Gueliz, Marrakech
If the medina is old Marrakech, Gueliz is the new town — a grid of French-built boulevards, galleries and cafés that has become the city's most contemporary dining district. This is where you find modern Moroccan cooking, proper bistros, brunch culture and the international kitchens, all in a more relaxed, café-society setting than the medina's intensity. It is the other half of eating in Marrakech.
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- 8 min
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- Marrakech dining
- Updated
- 19 July 2026
At a glance
- Gueliz is the modern, French-planned district — Marrakech's contemporary dining hub.
- Expect modern Moroccan, bistros, brunch, coffee and international food.
- It is calmer and more spacious than the medina, and often licensed.
- Prices run higher than medina street food but the setting is part of the value.
What Gueliz dining is about
Gueliz grew up in the colonial era as the ville nouvelle, and it still feels a world away from the medina: wide pavements, tree-lined avenues, design shops and a café culture inherited from the French. The food follows suit. This is the district for a long brunch, a specialty coffee, a chic dinner or a change from tagines, and it draws a mix of well-off locals, expats and in-the-know visitors rather than day-trippers.
The signature strength here is modern Moroccan cooking — kitchens that take the traditional repertoire and refine or reinterpret it, plating a deconstructed pastilla or a lighter, contemporary tagine. It is the best place in the city to see where Moroccan cuisine is heading.
What to look for
Gueliz covers a lot of styles, so it helps to know the categories and pick according to your mood.
- Modern Moroccan: refined, contemporary takes on tagine, pastilla and mezze in stylish rooms.
- Bistros and brasseries: the French legacy — steak, salads, wine and a European rhythm.
- Brunch and cafés: a strong weekend brunch culture and the city's best specialty coffee.
- International kitchens: Italian, Asian and Mediterranean options for a break from local food.
- Licensed dining: many Gueliz restaurants serve wine and beer, unlike much of the medina.
How Gueliz fits a Marrakech trip
The smart move is to treat the medina and Gueliz as complementary rather than competing. Spend the mornings and evenings grazing the medina's street food and traditional riads, and use Gueliz for a refined dinner, a relaxed brunch, good coffee or a licensed meal with wine. The two districts together give you the full range of how the city eats, from centuries-old tanjia to plated modern Moroccan.
For the coffee side of Gueliz see the specialty coffee guide, for the international kitchens see Asian restaurants in Marrakech, and to learn the classics behind the modern plates, a cooking class is the natural next step.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gueliz known for?
Gueliz is Marrakech's modern, French-built new town, known for its boulevards, galleries, café culture and contemporary dining. It is the city's hub for modern Moroccan cooking, bistros, weekend brunch, specialty coffee and international kitchens — a calmer, more spacious counterpoint to the historic medina.
Is Gueliz better than the medina for eating?
Not better, but different and complementary. The medina is best for traditional street food, tanjia and atmospheric riad dinners; Gueliz is best for modern Moroccan cooking, brunch, coffee, international food and licensed dining with wine. The ideal trip uses both — the medina for tradition, Gueliz for the contemporary scene.
Can you drink wine in Gueliz restaurants?
Often, yes. Many Gueliz restaurants, bistros and hotels are licensed and serve Moroccan wine and beer, unlike much of the more traditional medina. This makes the district a natural choice for a dinner with a glass of wine, including good pairings with modern Moroccan and international dishes.
What is modern Moroccan food?
Modern Moroccan cooking takes the traditional repertoire — tagine, pastilla, mezze, couscous — and refines or reinterprets it with contemporary technique and plating. Think a lighter, deconstructed pastilla or an elegant tagine in a design-led room. Gueliz is the best district in Marrakech to explore this evolving style.