Street food & casual
Street Food in Fes: Snacking Through the Medieval Medina
Fes has the greatest medieval medina in the world, and it eats like it — a labyrinth of nine thousand lanes threaded with food stalls, from bubbling cauldrons of chickpeas to griddles of sizzling sfenj. Street food here is less of a single scene than a running feast you graze as you walk, and it is one of the most rewarding ways to experience the old city and its distinctive Fassi flavours.
- Read
- 8 min
- Guide
- Street food & casual
- Updated
- 19 July 2026
At a glance
- Fes street food is a grazing experience woven through the medina lanes.
- Look for maakouda (potato fritters), sfenj (doughnuts) and khli' (preserved meat).
- The city has its own specialities distinct from Marrakech street food.
- Follow busy local stalls near the markets and gates for freshness.
How to eat the medina on foot
The Fes medina is best eaten as you explore it, stopping at stalls that catch your eye between the main gate of Bab Bou Jeloud, the Talaa Kebira thoroughfare and the market quarters. Because the lanes are so dense and the crowd so local, the food is genuinely everyday — snacks made for the workers, students and residents who fill the medina, not primarily for tourists. That keeps it fresh, cheap and honest.
The trick is to graze rather than sit down: a fritter here, a skewer there, a sweet to finish, all eaten on the move. It suits the maze, where getting lost between bites is half the pleasure.
The Fassi specialities to try
Fes has its own street repertoire, some of it distinct from the rest of Morocco.
- Maakouda: spiced mashed-potato fritters, deep-fried golden and often tucked into bread with harissa.
- Sfenj: Moroccan doughnuts, fried fresh and eaten hot, plain or dipped in sugar.
- Khli': preserved dried and spiced beef, a Fassi speciality, cooked with eggs or in sandwiches.
- Sausage and offal stalls: merguez, liver and grilled meats sizzling on medina griddles.
- Bissara and bowls: the fava-bean soup ladled cheap from stalls, a filling medina lunch.
Eating safely and sweet endings
The medina's density is your friend for safety: busy stalls with constant turnover cook everything fresh and fast in front of a local crowd, which is exactly what you want. Choose the ones with queues, watch food cooked to order, and be a little cautious with anything that has sat out. Fes is also strong on sweets — stalls sell honey-soaked chebakia, sesame sweets and fresh pastries, and there is nothing better than a hot sfenj to end a grazing walk.
The medina is genuinely hard to navigate, so a guided food tour is a smart way to learn the best stalls and the Fassi specialities without getting hopelessly lost — after which you can graze it confidently on your own. To dig into the imperial city's grander cooking, the pastilla guide is the natural next read.
Frequently asked questions
What street food should I try in Fes?
Maakouda (spiced potato fritters, often in bread with harissa), sfenj (fresh Moroccan doughnuts), khli' (a Fassi preserved spiced beef, cooked with eggs), and the sausage and offal grills along the medina lanes. Bowls of bissara fava-bean soup and honey-soaked sweets round out a grazing walk through the old city.
Is Fes street food different from Marrakech?
It has its own character. Fes, the imperial food capital, has specialities like khli' preserved beef and a strong sweet-pastry culture, and its street food is woven through the world's largest medieval medina rather than concentrated in one square like Marrakech's Jemaa el-Fna. The snacking style suits the dense, mazy lanes.
Is street food in the Fes medina safe to eat?
Generally yes if you choose busy stalls with high turnover where food is cooked fresh and fast in front of a local crowd. The medina's density works in your favour. Pick stalls with queues, watch food cooked to order, and be a little cautious with anything that has been sitting out in the open.
How do I find the best street food in the Fes medina?
Graze between the main landmarks — Bab Bou Jeloud gate, the Talaa Kebira thoroughfare and the market quarters — following busy local stalls. Because the medina is genuinely hard to navigate, a guided food tour is a smart way to learn the best stalls and Fassi specialities before exploring on your own.