Street food
Best Street Food in Casablanca — City Snacks and the Old Medina
Casablanca's street food is fast, urban and unpretentious — the fuel of a hard-working city. From maakouda sandwiches near the old medina to grilled sardines, snail carts and the famous bocadillos, the streets feed the city cheaply all day.
- City
- Casablanca
- Cuisine
- Street food
- Typical price
- 10-50 MAD
Casablanca's most iconic street bite is the maakouda sandwich: spiced mashed-potato fritters, deep-fried and packed into bread with harissa, olives, salad and sometimes an egg or fried fish. Sold from tiny hole-in-the-wall counters, especially around the old medina and the market districts, it is the classic cheap lunch of the city. Alongside it you will find the Casablancais take on the bocadillo — a stuffed baguette loaded with your choice of grilled meat, tuna, cheese, chips and sauces.
The old medina (the smaller, older quarter near the port and the clock tower) and the streets around the Marché Central are the street-food heartland. Here charcoal grills turn out sardines, kefta and merguez skewers, snail carts (babbouche) ladle out peppery broth, and vendors sell msemmen, harcha and sfenj through the day. Grilled sardines stuffed with chermoula and fried are a particular Atlantic-coast treat, cheap and delicious.
Because Casablanca is Morocco's most modern city, its street food also includes a strong fast-food culture: griddled paninis, fried-fish sandwiches, and juice-and-avocado stands blending thick fruit shakes. But the traditional carts hold their own, and the produce markets — piled with olives, dates, nuts and fresh bread — reward grazing. Follow the office-lunch crowds to the busiest counters at midday.
Eat where the queue is local and the food is cooked to order, agree prices at carts up front, and keep small change ready. A maakouda sandwich, a few grilled sardines and a fresh juice make a cheap, satisfying Casablanca lunch for well under 50 MAD.
How to eat well
- 1
Try a maakouda sandwich — fried potato fritters in bread with harissa — the city's signature cheap bite.
- 2
The old medina and streets around the Marché Central are the best street-food hunting grounds.
- 3
Grilled sardines stuffed with chermoula are an Atlantic-coast treat and cost very little.
- 4
Look for avocado-and-fruit juice stands for a thick, filling shake between bites.
- 5
Follow the office lunch crowd at midday to the busiest, freshest counters.
Frequently asked questions
What is Casablanca's most famous street food?
The maakouda sandwich — deep-fried spiced potato fritters stuffed into bread with harissa, salad and often fish or egg — is the city's classic cheap street lunch, sold from small counters near the old medina and markets.
Where is the best street food in Casablanca?
Around the old medina near the port and clock tower, and the streets surrounding the Marché Central, where grills, snail carts, sandwich counters and juice stands cluster together.
How much does street food cost in Casablanca?
A maakouda or stuffed-baguette sandwich runs 15-35 MAD, grilled sardines and skewers a little more. You can eat a full street lunch with a juice for under 50 MAD.