Best Street Food in Meknes — El Hedim Square and the Souks

The stage for Meknes street food is Place El Hedim, the great square between the medina and the monumental Bab Mansour gate. In the evenings it fills with food stalls and cafés in a scene reminiscent of Marrakech's Jemaa el-Fna but smaller, calmer and far more local — grilled skewers and kefta, bowls of snails (babbouche) in peppery broth, harira and bissara soups, and sandwich counters. It is a genuine local gathering place rather than a tourist show, which is much of its charm.

Just off the square, the food souks are the other great draw, and here Meknes's olive-capital status shines: stalls heaped with olives in every cure, freshly pressed olive oil, preserved lemons, dates, nuts, pickles and fresh bread, sold to a mostly Meknassi crowd. Grazing these markets — tasting olives, buying bread and cheese — is one of the best cheap food experiences in the city. Griddle carts make msemmen and harcha, and morning fryers turn out sfenj doughnuts.

Because Meknes sees far fewer tourists than Fes an hour away, its street food feels authentic and unhurried, with prices pitched at locals. The imperial-city grandeur of Bab Mansour looming over the square adds a spectacular backdrop to an evening of grazing. The produce, especially the olives, is superb and cheap.

Follow the local crowds on El Hedim in the evening, graze the olive and food souks by day, and try the snails and grilled skewers. Agree prices before ordering, and enjoy a street-food scene that offers big-city variety without big-city crowds.