Practical guide
Eating at Jemaa el-Fna, without getting it wrong.
About a hundred numbered stalls go up on the square every evening, and they are not remotely equal. Here is how to read them, what is worth trying, and the few habits that save you a bad night.
How the square works after dark
Around five in the afternoon the carts arrive and the stalls go up within the hour. Each carries a painted number, allocated and often passed from father to son. By eight the square is full, smoke rises over the rooftops, and the smell reaches the terraces.
The stalls look alike on purpose: the same awnings, the same benches, the same laminated menus. That uniformity is misleading, because quality varies enormously from one number to the next. What separates them is how many locals are sitting down and how fast the food is moving.
What is worth trying
Mechoui, lamb cooked in a pit oven dug beneath the square, is eaten at the north entrance, standing or on a bench, with bread and cumin. Tanjia, the other Marrakech speciality, simmers for hours in a clay urn. Harira, a soup of tomato, lentils and chickpeas, comes at the start of a meal.
The snail stalls, served in their herb broth, are worth the try: it is as much a medicinal infusion as a dish, and the broth is drunk at the end. The orange juice pressed on the carts is good and cheap, but ask for it to be pressed in front of you.
Spotting a good stall
Three reliable signs. First: Moroccan customers sitting down, not only visitors. Second: visible turnover, food leaving fast and meat cooked that day. Third: nobody grabs your arm to seat you.
Touting is the best negative indicator. A stall that has to talk you into sitting down does not have enough customers, which raises the question of freshness. The best numbers are full without anyone having to speak to you.
Habits that save trouble
Ask the price before ordering, and check what the bread and sauces placed automatically on the table cover, since they are often charged. Add it up yourself: the bill is done from memory and mistakes happen. None of this is systematic dishonesty, it is simply how it works.
Favour what is cooked in front of you and served hot. Be wary of cold salads and sauces left standing. If your stomach is delicate, stay with the grilled and the slow-cooked, and keep raw vegetables for a restaurant.
Adil knows which numbers hold up, because he eats there himself between tours.
Questions about this tour
Is eating on the square risky?
Less than people think, provided you pick a busy stall and stay with cooked dishes. The real risk comes from quiet stalls where food waits, not from street cooking itself.
What time should we come?
Between seven and nine in the evening. Earlier, not everything is up. After ten, the best numbers have sold out and what remains is what did not go.
Can you eat there as a vegetarian?
Yes, but the choice narrows: harira, cooked salads, vegetables, breads and pastries. Say so, because many broths contain meat without the menu mentioning it.