Best Craft Beer Bars in Tangier for Serious Beer Drinkers
Words by
Fatima El Amrani
If you landed in Tangier expecting a dry tasting-note desert for craft beer, you'll be startled. The best craft beer bars in Tangier have multiplied over the last five years, often in the most unexpected corners of the medina walls and along the Corniche, beer taps flowing beside tagine ovens. I am Fatima El Amrani, a Tangier native who has tracked every new listing the moment a fridge door hisses open. Here is the deep list I hand to every serious beer lover who shows up at my door with an empty glass.
1. Where the scene started: The Pub Tangier / Le Pub Tangier
The Pub Tangier on Rue de la Liberté is where most locals first discovered the idea of "craft beer" in the city. The space is cramped, dark wood bar tables stacked with bottles, a chalkboard menu updated each Friday. On my last visit, the head bartender Miguel poured a Belgian-style white ale from a local brewer on tap (the brewery label was handmade, the font crooked). The bar focuses on importing small-batch Belgian and French microbrews, plus a rotating selection from local breweries Tangier has begun cooperating with.
Order the daily "Tap of the Day" if you want something experimental. Most nights the staff will chat about flavors without sounding like sommeliers. The place is busiest on Thursday evenings after 10 p.m., when locals mix with a small expat crowd. A minor drawback: the air conditioning is weak during July and August, which can make the back corner feel like a greenhouse when the bar fills up.
Insider tip: Ask Miguel about the "January Tap Takeover" small event that the staff organize every winter to showcase a specific local microbrewery Tangier crafters create for the occasion. This event is never posted online, only whispered between regulars at the bar itself.
2. The newcomer that knows hops: Tangerine on Boulevard Pasteur
Tangerine is a bar-restaurant on the edge of Boulevard Pasteur, a few blocks from the old municipal market. The owners trained in northern Spain and learned to love Spanish craft beer imports before they came home. The interior mixes chalk walls, bright orange chairs, and craft beer taps Tangier visitors barely recognize from home. There are always three or four Pale Ales and a rotating sour that arrives from European collaborations.
The best thing to order without thinking: the "Naranja Sour Cerveza," a tangy bottle with orange peel dry-hopped into it. The bartender joked that the color matches the bar name when I commented on the color. Friday evenings are the busiest, and the small terrace can fill before you notice. I recommend a weekday first. The price of a 33 cl pour starts around 40 MAD (four euros) comparable to major European capitals.
Book a patio seat in cooler months when the sidewalk crowd drifts past. There is no shade canopy overhead in summer, so the front tables can become uncomfortably warm by late afternoon. Many fresh visitors to Tangier arrive in Tangerine during the afternoon siesta breaks, surprising a primarily local crowd who stops in between errands. The connection to the broader city: the bar neighbors the Route de l´Enseignement school and gets families in street clothes mixing with a younger craft crowd, illustrating Tangier's layered identity.
3. The gastro-pub food match: Café de Paris on United Nations Square
Café de Paris is a fixture of Tangier's architectural history, the kind of corner building that appears in old postcards. But recently the owner's son took over the drinks menu and introduced a quiet rotating selection of craft beer, including rare Moroccan microbrews that you will not find often in restaurants. The bar sits across from the Grand Socco archway, close to the square where travelers have flowed since French rule.
If you go, stay long enough to order the goat cheese salad along with your "Local Wheat." The menu is short, which makes decisions easy. My strategy: arrive before the live jazz set on Saturdays around 7 p.m., grab a window seat with a direct line of sight to the Bab El Fahs arch. The bar menu grew five taps last winter when a new microbrewery Tangier location installed taps behind the counter.
One genuine gripe: service slows down significantly during holiday weekends when tour groups spill into the square and servers struggle to cross the pavement crowd. Come on a weekday evening for the most relaxed pace. Locals know to walk up to the service hole in the south wall to order when the internal bar stifles in July. Older families who remember the French Resident General still drink apéritifs at this counter, so as a craft beer lover you are stepping into a conversation that spans older Tangier politics and newer bartender identities.
4. The terrace that looks at the sea: The Puzzle Bar at The Hotel Nord-Pins Divina
Not technically a beer bar’s address, but the rooftop terrace at the Hotel Nord-Pins Divina art hotel attracts a more discerning drinker. The view across the Bay of Tangier is jaw-dropping, and the bar owner has quietly pushed the craft wave by promising at least two local beers on tap each month for two years now. A rotating selection from local breweries Tangier artisans make arrives chilled and served with sea-salt-laced chips.
My go-to: the one brewed locally and labeled "Lebiar Pale Ale," amber colored and aromatic. On a windy spring evening, I watched cargo ships enter the bay while a second glass poured itself from the beer engine pump. A drawback is the price level: most craft pints land around 70 MAD, which puts them above the Tangier average.
Show up on Wednesdays when the terrace is quieter, and ask the bartender to point out the Rif mountain silhouette over the shipping container cranes. This spot merges Tangier's "International Zone" past, when foreign embassies and free-wheeling writers migrated to these northern heights, with a present where young Moroccan craft brewers seek out the bar staff for guest taps. The art hotel atmosphere means every wall has mid-century Moroccan art and foreign photographs of Jean Genet or Paul Bowles, and the conversation around your glass easily drifts into Tangier's status as a crossroads.
5. The medina surprise: Les 3 Dragons on Rue des Postes
Les 3 Dragons is an old riad into a handful of ground-floor rooms and a courtyard you barely notice from the alley market. It earned a craft beer reputation two years after the young manager did a working stint at a Belgian bar. Since then you will find a rotating trio of house-brewed pale ales and a cider that the staff ferment in 30-liter steel kegs. When I first visited, the bartender declared "We don't do the tourist mint tea thing," and burst out laughing.
What to order without deliberation: the "Dragon Amber," brewed on-site with a local grain mix and dates as sugar. Every batch tends to change slightly depending on the season. The venue is best enjoyed in late afternoon when the sun angles deep into the courtyard. From November through March I arrive after 4 p.m. before too many dinner guests take up the courtyard. One criticism is the lighting level at night: the small lanterns create atmosphere but can make reading the small bottle labels tricky. Speak with the staff, who are eager to explain the flavors.
Tangier alleyways are narrower at this altitude than in the low Corniche hotels, so Les 3 Dragons feels like a secret once you step through the wooden doorway. It illustrates how the new craft wave is entering even the old walled medina and not remaining confined to air-conditioned gastropubs. The manager once spent summers as a student in Prague, where local breweries Tangier trainers traveled for his craft education, and these journeys create a conversation link between old medina and foreign beer traditions.
6. The brewpub standard: Le Brewery Tangier on Avenue Mohammed VI
Le Brewery is a modern brewpub that opened on Avenue Mohammed VI a few years ago and since then has become the anchor for microbrewery Tangier newcomers. Inside, the copper mash tuns gleam behind glass as if the brewery wants you to watch. There are six taps pouring at any given time: two house lagers, an IPA, a fruit beer or wheat, a bitter mild amber, and a "guest line" that cycles between Moroccan and imported microbrews.
The standout pour: the house IPA "Route 66," heavy dry-hopped and bracing. Alongside, order a plate of grilled sardines with lemon, which pairs well. The best time for serious tastings is midweek afternoons; by weekends the small stage area fills with live music and it can become difficult to hear your conversation. One flaw to keep in mind: the outdoor terrace on Avenue Mohammed VI is directly in the traffic exhaust lane, so sitting outside between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays means you breathe more diesel than hops.
This brewpub sits in the new town, in a commercial district where banks and cellular shops now dominate. Le Brewery is part of a subtle rebalancing that brings younger Moroccans back to neighborhoods their parents once fled for the coast. The brewmaster once discussed his Munich apprenticeship with me, noting that the copper vessels were imported from the same Bavarian supplier. This brewpub illustrates the convergence of European training and Moroccan entrepreneurship.
7. Near the port: El Morocco Club rooftop
El Morocco Club is a members club-spirit venue at the top of the old Assilah Gallery building in Kasbah. From the rooftop you look across the port and the ferry departures to Tarifa. The bar manager added a small but carefully curated craft lineup two years ago, including collaborations with a microbrewery Tangier outfit based near Malabata.
What not to miss: the "Kasbah Copper," an English-style best bitter brewed with local citrus peel and a touch of saffron. Ask the manager to show you the copper pour pipe, a quirky system tapped into the storage room below. The best nights are Thursdays when the DJ plays downtempo on vinyl for a small crowd before 11 p.m., the ideal time to catch conversation over your pint. A downside is the ventilation near the kitchen grill smoke when the ovens run at full capacity during dinner service. Position yourself upwind if that bothers you.
You can reach this rooftop by walking through Kasbah streets named after old consuls and deep into a courtyard that once taxed European traders. El Morocco Club's presence now invites craft beer drinkers to view this port history through a contemporary glass. The blend of port commerce past and present craft future reveals how Tangier continuously re-invents its identity without erasing old layers.
8. The artist hangout: Dar Nour in the medina quarter
Dar Nour is a guesthouse and cultural center in a restored medina house on one of the alleys above the Petit Socco. The rooftop tea lounge started pouring craft beer for resident artists and poets three years ago. The selection is limited but thoughtful, often a European guest brew alongside a local Tangier pale small-batch ale.
A reliable order: the "Atlas Gold" pale ale, dry and hop-forward. Long-term artist residents tend to gather at sunset, so if you come around 5 p.m. in winter or 7 p.m. in summer you will find the right pitch of creative exchange. A practicality issue: the steep internal staircase to the rooftop has no handrail at the upper turn, so extra caution is needed if you have more than two drinks on an empty stomach.
This place reminds me of Tangier's bohemian past when painters and scribes from Paris or New York lived in both luxury and fractured poverty in these same alleyways. Dar Nour's mix of residency culture and craft beer mirrors that old pattern of restless outsiders, now joined by local Moroccan creatives who also see Tangier as a place where art and drink intertwine. Local breweries Tangier artists support by pouring at cultural events, and the rooftop becomes an informal gallery where art and microbrew labels are both discussed.
When to Go and What to Know
Serious beer travelers will find the best balance between relaxed pacing and full tap lists from January through May. Temperatures in Tangier stay moderate and outdoor terraces become pleasant well before evening. Summer months push the action indoors, but the heat can strain air conditioning in some smaller bars.
Trade patterns matter. Many bars rotate their guest taps weekly or biweekly, so checking the venue's Instagram a day ahead reveals what is actually pouring. Most places accept both cash and card, though smaller medina spots occasionally only do cash after 11 p.m.
Finally, some craft beers are brewed in very small batches and vanish within days. Popular word-of-mouth intensity means late-arriving tourists often miss a special guest ale. I recommend arriving before the Friday evening rush or even before sunset when possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based dining options in Tangier?
Tangier has a growing number of vegetarian and vegan restaurants, especially along Boulevard Pasteur, Avenue Mohammed VI, and in the Petit Socco area of the medina. Most modern cafés and international restaurants now label plant-based dishes clearly on their menus. Traditional Moroccan cuisine also provides naturally vegan choices such as zaalouke, tagine with vegetables and olives, and lentil soups. Finding dedicated fully vegan restaurants is more limited, with perhaps a handful operating in the city, but vegetarian options are widely available in nearly every dining establishment across Tangier.
Is Tangier expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget breakdown for mid-tier travelers.
A mid-tier traveler can expect to spend around 600 to 900 MAD (approximately 55 to 85 euros) per day. A mid-range hotel room costs 400 to 600 MAD per night. Meals run about 60 to 150 MAD each at decent restaurants. Local transportation by petit taxi within the city costs 10 to 30 MAD per ride. Museum and site entry fees typically range from 20 to 70 MAD.
What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Tangier is famous for?
Harira soup is the iconic dish most associated with Tangier, a rich tomato-based soup with lentils, chickpeas, and herbs, especially enjoyed during Ramadan evenings but available year-round. Freshly grilled sardines from the port area, served with chermoula marinade, are another signature. Tangier-style mint tea, poured from a height into small glass cups, remains the quintessential local drink experience and is offered nearly everywhere in the city.
Is the tap water in Tangier safe to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?
Tap water in Tangier is treated and technically meets municipal safety standards, but most locals and long-term residents prefer to drink filtered or bottled water. The mineral content and taste vary by district. Hotels and restaurants commonly provide filtered carafes or sell bottled water for 5 to 10 MAD. Travelers with sensitive stomachs are advised to rely on sealed bottled water, widely available at every shop in the city.
Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Tangier?
Morocco is a Muslim-majority country, and Tangier, while internationally oriented, still observes conservative norms in the medina and Kasbah areas. Visitors should avoid very short shorts or revealing tops when walking through traditional neighborhoods, though beachwear is acceptable along the Corniche and at beach resorts. In bars and restaurants catering to tourists and expats, Western casual dress is perfectly acceptable. It is courteous to greet shopkeepers with "Salam alaykum" before ordering and to refrain from public alcohol consumption outside designated venues.
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