Welcome to our Tunisia couscous-focused guide! Here you’ll find the best Tunisian dining spots in Tunis.
If you’re visiting Tunisia anytime soon, we bet you’ve done your research, and you are eager to couscous and harissa, the two food staples. While the country has an abundance of delicious dishes, eating a couscous in a traditional restaurant is an experience you should be looking forward.
Whether you’re looking for a purely traditional restaurants or not so traditional ones, you’ll find the best places to eat couscous in Tunisia below.
Couscous Tree - La Marsa
Credit: Couscous Tree
Address : 3 Rue Mami, Marsa 2070
Phone : 71 727 190 or 94 182 474
Facebook page : L'Arbre à Couscous
Vegan options : available
Price range : Starts from 13 TND
The Couscous Tree in La Marsa is a couscous bar where you can find all the fixings and toppings you need to assemble your couscous according to your preferences. The restaurant offers a vegetarian couscous topped with veggies and other non-vegetarian options.
In a small and convivial space, it offers guest a sample to savor the sophisticated flavors of an authentic Tunisian Couscous.
While the name can be a bit misleading, the restaurant has a variety of other dishes on a daily basis. You can also give the Moroccan couscous a try if you want to be immersed in this culinary experience.
EL Houch - La Goulette
Credit: El Houch
Address : 43, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt - La Goulette 2060 La Goulette, Tunisie
Phone : 28 413 413
Facebook page : The House - الحوش
Vegan options : available
Price range : 35 TND - 43 TND
El Houch, meaning “Home” in the Djerbian dialect, is as much about the experience and ambiance as about the food. It specializes in Djerbian specialities like Djerbian rice, bulgur and couscous. The menu brims over with unique options, hard to find if you’re not on the island of Djerba.
Right next to the sea, the restaurant gives you the chance to eat an authentic southern couscous.
The menu has a very interesting option where you can order “couscous three sauces”. This couscous comes with three toppings: kadid, dried meat, Usban, stuffed sausage, and meat.
Mesfouf is another Tunisian variety of couscous. It’s usually cooked in the southern part of the country. If you’re into strong flavors, you can enjoy the mix of herbs with dried meat, aka kadid, and the wzaf, tiny dried fish.
El Ali - La Medina
Credit: El Ali
Address : 45 Bis Rue Jemaâ Zitouna La Médina Tunis
Phone : 71 321 927
Facebook page : El Ali
Vegan options : available
Price range : 48 TND - 81 TND
El Ali is a must-visit when in the Medina. To no one’s surprise, it’s one of the best restaurants Tunisia has to offer. Its popularity stems from the rooftop café that offers amazing Media view and the typical Tunisian food.
From the moment you enter the restaurant, you can feel the relaxing ambiance. Here, you can eat a couscous, get a Tunisian desert, drink a coffee in the patio while reading a book or just contemplating the view.
This year, El Ali made it to the top 10% of restaurants worldwide in the Travellers' Choice award given by Tripadvisor in the "Restaurants" category.
Dar Slah - La Medina
Credit: Dar Slah
Address : 145 Rue de la Kasbah, Tunis 1006
Phone : 71 261 026
Facebook page : Dar Slah
Vegan options : available
Price range : TND 32 - TND 48
At Dar Slah, visitors can enjoy some of the best Tunisian food in La Medina and sit in a fantastic traditional restaurant.
The restaurant dishes up the traditional favourites, such as hlelem, kafteji and couscous dishes, and also the less well-known specialties, including farfoucha, couscous with fennel tops, and Khobiz, a mallow leaf soup.
It’s the perfect address when you’re done with your stroll in La Medina.
Au Bon Vieux Temps - Sidi Bou Saïd
Credit: Au Bon Vieux Temps
Address : 56 Rue Hedi Zarrouk 2026 Tunis, Tunisie
Phone : 71 744 733
Facebook page : Restaurant Au Bon Vieux Temps Sidi Bou Saïd
Vegan options : available
Price range : 40 TND - 50 TND
Offering a positively touristy experience, Au Bon Vieux Temps is for those looking for the perfect dining spot. They offer Tunisian specialities like tagine and couscous and French cuisine, so guests can enjoy a truly cultural experience reflecting the history of the country.
The location is heartwarming with a view on the bay.
The cherry on the cake? The restaurant’s history is marked by the passage of French author André Gide, who lived there in the 40s.
Le Café Vert - La Goulette
Credit: Le Café Vert
Address : 68 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 2060 La Goulette, Tunisie.
Phone : 71 736 156
Facebook page : LE CAFE VERT
Vegan options : To be checked
Price range : 50 TND - 60 TND
La Goulette is the port suburb of Tunisa, and it’s one of those places you need to visit while you’re in the capital. You can plan to eat the Tunisian couscous after a trip to the archeological site of Carthage or a visit to La Marsa.
Known for its fishy restaurants, La Goulette is the perfect place to get couscous with fish. Le Café Vert is an intimate restaurant in the heart of La Goulette. It invites you to discover the richness of Tunisian cuisine through the local exceptional flavors. Café Vert’s relaxed atmosphere creates the perfect setting for a romantic dinner or a lunch with friends.
El Mida - La Marsa
Credit: El Mida
Address : 3 rue des oeillets 2070 La Marsa, Tunisie
Phone : 27 981 699
Facebook page : El Mida
Vegan options : available
Price range : 24,5 TND - 30 TND
The place to be if you’re not looking for a fancy spot. El Mida offers the experience of getting lunch outdoors if you want to act like a Tunisian. El Mida’s decor with Tunisian tiles and the open kitchen will make you hungrier. The moment you step to the door, the smell of the musli and kafteji immerse you in the mood to eat local flavors.
If you ask us about our feedback after a “Kousksi Allouch” (couscous with lamb stew meat) we will swear our grandma is hiding somewhere in their kitchen.
O'KousKous - L’Aouina
Credit: O'Kouskous
Address : résidence Zitouna, cite les Palmeraies. l'Aouina
Phone : 54 238 000
Facebook page : O'KousKous
Vegan options : available
Price range : 16,5 TND - 26,5 TND
Another “bar à couscous”, but this time in l’Aouina. Here you can have a taste of the “Kousksi oula”, which is the couscous mothers would prepare in home and store it for the year. You can pick the ingredients you want to be included without being too worried if you get a veggie you don’t eat or a meat you don’t like.
The toppings include some of the best varieties: lamb stew meat, merguez (Tunisian sausages), kebda (liver), kadid (dried meat) and usban. You can also choose the veggies you want to have such as potatoes, onion, peppers, zucchini, Carrots, pumpkin and chickpeas.
Dar Fatma - Menzah 6
Credit: Dar Fatma
Address : 5 Avenue Ahmed Tlili, Menzah 6 2037 Ariana, Tunisie
Phone : 23 463 000
Facebook page : Dar Fatma
Vegan options : available
Price range : 20 TND - 53 TND
It all starts with a warm welcome to end with an experience similar to entering a Tunisian home and waiting for your grandma’s couscous.
Guests are invited to sit in the authentic Tunisia tables, complete with beautiful tiles and magnificent painted walls. With a pleasing menu at an equally pleasing price, Dar Fatma serves many Tunisian dishes, including madfouna, mloukhiya, and ojja.
Needless to say, their traditional Tunisian couscous is very delicious.
You can eat authentic Tunisian Couscous in a restaurant as if you’re in a Tunisian house:
You may be hesitant to order a couscous in a restaurant, but with these spots, the authenticity is guaranteed. Please note that for restaurants you haven't been to before, we advise calling ahead to ask how things operate. Some only serve set course meals at predetermined prices, some don't accept credit cards, and some could demand reservations.
