The Casbah is the best place in Algiers for street food. The alleys around the lower Casbah, particularly the stretch between Place des Martyrs and the mid-Casbah, are lined with small stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants selling mechoui (whole roasted sheep or lamb, sold by weight), merguez sausages in baguettes, msemen flatbread, and bowls of chorba. The food is cheap, fresh, and consistently good.
The lunch hour is the peak time — arrive between noon and 1:30pm for the best choice and freshest food. The stalls are informal and operate on cash only. Most have no seating; you eat on the street or in a nearby doorway. This is authentic Algiers eating, unchanged for generations.