Just inside Bab Boujeloud and around the small square at the entrance to the medina, a cluster of street-food stalls and small open-fronted restaurants serves the cheapest and most immediate eating in Fez. Brochettes of lamb and kefta are grilled over charcoal at the curb; large pots of harira (the Moroccan bean, tomato, and lemon soup) simmer all day; trays of cooked snails in cumin broth are sold by the bowl.
At the restaurants proper — identifiable by the plastic chairs and hand-written menus in the windows — you can sit down for a full meal: a bowl of harira, a plate of brochettes with bread, and a glass of Moroccan mint tea for a few dirhams. There is no menu in English and no particular tourist accommodation. Point at what looks good and see what arrives. Lunch is the best time, when the stalls are at full production.