Najaf's food scene is shaped by the pilgrim trade. Stalls and small restaurants around the shrine serve quick, cheap food to feed thousands of visitors every day: rice with stewed lamb, kebabs, grilled river fish, falafel sandwiches, and the famously sweet local tea. The streets immediately east of the shrine are lined with kebab houses; further out, a handful of larger restaurants cater to wealthier pilgrims from the Gulf and Iran.
Try masgouf, the Iraqi national dish — Tigris carp split, salted, and slow-grilled on a wood fire — at one of the riverside places in nearby Kufa. In town, look for quzi (whole roast lamb on a bed of spiced rice and almonds), tashreeb (a hearty broth poured over flatbread) and mann al-sama, a chewy white sweet sold in slabs near the bazaar.