If you are planning a visit to Amman, you might be coming for the jewel of the country, Petra, but there is so much more to this small kingdom. Food is such a big part of the culture and while you visit, take some time to visit the best restaurants in Amman.
From Jordanian street food to fine dining, the top restaurants in Amman are frequented by locals who are enjoying time away from work as well as tourists who are keen to dive into the Middle Eastern cuisine.
Many Jordanian dishes remain unknown outside of the Middle East and it offers visitors a unique chance to sample the flavourful dishes of the country. You should not leave Jordan before trying the falafel and shwarma or the traditional Jordanian dish, Mansaf. But more homey dishes like Maqluba or meat and veggies cooked by the bedouins in a zarb (underground oven) will leave you with memories beyond Petra.
Best Restaurants in Amman Jordan
After visiting Amman’s top sights, here are my top picks for the best places to eat in Amman while you are visiting Jordan.
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Best for Mixed Grille:
Tawaheen Al-Hawa (the Windmills Restaurant)
Known for:
Excellent Food
The Best Service
Fine Dining Feel
What to Expect
Large Restaurant with multiple rooms, square tables where they bring an assortment of appetizers (hummus, baba ganough and MANY more including moutabel, a garlicky dip) beautifully plated before the mixed grille main dish. Desert is an assortment of fruit and baklava style pastries
What to Try?
The Windmills has a set menu so no need to worry about deciding what to order. Try the Jordanian sausages that arrive with the appetizers and save the hummus for dipping your meat into. They are known as one of the best places for appetizers in Amman.
How to Get Here
The Windmills Restaurant is located near Al-Waha circle on Wasfi al-Tal Rd, Jubilee Gardens, Amman, Jordan
It has a parking lot if you are driving in Jordan
Best for Mansaf (Jordan’s National Dish)
Al Quds Amman Restaurant
Known For:
Al Quds is known for sweets but a great place to get authentic Jordanian food including Mansaf.
Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan. Served on a large platter with a thin flatbread, mansaf is a bed of rice topped with lamb and a fermented yoghurt sauce called jameed. If you ask just about any Jordanian what food you should try while in in their country, mansaf will be the top answer.
What to Expect:
A local haunt with sweets and typical Jordanian dishes, visit Al Qids for Mansaf or Maklubeh
How to get here?
Best for Breakfast or Arabic Pizza:
Amra Bakery
Known For:
Manaqesh (also known as Arabic Pizza, and can be spelled quite a few ways in english: manakish for example.
What to Expect:
A small pizza place with just two tables to eat in. From morning to night you will see a constant stream of locals picking up manaqesh and other pizzas. Their menu is only in arabic and you will not see the tourists stop here (unless they are with a guide who fancy’s the place)
What is Manaeesh?
The traditional manaeesh is a round dough topped with zaatar (thyme mixture with salt, sumac and sesame seeds) and olive oil and baked. You can also try an array of different options here, I like the halloumi (a salty cheese), and eggs and dried meat. I usually order all three types for just a few JD.
What to Try
I order one za-atar and one halloumi (salty cheese) every time and it is a decent snack for 2 people.
Also try the eggs and dried meat (basterma) at breakfast time.
Best for cheap eats and one of Amman’s Icons:
Hashem Restaurant Amman
Known for:
Excellent Food for just a few dollars
Serving the King and the Royal Palace
Open 24 Hours
Oldest Restaurant in Amman serving traditional Jordanian street food
Its Listing in Lonely Planet
What to Expect
White deck chairs and a small restaurant await you when you arrive to Hashem. Line ups at meal times mean it must be a great spot! Hashem Restaurant has a vegetarian menu only and for only a few dollars you will walk away fully satisfied.
A full table of appetizers including hummous, baba ganoush, foul (mixed fava beans with lemon and garlic), and falafel
How to get here?
Located in the center of downtown, pretty much anyone can direct you towards this Amman Restaurant if you are close by. Look for the Yellow and Green sign. While you are downtown, pop into a few shops if you are looking for souvenirs!
Best pick from locals:
Abu Jbara
Known For:
Excellent Hummus and Fateh
Cheap Prices
Attentive Staff
What to Expect
A typical sized, casual middle eastern restaurant, with outside and inside seating. It is a local favourite and a steady stream of locals eat here from morning until night. It is clean and inviting. Their staff is attentive and dishes appear almost instantly after ordering. Make sure you try the fateh, which is a mixture of bread and chick peas and covered with pine nuts and olive oil.
What the Locals order
Try the fateh and the hummus with chicken shawarma on top. You will not find better hummus anywhere! You can also get foul and moutabel.
Fateh is similar to hummus with mashed chick peas, but tahini and pieces of pita bread are added and it is topped with pine nuts and the flavourful green olive oil you will find all over Jordan!
If you want to add some meat to your meal, the staff will prepare hummus with shwarma from the shop next door. All you have to do is ask. Order “shai bi na’na” – tea with mint – to go with your meal. Even in the hot of summer, this refreshing tea tastes excellent with your meal.
How to get here?
My favorite location of Abu Jbara is located off the second circle. It has a blue sign and is on the left hand side of the road if you are coming from the second circle. About a block or two from the circle, close to a big sweets shop! There is parking on the street.
You will also find other locations in Amman.
Best Hot Dogs:
Macsoud Seventh Circle Restaurant
Known for:
I am not actually sure what this is known for, probably the shwarma, but that is not the reason I come here.
What to Expect
A casual restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.
Limited English speaking staff. Not somewhere that tourists would stumble upon as it is located in a residential neighbourhood.
What the Locals Order
I come here for the hot dogs and french fries. You may think I am crazy for eating such a western meal, but they have the best hot dogs, besides the ones you can cook yourself on a campfire. Their bread is so fresh, they put lettuce, tomato, corn, cheese sauce,relish and ketchup in with the hot dog. Their french fries have the perfect cajun spice that my kids cannot get enough of.
How to get here
Located near the 7th circle next to the DHL depot. It is close to C-Town grocery store and has street parking.
Best Deserts in Amman:
Jabri
Known For:
Sweets and pastries
What to Try
This bakery serves up a yummy baklava style dish that satisfies any sweet tooth. They have a few locations in Amman. The one I like is close to Abu Jbara off the second circle.
Must Try Deserts:
Habibiah Sweets
Known For
Kunafa
What to Expect
Just finding this place is half the experience if you are traveling the country independently. Almost everyone will tell you it is one of the best places to eat in amman when you need a sweet treat!
It is in a small alley and every time I have visited, it has been packed with locals enjoying this delicious treat. They have two types of kunafa. The regular and one topped with shredded wheat! I suggest you try both and see which one you like better!
How to get here?
Located downtown in Amman, it is across from the police station and in a small alley next to the main branch of the Arab bank. While Amman’s downtown is full of twists and turns, almost anyone can point you in the direction of Habibah!
Best Coffee Shops In Amman
Wild Jordan
What to Expect
Stunning views of the city, Wild Jordan is a gift shop and cafe with food and drinks with locally produced goods supporting locals. Managed by the RSCN (Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature) it is marketed to locals and international visitors as a sustainability project in the country.
Price wise, Wild Jordan is on the high end price wise for coffee.
Books at Cafe
What to Expect
An Expat hangout and popular with visitors, books at Cafe is located next to an English language bookstore on Jabel Amman. It opened in 1997 as the first internet cafe in Amman and has evolved into a welcoming space for locals and visitors. It makes a great working space during the day and a funky evening hangout serving drinks.
It is not much of a local hangout, but a popular stop for the English speakers who call Amman home. Books at Cafe is also a LGTBQ friendly establishment in Amman.
Where to get a drink in Amman
Most 4 and 5 star restaurants in Amman will have a bar serving drinks to hotel guests and visitors. There are also liquor stores in town where you can buy an assortment of wines and spirits.
Jordan has an emerging wine market and you can taste some local wines (which are also usually cheaper than imports due to high import taxes on Alcohol).
Arak is also something to try while you are in the country. It is a Middle Eastern liqueur has a strong liquorice taste.
Books @ Cafe
As mentioned in the Cafe section, Books @ Cafe offers a welcoming space to read and work during the day and an evening hangout to get a drink.
What to do in Amman
Depending on how long you have to visit Amman, I have a post on the best things to do in Amman as well as things to do in Amman with kids that you will not find in any guidebook!
Taking a Food Tour in Amman
Food tours are a huge part of travel. They are ideal for curious food lovers and those who want to meet and interact with locals without feeling like they are engaging in a transactional service. Book a food tour while you are in Amman from Amman Food Tours.
Final Thoughts on the Best Places to Eat in Amman
The Downside to all of the popular food in Jordan is that the pita from the grocery store will never satisfy, and it is likely that the olive oil and hummus will not either! Restaurants and cafes in Amman are a very popular way for locals to socialize and you will see a vibrant evening atmosphere in the popular ones.
A word of warning. Be prepared for smoke. Cigarettes are also part of the culture for many old and young. As well, smoking shisha goes along with a cup of tea or after a meal. While most restaurants are airy, do not expect a no smoking section and if you are quite sensitive to cigarette smoke or are not going to be able to tolerate it, ask to sit on a patio or look for a place that is not busy with locals.
FURTHER READING ON JORDAN:
10 Tips for Jordan for First Timers
Read These Dead Sea Tips before you Float
Best Instagram Spots in Jordan
Lindsay Nieminen hails from Vancouver, Canada and shares her love of travel on this website. She is passionate about showing others that they should not put off traveling the world just because they have young children or are single parents. She aims to encourage them to seek out adventure, whether it is at home or abroad by providing information on how just about everywhere can be a destination to explore as a family.