New Moroccan restaurant to open in Low Ousegate, York

Wael Garas is opening Marrakesh in Low Ousegate, inside the former Bell’s of York café, on Saturday, September 14.

It’s the latest venue by Wael, who also owns Middle Feast in Lendal and Enoteca by L'UVA in Bridge Street – as well as Courtyard barbers in Lendal. He’s also planning to open a new café – named Paradise – with five holiday flats above across the road from Marrakesh in Low Ousegate.

Inside Marrakesh which is opening in Low Ousegate (Image: Dylan Connell)

“I live in York; I love doing more for York,” he told The Press. “I love everybody in York. We’re trying proper Moroccan food here.”

He added: "I want to feel something and make it for the city.

“It’s not about money all the time, I want to enjoy it.”

Wael signed the lease for Marrakesh in May 2023 and, since then, has been busy overseeing the major renovation of the site.

Wael Garas outside Marrakesh which is opening in Low Ousegate (Image: Dylan Connell)

This involved completely gutting the inside of the building and filling it with décor from Morocco.

Wael and his team worked with a designer from Algeria to breathe new life into the site.

“The building was really bad before,” he said, adding that at one point a pigeon lived upstairs before he took over.

Now the restaurant has dining tables over two floors, a revamped kitchen and bar.

On the menu will be traditional Moroccan dishes, cooked and served in a tagine, a round traditional North African bowl.

A tagine dish (back right) which the food at Marrakesh will be served in (Image: Dylan Connell)

Wael said these will have the feel of home cooked meals, with lots of time and preparation going into each dish and every one made with fresh ingredients.

“You can’t buy it from a supermarket,” he added. “It’s not quick food, it needs time to cook.

“We don’t cook it like anyone else.”

Moroccan food that will be on the menu at Marrakesh (Image: Wael Garas)

He has recruited five chefs – three of whom are Moroccan – for the restaurant.

Wael likened his hopes for the business to those of the early days of Middle Feast.

Inside Marrakesh which is opening in Low Ousegate (Image: Dylan Connell)

“When I started doing shawarmas, I built everything up in the morning,” he said. “We try to make something good. People enjoy it and want to come back.

“When I see a customer happy and say, ‘thank you’ it makes it worth it.”

'These places are important parts of the community,' says Wael

On Christmas day The Press told how Wael opened Middle Feast to serve free meals to homeless people and those working through the festivities.

At the time, he said he wanted to help people in the community – particularly those who have fallen on hard times.

Wael Garas, owner of Marrakesh which is opening in Low Ousegate (Image: Dylan Connell)

“I always look after people here – I help people out,” he told us last year.

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He feels it’s important for businesses to support people in York and said he will continue to do so himself.

“These places are important parts of the community… we need these places for the city to work better," he explained.