40 editor picks in Cape Town.
40 cheap eats places in Cape Town, editor-picked. the best low-budget spots in Cape Town: the places editors actually return to. All Cape Town food.
Fish on the Rocks sits at the far end of Hout Bay harbour in Cape Town, frying hake and chips to order at a walk-up counter over the Atlantic.
OrderThe battered hake and chips, the order most tables at the harbour wall are eating.
TipSeating is outdoors on the rocks; bring a jacket since the wind off the harbour can turn cold fast.
Kalky's has served battered hake and snoek with chips from a cabin on the Kalk Bay harbour wall since 1996, with calamari, kingklip and crayfish too.
OrderThe fried snoek and chips, cut fresh from the day's catch at the harbour.
TipIt is cash only and self-service; carry notes and expect to queue at the counter before finding a bench.
Coimbra Bakery has baked breads, cakes and pastel de nata on Imam Haron Road since 1962, a Claremont fixture that locals once called the Robot Cafe.
TipThe shop runs its own coffee shop for breakfast and lunch, so pair a pastel de nata with a sit-down plate, and look for the Nutella cronuts in the cabinet.
Deluxe Coffeeworks roasts out of a Paarden Eiland base in Cape Town, a working roastery that supplies cafes and pours at its own Buitenkant and Kloof bars.
TipThe warehouse counter sells whole beans ground to order; ask which single origin came off the roaster that morning.
Newlands Brewery has brewed beer at the foot of Devil's Peak in Cape Town since 1820, and today runs guided tours as South Africa's oldest working brewery.
TipBook ahead and bring a card: tours cost R150, or R100 for students and pensioners, take 20 people at most and accept no cash.
Kalky's is a self-service fried snoek and chips hatch on the working harbour wall in Kalk Bay, on Cape Town's southern peninsula, cash only daily.
OrderFried snoek and chips, served on a paper plate at a harbour-wall bench
TipCarry rand notes, queue at the counter, then grab any free bench along the harbour wall to eat.
Kalky's is a cash only fish counter on the Kalk Bay harbour wall near Cape Town, where the snoek comes straight off the boats tied up outside.
TipCarry small notes since the till only takes cash, and eat standing at the harbour wall rather than hunting for a table.
Fish on the Rocks fries hake and chips for R120 at the far end of Hout Bay harbour, on the edge of the Atlantic under Chapmans Peak in Cape Town.
OrderBattered hake and chips from the harbour-end counter
TipHake or snoek on its own is R110, so skip the chips if you are sharing a portion; the seals and seagulls come free.
Wembley Roadhouse is a halal drive-in in Athlone, Cape Town, the eatery Wembley added after 1973 to a family store opened on Belgravia Road in 1931.
OrderThe Wembley Whopper, a steak roll piled with braised onion, chips and sauce.
TipGo on a weekend evening when the garden and play area fill with extended families ordering trays of food to share.
Woodstock Bakery on Brickfield Road in Salt River hand-shapes every loaf and bakes it in a wood-fired oven, supplying Cape Town's weekend markets too.
TipEverything is hand-shaped and baked in wood-fired ovens, so buy from whatever is on the shelves that morning.
Oswald's Bakery is a family run bakery on Union Street in Gardens, Cape Town, baking a wide range of sourdough loaves and pastries plus handmade biscuits.
TipThe range of sourdough loaves is wide enough to try a new one each visit, and the shop also sells its handmade biscuits.
Jack Black's Brewing Co has poured Cape Pale Ale and Brewer's Lager from its Diep River taproom in southern Cape Town since opening in 2007.
TipCome Wednesday to Friday evening, when the restaurant serves food until 21:00; on Saturday the kitchen closes at 16:00.
Wembley Roadhouse is a halal drive-in on Belgravia Road in Athlone, Cape Town, grown from a family store opened in 1931 into steak rolls and thick milkshakes.
TipSit in the garden rather than the drive-in bay, and order a falooda milkshake alongside the steak roll to cut the richness.
Kalky's sells battered hake or snoek and chips on the working harbour wall in Kalk Bay, on Cape Town's southern peninsula, from a cabin trading since 1996.
OrderDeep fried hake and chips
TipSkip the platter for two unless you are sharing; the single hake and chips already feeds most people.
Timbuktu Cafe is an affordable Ethiopian favourite on Lower Main Road in Observatory, Cape Town, serving shiro, tibs and doro wot on teff injera.
OrderThe shiro wot, a chickpea stew that anchors the vegetarian side of the injera platter.
TipVegetarians can build a plate of shiro with fried cabbage and beetroot wrapped in injera, which is made from teff and is gluten-free.
Tribe Coffee Roasters runs its roastery from Capricorn Business Park in Muizenberg, Cape Town, supplying Colombian and Ethiopian lots to cafes citywide.
TipThis Muizenberg address is the working roastery, not a walk-in cafe, order online or find Tribe beans on a Cape Town menu instead.
Hout Bay Coffee roasts small batches in a tiny shop beside a seasonal stream in Hout Bay, run by anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Paul Myburgh.
TipSeating is limited to a few tables, buy a bag of beans to go if the counter is busy on a weekend.
Super Fisheries is a cash only takeaway counter on Old Klipfontein Road in Athlone, Cape Town, run by the man credited with inventing the gatsby.
OrderGatsby loaded with fish, calamari or polony, chips and achar
TipThere is a Capitec ATM next door if you arrive without cash for the counter.
Nomzamo Butchery is a shisanyama and butchery on Washington Street in Langa, Cape Town, letting customers pick raw meat and have it braaied on site.
OrderBasted chicken wings and braaied red meat, weighed at the butchery counter
TipPick your own cut at the butchery counter, then carry it straight to the braai grills out back.
Baps Shayona cooks pure vegetarian Indian meals in a back room behind its Rylands grocery counter, in a Cape Town suburb most visitors skip.
TipOrder from the hot counter rather than the printed menu, the fresh curries and sweets change with what was cooked that morning.
Wembley Roadhouse is a halal drive-in institution in Athlone, Cape Town, where the Wembley Whopper steak roll was R78.90 on the January 2026 menu.
OrderWembley Whopper steak roll, plain or masala
TipThe Beefeater with egg and cheese costs ten rand more at R88.90, so the plain or masala Whopper is the cheaper roll.
Golden Dish is a halal takeaway in Gatesville, Athlone, opened in 1969 opposite Athlone Stadium and known across Cape Town for its giant gatsby sandwiches.
OrderThe masala steak gatsby, a French baguette of steak, twice fried chips and the signature masala gravy.
TipOrder the large to share or the mini on your own; it serves until 01:00 Monday to Thursday and 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Hood Kitchen is a Rocklands, Mitchells Plain burger counter near Cape Town, built around a build-your-own gourmet beef and chicken patty menu.
OrderThe Design-a-Burger beef double, stacked with four toppings of your choice.
TipThe Bison Tower challenge runs Thursdays and Saturdays from 13:00: finish it in 25 minutes to win R140 and naming rights, and book a day ahead.
Knead Bakery at Surfer's Corner in Muizenberg bakes sourdough, rye and ciabatta on site, a stop surfers make before or after the waves in Cape Town.
TipIt sits at Surfer's Corner on Beach Road, so pick up a loaf before or after a surf; last orders are taken at 17:00.
Flour Market on Hope Street is David Donde's working bakery, supplying baguettes and sourdough to Cape Town kitchens while serving breakfast too.
TipThis is a working production bakery, come for breakfast rather than a sit down lunch and you will see the ovens running.
Bo-Kaap Deli on Church Street sells Cape Malay koesisters to take away alongside burgers and light meals, a Muslim-owned stop in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town.
TipTake a bag of koesisters away with you, a Sunday habit in Bo-Kaap; on Friday and Saturday the deli stays open to 22:00.
Sonder Cafe is a vintage styled coffee shop on Lower Main Road in Observatory, Cape Town, known for New York bagels and laptop friendly tables.
TipBring a friend for a game of chess over coffee, and order the Hamela Anderson, a bagel with gypsy ham, cheddar and mustard.
Bootlegger Coffee Company roasts at its Ndabeni depot near Maitland, Cape Town, the country's largest artisan roastery, founded by three friends in 2012.
TipBook the roastery tour if you want to see the Giesen drums running, the depot's own cafe is open to walk-ins too.
Leo's Wine Bar shares a Bree Street room with a daytime bagel shop, then pours low intervention and natural wines after dark in central Cape Town.
TipIt is Max Bagels by day and Leo's by night, so the wine list only starts at 5pm.
Kings Craft Brewery brews small batch lagers and pale ales at its weekday only taproom in Cape Town's Paarden Eiland industrial strip near the harbour.
TipVisit on a weekday afternoon; the taproom closes at weekends, and the warehouse it moved into in 2017 doubles as brewery, cold room and entertainment area.
Golden Dish is a halaal takeaway counter in Gatesville, Athlone, opened in 1969 and reopened in July 2024 after a fire, famous for Cape Town's giant gatsby.
OrderSteak gatsby, a full loaf of bread packed with steak, chips and sauce
TipOrder the full house gatsby to share; a single one comfortably feeds two hungry people.
Achla is a Middle Eastern street food counter near Roeland Square in Gardens, Cape Town, cooking fresh falafel and shawarma, with takeaways by WhatsApp.
OrderFalafel and shawarma wrap with a deli-style salad bar
TipOrder the mixed falafel and shawarma wrap if you cannot decide between the two.
The Hood Kitchen is a build-your-own burger counter in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, on the Cape Flats side of Cape Town, open Wednesday to Saturday.
OrderDesign-a-Burger beef double, built at the takeaway hatch to order
TipThe Bison Tower challenge runs Thursdays and Saturdays from 13:00: finish it in 25 minutes to win R140 and naming rights, and book a day ahead.
Golden Dish is a halal takeaway counter in Gatesville, Athlone, founded in 1969 and back since July 2024 after a fire, famous for Cape Town's big gatsby.
TipOrder the large gatsby to share between two; it trades until 02:00 on Friday and Saturday nights and closes on Sundays.
Golden Dish sells a mini masala steak gatsby for R120 and a mini polony gatsby for R45 in Gatesville, Athlone, chips and sauce packed into the roll.
OrderMini masala steak gatsby with twice fried chips
TipAsk for the mini size if you are eating alone; the large gatsbys are built to be split between two.
Super Fisheries still sells Rashaad Pandy's original combo of polony, chips and achar in Athlone, Cape Town, where he first cut a gatsby into wedges in 1976.
OrderPolony gatsby with chips and achar
TipBring cash; the counter is cash only, though a Capitec ATM sits right next door.
Eastern Food Bazaar is a canteen-style food court in Cape Town's City Bowl, serving affordable Indian, Turkish and Cape Malay stalls every day.
OrderA giant bunny chow from the Punjabi counter, or a dosa from Madras.
TipEat with your hands like the locals and use the basin halfway through the hall; the upstairs seating off the Darling Street entrance is quieter.
West Coast Fisheries fries fresh West Coast catch, chips and gatsby sandwiches daily on Koeberg Road in Milnerton, on the edge of greater Cape Town.
OrderThe fried snoek and chips, the West Coast staple this counter is named for.
TipIt also sells fresh uncooked fish over the counter if you want to cook the catch yourself at home.
Free Bird Muizenberg fries halaal certified, free-range chicken burgers a block from the surf beach in Muizenberg, on the edge of greater Cape Town.
OrderThe buttermilk fried chicken burger, the sandwich the whole menu is built around.
TipIt is a short walk from Muizenberg's surf beach, so it is an easy stop after a morning in the water.
The Dairy Den bakes fresh doughnuts every day at its Rondebosch counter, a soft serve and doughnut bar on the southern suburbs side of Cape Town.
TipIt is on the first floor of Riverside Mall next to Checkers; order a cup with a warm doughnut at the bottom and soft serve on top.
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