Most of what you will want to eat in Kozhikode sits within a two-kilometre square: SM Street (Sweetmeat Street) running off Mavoor Road, the lanes around Kozhikode Beach and Gujarati Street, and the cluster near Puthiyara. If you are staying anywhere in Kozhikode city centre, the practical answer is to leave the car at the hotel and move on foot. SM Street itself is pedestrian in the eating hours and gets dense after 6pm. Heritage properties around Mananchira and Mavoor Road put you a ten-minute walk from all three zones.
Trains and buses concentrate the same area. Kozhikode railway station is at the edge of the centre, roughly 1.5 km from SM Street, and a prepaid or app auto from the stand should be a short hop rather than a ride you need to haggle over. The KSRTC bus stand on Mavoor Road is even closer. If you arrive on the Kerala Sampark Kranti or a Nilambur Road connection late morning, you can check in, walk out and eat by one o'clock.
Parking is the real constraint. SM Street has almost none, and the pay-and-park off Mavoor Road fills by mid-morning on Saturdays and during Ramadan evenings, when the whole area becomes a food market after sunset. The beach road near Kozhikode Beach has open parking but it is informal and crowded at sunset; expect to walk 300 to 500 metres back to the food stalls. Hotels with their own compound parking near Mananchira are worth the small premium if you plan to drive.
My recommendation: book a hotel within walking distance of Mananchira or Mavoor Road, take autos to anything beyond that, and skip driving to the beach on a Friday or during the monsoon. June to August is heavy rain; the eating streets stay open but the walking gets wet. November to February is the comfortable window. Auto fares in the city are short-distance; confirm the meter or the fare before you sit down, as is normal practice across Kerala.
Kannur does not have a single eating quarter the way Kozhikode does. The old town around the fort and the market area near Caltex, the stretch along Fort Road, and the newer restaurants on Thana Road and near the railway station are all separate hubs a few kilometres apart. Kannur railway station sits east of the centre, and the KSRTC bus stand is closer to the market. Staying near Caltex or the fort side puts the morning and evening food walks on your doorstep; staying out toward Thana means a vehicle for every meal.
Driving between these hubs is short in distance but slow in traffic, especially on the Thana Road and the fort approach. The airport at Mattannur is well north, around 25 km from the city, so a taxi from a flight is a proper transfer — arrange it through your hotel rather than finding one at the rank. For the Theyyam season, which runs roughly from October through February in the villages around Kannur, a car with a driver for the day is the sane choice; the ritual sites are outside town and night driving on village roads is slow.
Kozhikode to Kannur is about 90 km on National Highway 66, and the drive is typically around two to two and a half hours outside peak traffic. Trains on the coastal route are quicker in principle but the useful services cluster in the morning. If food is the point of the trip, I would split the stay: two nights in Kozhikode based near Mananchira, then two nights in Kannur near the fort, rather than running day trips. Day-tripping between them burns a meal and a half each way.
Skip driving yourself in either city centre if you can help it. Kerala's urban roads are narrow, parking is contested and the food is the reason you came. Use autos for short hops in Kozhikode, use a car with a driver for the Kannur hinterland, and pick hotels with confirmed parking where you do bring a vehicle. For the city-by-city restaurant side of the trip, our guide on where to eat near your hotel in Kerala covers the southern and central districts in more detail.
Do I need a car to eat well in Kozhikode?
No. Most of the city's eating streets sit within 2 km of Mananchira, Mavoor Road and the beach. Stay central, walk the SM Street area and use autos for anything further. Parking is tight, so a car is more hindrance than help in the centre.
How long is the drive from Kozhikode to Kannur?
Around 90 km on NH 66, typically two to two and a half hours outside peak traffic. Morning trains are also an option. I would split the nights between the two cities rather than day-trip, since the return eats most of a day.
When is the best time to visit Kozhikode and Kannur?
November to February is the comfortable window for walking the food streets, and it overlaps the Theyyam season around Kannur, roughly October to February. June to August brings heavy monsoon rain. Ramadan evenings in Kozhikode are lively but extremely crowded around Mavoor Road.