Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Lille for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Lille for grown-ups.
Joker on Place Louise de Bettignies in Lille rewrites its cocktail list every week around house-made juices, syrups, purees and its own infusions.
DrinkThe Mayagarita, built on Tequila Patron Silver
FoodDrinks only
TipThe card changes weekly, so ask what came in rather than ordering from memory.
Little Havana on Place Maurice Schumann in Lille is the city's mojito room, a Cuban-themed bar running the drink through a long list of fruit variations.
DrinkMojito, in white peach or basil and strawberry
FoodCharcuterie platters
TipIt traded as Le Draque before this. Order a flavoured mojito rather than the classic.
Genever on Rue Saint-André in Lille builds its bar around the northern grain spirit of the same name, poured neat and stirred into spiced cocktails.
DrinkGenever with lychee
FoodDrinks only
TipThis is the easiest place in Lille to drink genievre without ordering a bottle in an estaminet.
Bartown on Rue Saint-Sébastien in Lille serves gourmet tapas boards beside house cocktails named for city landmarks, Eglise Caipi and Tour Mojito among them.
DrinkHouse cocktails named for Lille landmarks
FoodTapas boards
TipThe room is small and fills after 21:00 at weekends. Go early for a seat at the bar.
Le Quai des Bananes on Rue Royale in Lille is jungle-dressed and loud, pouring large-format tropical drinks with its own kitchen counter attached.
DrinkLarge-format tropical cocktails
FoodBanana Kitchen, the in-house food counter
TipThe alcohol-free list runs past forty mocktails, which is rare at this scale in Lille.
Artchives on Rue Jacquemars Gielee in Lille runs a bar, an art gallery and a kitchen in one building, with paintings and sculpture across several floors.
DrinkArt-inspired house cocktails
FoodUrban canteen menu
TipThe hanging changes, so the drinks list and the walls both move. Ask what is up before you order.
The View is the top-floor hotel bar on Rue Pierre Mauroy in Lille, looking straight over the Opera and the roofs of the centre with a creative card.
DrinkThe Aga'tea, plus a daily changing Decouverte
FoodBar snacks
TipThe bar runs mixology workshops for guests. Book those separately from a table.
Le Noao on Rue de Weppes in Lille pours classics and revisions, Old Fashioned through Basil Smash, with tapas and a vaulted cellar bar underneath.
DrinkBasil Smash, from the revisited classics
FoodTapas
TipThe basement room hosts themed nights and can be booked out, so check what is on downstairs.
La Planque hides down a staircase off Rue des Trois Mollettes in Lille, a vintage-dressed cellar where cocktails and half-litre beers both cost 5 euros.
DrinkCocktails and 50cl beers, both at 5 euros
FoodDrinks only
TipThere is no sign worth looking for. Find the staircase, then keep going down.
Amor Amor occupies a former private mansion on Rue Royale in Lille, a hundred-capacity cocktail room with DJs, live performers and a tapas card.
DrinkCocktails, wine and champagne
FoodTapas
TipIt works as a bar early and a dancing room late. Come before 22:00 if you want to talk.
La Capsule on Rue des Trois Mollettes in Lille sells no mainstream lager at all, running 28 taps and a bottle list of lambics and sours instead.
DrinkKriek de Ranke, from the bottle list
FoodDrinks only
TipThe operator counts more than 300 different beers across a year, so the taps change constantly.
La Luck on Rue Princesse in Lille pours creative cocktails and natural wine, and now brews its own beer on the premises alongside a bistro card.
DrinkHouse-brewed beer
FoodBistro plates and weekend brunch
TipWeekend opening starts in the morning, which makes it one of the few Vieux-Lille bars that does brunch.
Lokarria on Rue des Postes in Lille is a Wazemmes cafe-concert with live music, open mics and jam sessions, and an inclusive queer-friendly room.
DrinkLutgarde, from the beer list
FoodBar snacks
TipCheck the programme before you go. The room changes character completely on a gig night.
Shelby Secret Bar on Rue Sainte-Anne in Lille is a prohibition-styled room entered through a vintage telephone, with a long list of built signatures.
DrinkLe Tommy, whisky with petit beurre, fig liqueur and sandalwood smoke
FoodDrinks only
TipThe signature cocktails, Le Finn and Le Lizzy among them, run at 14 euros and change with the seasons.
Mesa sits on the ninth floor of the ShAke building on Rue de la Chaude Rivière in Lille, a 360 degree terrace bar about forty metres above the city.
DrinkHouse creations, plus a wine and champagne list
FoodBar plates
TipIt is the highest rooftop in Lille. Book a terrace table on a clear evening or you will stand.
Le Bistrot de St-So sits inside the old Gare Saint-Sauveur in Lille, a bar with a stage running free concerts and DJ sets from Wednesday to Saturday.
DrinkDraught beer, drunk on the terrace
FoodBar food and plates
TipProgramming gives priority to local artists and entry is free, so turn up rather than book.
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Join a beer-themed scavenger hunt in Old Lille. Your game includes discovering the city, the history of Lille beer, and tastings!
Guided tour · 2 hours
A guided zythological walk that will take you from specialized bars and wine merchants to micro-breweries to discover the know-how and the brewing revival that is shak...
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