€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
Joker on Place Louise de Bettignies in Lille rewrites its cocktail list every week around house-made juices, syrups, purees and its own infusions.
TipThe card changes weekly, so ask what came in rather than ordering from memory.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipIt traded as Le Draque before this. Order a flavoured mojito rather than the classic.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipThis is the easiest place in Lille to drink genievre without ordering a bottle in an estaminet.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipThe room is small and fills after 21:00 at weekends. Go early for a seat at the bar.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipThe alcohol-free list runs past forty mocktails, which is rare at this scale in Lille.
€€€€Cocktail barVauban-Esquermes
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.
TipThe hanging changes, so the drinks list and the walls both move. Ask what is up before you order.
€€€€Cocktail barLille-Centre
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.
TipThe bar runs mixology workshops for guests. Book those separately from a table.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipThe basement room hosts themed nights and can be booked out, so check what is on downstairs.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipThere is no sign worth looking for. Find the staircase, then keep going down.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipIt works as a bar early and a dancing room late. Come before 22:00 if you want to talk.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipThe operator counts more than 300 different beers across a year, so the taps change constantly.
€€€€Cocktail barVieux-Lille
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.
TipWeekend opening starts in the morning, which makes it one of the few Vieux-Lille bars that does brunch.
€€€€Cocktail barWazemmes
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.
TipCheck the programme before you go. The room changes character completely on a gig night.
€€€€Cocktail barLille-Centre
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.
TipThe signature cocktails, Le Finn and Le Lizzy among them, run at 14 euros and change with the seasons.
€€€€Cocktail barBois-Blancs
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.
TipIt is the highest rooftop in Lille. Book a terrace table on a clear evening or you will stand.
€€€€Cocktail barSaint-Sauveur
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.
TipProgramming gives priority to local artists and entry is free, so turn up rather than book.