The places in Lille the guidebooks miss.
The places in Lille the guidebooks miss. locals-only counters, after-hours rooms and the spots tourists walk past.
Chez la Vieille on Rue de Gand in Lille is the maroilles house of the strip, a cluttered estaminet where the cheese turns up in almost every course.
Why locals love it: A cluttered maroilles house on the historic Rue de Gand, with a summer terrace looking straight at the Porte de Gand.
Tip: Reservations are essential in the evening. The room fills with regulars before the visitors arrive.
Au Vieux de la Vieille spills onto the cobbles of Rue des Vieux Murs in Lille, the terrace estaminet locals send visitors to for carbonade and welsh.
Why locals love it: It sits on the tiny Place aux Oignons rather than the main circuit, which keeps the terrace calm on a busy Saturday.
Tip: Take the terrace on Place aux Oignons rather than a table inside. It is the quieter side.
Le Barbu d'Anvers is a 130-seat Maître Restaurateur estaminet near Rihour in Lille, serving northern regional cooking across three panelled rooms.
Why locals love it: A 130-seat Maitre Restaurateur estaminet that long-time Lillois keep returning to, hidden a street back from Rihour.
Tip: Service is fast even when the room is full, which is why the lunchtime regulars keep coming back.
L'Estaminet Lillois on Rue de la Barre in Lille pours around twenty regional beers and cooks carbonade, potjevleesch and chicken in maroilles.
Why locals love it: Closed Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday dinner only, which keeps it a locals' room rather than a tourist stop.
Tip: Wednesday is dinner only and Sunday is lunch only. Check before you build an evening around it.
Estaminet La Vieille France on Rue de Gand in Lille seats 65 and cooks the northern canon, carbonade, blanquette de veau, potjevleesch and pot au feu.
Why locals love it: Sixty-five covers doing the regional canon rather than a tourist carte, on the busiest estaminet street in the city.
Tip: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch, which catches out most people who just walk up.
Kousbi on Rue Brûle-Maison in Lille runs a short Levantine card built on falafel, and five euros more turns any dish into a full sit-down meal.
Why locals love it: Built deliberately to feed the Wazemmes Sunday market crowd, with a short Levantine card and five euros to turn a dish into a meal.
Tip: Sunday is the day to come, when the Wazemmes market crowd fills the room.
Les Fishtons on Rue des Bouchers in Lille fries Boulonnais fish for a small room of fish and chips, plus a crispy fish burger with Flemish compote.
Why locals love it: A small room on Rue des Bouchers frying Boulonnais fish, which most visitors walk past on their way to the bigger terraces.
Tip: The fish burger uses cornflakes for the crust and Flemish apple compote instead of tartare.
Salon UBU on Rue Pierre Mauroy in Lille makes onigiri and onigirazu to order, a lunchtime-only counter that most visitors walk straight past.
Why locals love it: A lunchtime onigiri counter on Rue Pierre Mauroy, closed by mid-afternoon most days and almost never spotted by visitors.
Tip: Saturday is the only day it stays open past 15:00, and it closes entirely on Sunday.
La Pépite on Place Sébastopol in Lille is a bar canteen of five euro bowls, the cornflake-crusted fried chicken among them, open late at weekends.
Why locals love it: Five euro bowls that change every week, voted the best bar for a snack by the readers of a Lille city guide.
Tip: Every bowl costs five euros and the list changes weekly, so ask what is on rather than reading an old menu.
Costaud on Place du Vieux Marché aux Chevaux in Lille builds sandwiches to order by day and turns to shared plates at night, across three floors.
Why locals love it: Three floors of a 19th-century building on a small square off the main Vieux-Lille circuit, sandwiches by day and shared plates at night.
Tip: The square it sits on is one street off the tourist route, which is why it stays a local room.
Smokey Banh Mi on Avenue du Peuple Belge in Lille smokes its own meat and buys its bread from the Degruson bakery up the road in Vieux-Lille.
Why locals love it: Meat smoked on the premises and bread bought from the Degruson bakery up the road, which is why an 11.50 euro sandwich has a following.
Tip: Ask what has been in the smoker that day. The pork is the constant, the rest rotates.
Bernard et Léon on Rue de la Clef in Lille is a bowl canteen named for the founders' two grandfathers, open at lunch only and priced under 16 euros.
Why locals love it: A lunch-only canteen on Rue de la Clef whose bowls are named after the founders' own grandfathers, Bernard and Leon.
Tip: Lunch only, and it shuts at 14:30 on weekdays. Saturday runs half an hour later.