€€€€
SeafoodVieux Lille
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 goA small room on Rue des Bouchers frying Boulonnais fish, which most visitors walk past on their way to the bigger terraces.
TipThe fish burger uses cornflakes for the crust and Flemish apple compote instead of tartare.
€€€€
JapaneseLille Centre
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 goA lunchtime onigiri counter on Rue Pierre Mauroy, closed by mid-afternoon most days and almost never spotted by visitors.
TipSaturday is the only day it stays open past 15:00, and it closes entirely on Sunday.
€€€€
BistroVauban Esquermes
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 goFive euro bowls that change every week, voted the best bar for a snack by the readers of a Lille city guide.
TipEvery bowl costs five euros and the list changes weekly, so ask what is on rather than reading an old menu.
€€€€
SandwichVieux Lille
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 goThree floors of a 19th-century building on a small square off the main Vieux-Lille circuit, sandwiches by day and shared plates at night.
TipThe square it sits on is one street off the tourist route, which is why it stays a local room.
€€€€
VietnameseVieux Lille
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 goMeat 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.
TipAsk what has been in the smoker that day. The pork is the constant, the rest rotates.
€€€€
BistroVieux Lille
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 goA lunch-only canteen on Rue de la Clef whose bowls are named after the founders' own grandfathers, Bernard and Leon.
TipLunch only, and it shuts at 14:30 on weekdays. Saturday runs half an hour later.