Petit Ogre in Lyon's 3e is the Rue de la Banniere wine-bar bistro with a tight evening menu of small plates paired with a natural-wine list, built for the neighbourhood and not for Vieux Lyon tourists.
Order: Three small plates between two, then the cheese plate and a glass of Beaujolais.
Why locals love it: Rue de la Banniere is deep in Lyon's 3e residential belt, four Metro stops from the Presqu'ile, and the 20-cover room runs no social media campaign.
Tip: Evening only Wed-Sat; small room, book a fortnight ahead.
Jocteur's counter inside Halles Paul Bocuse is the quieter stall that bakes some of the best sourdough loaves in the city, with a long-fermented pain au levain naturel that disappears by 10:00 most mornings.
Order: The pain au levain naturel, warm from the morning batch.
Why locals love it: Jocteur's main bakery is in Saint-Genis-Laval, well outside the city; the Halles Paul Bocuse counter is how most people first taste the long-fermented sourdough, yet most tourists skip it for the chocolatiers.
Tip: Arrive by 09:00 for the warm batch; closed Sunday-Monday.
Semo on Rue des Fantasques in Lyon's 1er is the chef-couple's 10-seat small-plates wine bar, with a natural cellar that changes weekly and a menu short enough to memorise.
Order: Order four small plates between two; the cheese board is the closer.
Why locals love it: Rue des Fantasques is a narrow one-way street on the Croix-Rousse slope that most visitors never walk; Semo is the ten-table room that the Lyonnais natural-wine crowd treats as their standing reservation.
Tip: Closed Sunday-Tuesday; book a fortnight ahead.
La Tete de Lard in Lyon's 1er near the Opera is the 2009 bouchon run by Bernard and Yoann Blanc, with checkered tablecloths, stone walls and a Label Bouchons Lyonnais menu that has not lost the plot.
Order: The brioche sausage with caramelised onions, then the blood sausage with apple.
Why locals love it: The Rue Desiree address is three blocks from the Opera but never on tourist maps; the dining room seats 40 and fills with Lyonnais office workers who treat it as their canteen.
Tip: Evening only Wed-Sat; two seatings at 19:00 and 21:30. Book a fortnight ahead.
Micro Sillon on Place Fernand Rey in Lyon's 1er is the natural-wine bar and cave a manger that lives on local reputation, with a chalkboard menu and a tight French growers' glass list.
Order: Whatever the chalkboard shows; the natural-white by the glass is the opening move.
Why locals love it: Place Fernand Rey is a small square most visitors walk through without stopping; the 20-cover room inside does not advertise, takes no walk-ins and fills on word of mouth alone.
Tip: Closed Sunday-Tuesday; book ahead via Instagram; small room.
Sapna on Rue de la Martiniere in Lyon's 1er is Arnaud Laverdin's 30-seat Asian-fusion bistro with exposed brick, mauve banquettes and a globe-trotting small-plates menu that changes monthly.
Order: The smoked trout gyoza and the lamb satay bao burger, three plates per person.
Why locals love it: Rue de la Martiniere is a short side street between the Halles de la Martiniere market and the Saone quay; Sapna's unmarked facade and no-signage policy means you walk past it twice before finding the door.
Tip: Book via the Sapna website a fortnight ahead; evenings fill Thu-Sat.
