Eat well in Montpellier without overpaying: the locals'-budget edition.
Eat well in Montpellier for under €15 a plate: the places locals on a budget actually use.
L'Oignon Givré has fed Montpellier students an unlimited salad buffet since 2001, with market produce, house quiches and a €10 plat du jour.
Try: All-you-can-eat crudites buffet plus a daily hot plate
Order: Load the crudites buffet, then take the simmered plat du jour of the day.
Tip: Weekday lunches only and the queue peaks at 12:30; arrive at noon or after 13:30 for a calmer room.
Li's Raviolis Chinois folds dumplings to order on Rue de l'Université, ten pork and cabbage for €6.60, the cheapest proper hot lunch in the Ecusson.
Try: Hand-folded Chinese dumplings by the ten
Order: Ten pork, cabbage and mushroom dumplings with a chilled Chinese salad.
Tip: Lunch service only, 11:30 to 14:30 every day, and the room seats barely a dozen people.
Fabiano Focaccia bakes Ligurian focaccia on Rue Saint-Guilhem and fills it with Italian charcuterie, marinated vegetables and melting cheese to order.
Try: Filled Ligurian focaccia to take away
Order: Mortadella, stracciatella and pistachio on warm focaccia, eaten standing.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; the counter sells out of the popular fillings by mid-afternoon.
Nabab Kebab works the Rue Maguelone run between the station and the Comedie until 01:00, the default late cheap plate for Montpellier students.
Try: Kebab galette and chips, served late
Order: The galette with grilled meat, salad and white sauce plus a portion of chips.
Tip: Open until 01:00 six nights a week; Sunday is the one night the shutters stay down.
Bol Bun & Bubble builds Vietnamese rice-noodle bowls on Rue d'Alger with grilled pork, herbs and nuoc cham, then pours bubble tea to follow.
Try: Vietnamese bun bowls and bubble tea
Order: A bun bowl with grilled pork and nem, herbs piled on top.
Tip: It splits the day with a break from 16:00 to 18:00, which catches out the late-lunch crowd.
KVB reworks the kebab as a fully vegetal plate on Rue de l'Aiguillerie, seitan on the vertical spit with the usual sauces and chips alongside.
Try: Fully plant-based kebab
Order: The vegetal kebab in bread with white sauce, salad and a side of chips.
Tip: The spit is genuinely vegan rather than a swap-in, and the sauces are made in-house too.
La Cantine du Mékong cooks across the whole Mekong basin from a truck in the Marché du Lez yard, so the daily special changes country by country.
Try: Southeast Asian street plates at the Marché du Lez
Order: Ask which country the day's special comes from, then order that plate.
Tip: The truck yard is covered, so this stays a good option when the weather turns wet.
Jean le Croquant is a fixed stall in the Marché du Lez street-food yard, griddling classic and creative croque-monsieurs at Montpellier's cheapest end.
Try: Croque-monsieurs at the Marché du Lez
Order: The creative croque of the week rather than the plain ham build.
Tip: Order at the stall and take a bench in the shared yard; the tables are first come, first served.
Mother Trucker grills burgers from a truck in the Marché du Lez yard, the cheap end of the riverside food scene and open every day of the week.
Try: Burgers from the Marché du Lez truck yard
Order: A double patty burger with chips, eaten on a bench in the yard.
Tip: The yard fills from 19:30 on Friday and Saturday; come earlier if you want a seat.
La Street Food du Lez is the covered truck yard at the Marché du Lez, a dozen kitchens sharing benches and the cheapest way to eat by the river.
Try: A rotating yard of food trucks
Order: Split a table and order across three trucks rather than one.
Tip: Trucks rotate through the year, so the line-up you find will not match the one from last season.
Station Sucrée sits on the university strip of Rue de l'Université and sells alfajores, medialunas and Argentine pastries at student prices.
Try: Argentine alfajores and pastries on the student strip
Order: A dulce de leche alfajor with a coffee, taken at the counter.
Tip: Open from 08:00 on weekdays, which makes it a cheap breakfast as well as an afternoon stop.
Pain Brut bakes organic sourdough behind the Opéra Comédie on Rue Richelieu and builds its sandwiches on that same bread at any hour the shop is open.
Try: Organic sourdough and artisan sandwiches
Order: A sandwich on the day's sourdough, cut thick and wrapped at the counter.
Tip: It opens late at 11:45 and runs to 20:00, so it works better as lunch than breakfast.
Vegorilla, once Green Gorilla, grills fully vegan burgers in a small room on Rue du Puits des Esquilles, with gluten-free bread available on request.
Try: Vegan burgers with gluten-free options
Order: The Green Burger with vegan cheese, caramelised onion, mushroom and gherkin.
Tip: Ask for the gluten-free bun when you order; the kitchen swaps it without changing the build.
Ikonka bakes Central European cakes and savoury plates on the Faubourg du Courreau, a Figuerolles counter open seven days at student-friendly prices.
Try: Central European bakes and cheap lunch plates
Order: A slice of the day's bake with a long coffee, taken at the counter.
Tip: Sunday closes at 14:30, but it is one of the few Figuerolles kitchens open that morning.