The old town of Nice between the Promenade des Anglais and the Castle Hill, all narrow lanes and ochre facades. The Cours Saleya market runs every morning bar Mondays.
La Merenda in Vieux Nice runs Dominique Le Stanc's bench seat Nissard kitchen on Rue Raoul Bosio, the chef who walked away from a Michelin star at the Negresco to cook the city's grandmother dishes.
Signature: Stockfish stew, Petits farcis, Beef daube
Order: The stockfish stew (estocaficada) and the petits farcis; Le Stanc holds the canonical versions.
Tip: No telephone, cash only, two services. Book in person at the door earlier the same day.
Acchiardo on Rue Droite in Vieux Nice has cooked the family Nicoise canon since the close of the First World War, four generations under the Acchiardo name and a single sitting at lunch.
Signature: Petits farcis, Beef daube, Tarte de blettes
Order: The petits farcis and the beef daube; lunch is the canonical service.
Tip: Closed Saturday and Sunday; book by phone several days ahead for lunch.
Olive et Artichaut on Rue Sainte Reparate in Vieux Nice holds the Michelin Bib Gourmand for a farm to table Nicoise kitchen, the chef from Nice working market vegetables and Riviera fish across a short menu.
Signature: Modern petits farcis, Local fish of the day
Order: The fish of the day from the morning market; the menu changes weekly with the catch.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; Tuesday to Saturday lunch and dinner. Book a week ahead in summer.
Bistrot d'Antoine on Rue de la Prefecture in Vieux Nice has cooked Armand Crespo's two storey neo bistrot since 2006 in the shell of a 1904 cafe, a Michelin Bib Gourmand for honest French cooking near Cours Saleya.
Signature: Bistro classics, Daily blackboard
Order: The blackboard plat du jour; Crespo writes a new menu every day from the morning market.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. Book at least three days ahead, even at lunch.
Le Safari on Cours Saleya in Vieux Nice has cooked the canonical Nicois lunch since 1972, the Cuisine Nissarde labelled trattoria with terrace tables across from the flower market.
Signature: Pissaladiere, Stockfish, Daube
Order: The pissaladiere and the stockfish; the daube is the dinner anchor.
Tip: Open 12:00 to 23:00 daily; book the terrace at lunch during the morning market hours.
Cafe Marche on Rue Barillerie just off Cours Saleya runs Emilie Bargin's morning room in Vieux Nice, the Sunday 11:00 to 15:00 brunch the city's most reliable weekend booking.
Signature: Sunday brunch, Eggs and toast plate
Order: The Sunday brunch of scrambled eggs, jams and honey toast, club sandwich and Provencal salads.
Tip: Open Sunday for brunch when much of the city is closed; arrive by 11:00 for a terrace table.
La Merenda in Vieux Nice is Dominique Le Stanc's bench seat Nissard kitchen on Rue Raoul Bosio, the chef who walked away from Le Negresco for grandmother recipes.
Signature: Stockfish, Petits farcis, Beef daube
Order: The stockfish stew (estocaficada) and the petits farcis at lunch.
Tip: No telephone, cash only, two sittings per service. Book at the door earlier the same day.
Acchiardo on Rue Droite in Vieux Nice has cooked the family Nicoise canon since the close of the First World War, four generations and a single lunch sitting under the family name.
Signature: Petits farcis, Beef daube, Tarte de blettes
Order: The petits farcis and the beef daube; the lunch service is the canonical one.
Tip: Closed Saturday and Sunday; book by phone several days ahead for lunch.
Olive et Artichaut in Vieux Nice holds the Michelin Bib Gourmand for a farm to table Nicoise kitchen, the chef from Nice working market vegetables and Riviera fish on a short menu.
Signature: Petits farcis, Local fish of the day
Order: The fish of the day from the morning catch; the menu changes weekly.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; book a week ahead in summer.
Bistrot d'Antoine in Vieux Nice is Armand Crespo's two storey neo bistrot from 2006 in the shell of a 1904 cafe, a Michelin Bib Gourmand for honest French cooking by Cours Saleya.
Signature: Bistro classics, Daily blackboard
Order: The blackboard plat du jour; Crespo writes a new menu every day from the morning market.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; book at least three days ahead even at lunch.
Le Safari on Cours Saleya in Vieux Nice has cooked the canonical Nicois lunch since 1972, the Cuisine Nissarde label and terrace tables across from the flower market.
Signature: Pissaladiere, Stockfish, Daube
Order: The pissaladiere and the stockfish; the daube is the dinner anchor.
Tip: Open 12:00 to 23:00 daily; book the terrace at lunch during morning market hours.
Cafe Marche on Rue Barillerie just off Cours Saleya is Emilie Bargin's morning room in Vieux Nice, the Sunday 09:00 to 17:00 brunch the city's most reliable weekend booking.
Signature: Sunday brunch, Eggs and toast plate
Order: The Sunday brunch of scrambled eggs, jams and honey toast, club sandwich and salads.
Tip: Open Sunday when much of the city is closed; arrive by 11:00 for a terrace table.
Cave de la Tour on Rue de la Tour has poured local wines in Vieux Nice since 1947, four generations of the Gazan family and the home of the world petits farcis championship since 2012.
Signature: Petits farcis, Stockfish, Bellet glass pours
Order: A plate of petits farcis and a glass of Bellet white at the granite counter.
Tip: The petits farcis championship runs every autumn at the bar; book a stool the same morning.
Lou Pilha Leva on Rue du Collet runs the Vieux Nice street food counter for socca, pan bagnat and pissaladiere, the tiled cafeteria with shared tables in the heart of the old town.
Signature: Socca, Pan bagnat, Pissaladiere
Order: A socca, a pan bagnat tuna sandwich, and a slice of pissaladiere on shared paper trays.
Tip: Open daily 09:00 to midnight; cash and card. Order at the counter, sit at the tiled shared tables.
Wayne's on Rue de la Prefecture runs Vieux Nice's busiest party pub with live rock and pop bands every night from 22:00, the basement stage and dancing on tables a city of Nice institution.
Tip: Happy hour 16:00 to 20:00 is the cheapest entry; live bands start at 20:00 with the late set after 22:00.
Movida on Quai des Etats Unis runs the Nice seafront Latin dance bar and tapas room, sangria pours and reggaeton sets through to 02:00 along the Vieux Nice seafront promenade.
Tip: Open 02:00 every day; the front terrace is the dining and dancing room on warm nights.
Ma Nolan's on Rue Saint Francois de Paule runs Vieux Nice's Irish dance pub with live bands every night from 22:00, the late stage the Cours Saleya area's anchor for live music to 02:00.
Tip: Live bands every night from 22:00; sport screens on through the early evening before the band set.
Wayne's on Rue de la Prefecture in Vieux Nice runs live bands every night, the early set 20:00 acoustic and the late set 22:00 the downstairs main stage with house bands and UK invitations.
Tip: The downstairs stage is the louder room; the early set upstairs is the quieter way to drink with music.
Ma Nolan's on Rue Saint Francois de Paule runs the Vieux Nice Irish pub stage with live bands every night from 22:00, Irish folk, rock and indie acts in a packed front room until 02:00.
Tip: Live bands every night from 22:00; the kitchen runs late until midnight on weekends if you want food with the music.
Le Lavomatique on Rue du Pont Vieux in Vieux Nice is the Loubert brothers' late natural wine bar, a quiet speakeasy-style alternative to the loud Cours Saleya rooms with growers' Champagne and snacks.
Tip: The natural list rotates every week; the speakeasy mood holds quietly until last orders.
Cave de la Tour on Rue de la Tour runs the Gazan family wine bar in Vieux Nice since 1947, a quieter speakeasy-style late afternoon and evening room with the granite counter and Bellet pours.
Tip: The granite counter is the bar; the back room is quieter still for a Bellet white as the city closes.
Le Bar des Oiseaux on Rue Saint Vincent is the Vieux Nice listening bar with a Decanter-listed natural wine room and jazz programming, the quietest natural wine room in the old town.
Tip: Music programming runs Wed-Sat from 20:00; the natural wine list rotates every week.
Les Sens on Rue Pairoliere in Vieux Nice runs a quiet listening room with independent natural producers and a careful music programming, a Falstaff-listed Nice natural wine address.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; the music programming runs from 19:30 on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Wayne's on Rue de la Prefecture in Vieux Nice runs Nice's loudest party pub to 02:00, dancing on tables after 22:00 and the city's most reliable late dive bar across every night of the week.
Tip: Loud, packed, dancing on tables from 22:30; the kind of room you stop at as part of a longer crawl.
Movida on Quai des Etats Unis runs the Nice seafront late dive bar with sangria pours and tapas late, Latin sets through to 02:00 along the Vieux Nice promenade between Cours Saleya and the sea.
Tip: Open 02:00 every day; the terrace runs as the dancing room on warm summer nights along the Quai.
Ma Nolan's on Rue Saint Francois de Paule runs Vieux Nice's Irish dive pub with live bands every night to 02:00, the late stage for the Cours Saleya crowd after the restaurants close their kitchens.
Tip: Live bands every night from 22:00; the kitchen runs late until midnight on weekends if you need food.