Street food$barrancoDaily 18:30-02:00, Fri-Sat 18:30-03:30
Anticuchos Betty Barranco at Calle Pazos 99A is the late-night Lima anticucho cart, smoke-billowing coal grill in a residential Barranco pocket past midnight.
Why locals love it: Smoke-billowing anticucho coal cart at Calle Pazos in Barranco, late-night service in a residential pocket past midnight every day of the week.
Tip: Cash only; queue past 22:00 every night; the line stretches to the corner Friday-Saturday.
Peruvian$$barrio-chinoMon-Sat 09:00-23:00, Sun 09:00-22:00
Wa Lok at Jr. Paruro 878 in Barrio Chino is among the oldest chifa restaurants in Lima's Chinatown, Cantonese 100-dish menu and Peking duck nightly.
Why locals love it: The oldest chifa house in Lima's Barrio Chino on Calle Capon, Cantonese dim sum breakfast and Peking duck dinner away from the Miraflores axis.
Tip: Dim sum breakfast 09:00-11:00 has the variety; Peking duck dinner is the headline.
Seafood$$barrancoSun 11:00-20:00, Mon 11:00-18:00, Tue-Sat 11:00-22:00
Canta Rana at Calle Genova 101 in Barranco is a 35-year Lima cevicheria-huarique, the Sunday lunch standard for limenos who skip the destination cevicherias.
Why locals love it: 35-plus-year cevicheria-huarique embedded in the Barranco neighborhood, the Sunday lunch standard for limenos who skip the destination cevicherias.
Tip: Cash only is safer; Saturday lunch queue runs past the corner by 13:00.
Peruvian$$pueblo-libreMon-Thu 07:30-23:00, Fri-Sat 07:30-01:00, Sun 07:30-17:00
El Bolivariano on Pasaje Santa Rosa in Pueblo Libre Lima is a criolla institution in a republican casona, far quieter than the Miraflores tourist axis.
Why locals love it: A republican casona in mid-city Pueblo Libre, off the Miraflores-Barranco tourist axis, with criolla tradition dating to the 1780s.
Tip: Open from 07:30 for breakfast tamales; Sunday lunch is the family-table service.
Peruvian$pueblo-libreMon-Thu 10:00-00:00, Fri-Sat 10:00-01:00, Sun 10:00-19:00
Antigua Taberna Queirolo at Av San Martin 1090 in Pueblo Libre is the 1880 Santiago Queirolo cantina, one of Lima's oldest still-running bars.
Why locals love it: Lima's 1880 pisco-bodega cantina in Pueblo Libre, off the destination dining axis, marble bar with criolla snacks and the family Queirolo's own piscos.
Tip: Cash safer than card; the connected Queirolo wine and pisco shop sells direct from the bodega.