Papà Raffaele — Restaurant in Lille

This is the only true Italian restaurant I have yet been to in Lille where the value every aspect that should be attended. The Pizza is out of this world! We went back three times in three days once after we first ate there. To my mind the best place to sit is in front of the pizzaiolos. They love putting on a show so don't hesitate to engage with them! Don't sit there on your your first date if you're afraid of some competition 😂 It's a wonderful place to go on almost any occasion except if you want a very quiet and intimate, but let's face it it wouldn't be an Italian restaurant anymore 😁 It's super cozy inside and the crew knows how to relax and forget all the day's troubles!

The best thing about the restaurant is that you can't reserve your table, allowing everyone who's patient enough (30-40 min tops). I suggest you go get a beer at a near bar like "la biche et le renard" to start your night. Talking about beer you can order a jug of very tasty beer to spear some Euros for the tip. I suggest their IPA, very delicate but very tasty.

Finally I can go back to Italy without the hassle of an airport.

Sit down, relax, have a pizza, laugh, have a ristretto, make love and quit complaining because you just had one of...

If that wasn’t the best pizza to be had in Lille, I beg you to tell me where you found even better. Until then, this is hands down the place to go. Papà Raffaele usually has a waiting line, queued up easily 10 people long. Don’t despair, just get in line and leave your telephone number at the door. They will call you as soon as they have a spot so you can go and enjoy a drink somewhere close by. The atmosphere here is amazing, people are very friendly and the staff is engaging and professional. When we ordered in French (we’re not native French speakers) and we were thanked for trying and they responded in deliberately slower French. This fact alone is amazing and a sign of respect and understanding to me. I loved that even in slower French for us, they still made jokes that we could comprehend and kept being communicative. The food was delightful. The advise turned out perfect and it...

We waited more than 25 minutes to take the order. Probably most of the waiters were new because the service was very disorganized. I ordered a Tiramisu for dessert and they served it in the plastic bowl I supposed because it was late (22h30..) The table next to us had it in the ceramic plate. Considering you pay it 6,50 I expect to be served the same way no matter what time it is. Coffee was bad. When we asked for a new one they said the “Italian coffee is strong” to justify the taste. I am an Italian girl who lives in Lille and I know what a strong coffee is. The one we had tasted sour and watery.

Besides that the Pizza is delicious as always. I have been eating at Papà Raffaele for years now and I was very surprised about the...