Local

Local - very nice experience. My boyfriend surprised me with a dinner reservation to Local. Several office workers had mentioned this establishment so I was somewhat familiar with it's reputation. We were seated up front - a bit quiet but appreciated for our cozy frame of mind.

The waitress recommended fried green beans and they delivered for us. The batter was very crispy with a garlic dipping sauce, excellent pairing!

I ordered the sea bass with risotto. It was a bit under cooked for me but the flavor combination of the sauce was very good. My boyfriend had the short ribs with was accompanied with white cheddar grits. Again, very nicely done.

We had Lynmar Estate Pinot Noir with meal - my new favorite when I see it on a list!

All in all, a very nice experience.…

Local. My family and I ate at Local not to long ago. Food was quite good, although I advise against the green beans. they were tasteless. drinks were very good. lamb shank was tender and tasty. the waitress was slightly slow and would disappear for long periods of time. however, the main issue I had was the chef came out and awknowledged every table but mine, which turned me off. i realize i was with my sisters, and we were relatively young compared to the rest of the patrons but i thought this was slightly inappropriate. overall, i loved the ambiance and food. would have been five stars except the less than outstanding service and the chefs behavior…

damn! i wanted to be one of the five stars. PROS : +Cute, Cozy, Portland-Hipster Decor +Perfectly cooked meats +Good Menu CONS : +Waitstaff SubPar +"Chef does not allow" side substitutions (for other sides on menu - I just don't like polenta! Isn't that my right as a paying customer to not have something I won't eat on my plate?)

+All other food besides meat, just - eh

+Most inexpensive glass of wine is $12, first glasses came as just over half pours. Second glass was a full pour, but had to ask 3 different people before list was in hand

+For Dessert we ordered a coffee and ice cream. I'd finished my ice cream before the coffee was even brought to the table.

If every item was several dollar less, it wouldn't feel like such a rip-off.

Get it together a little, local! Make me love you!

I Really wanna.…

Gourmet Prices, Normal Food. My wife and I went to Local for Valentines Day. We were seated promptly at a table, and after about five minutes of akward sitting and talking (the table caused us to be very far apart from each other, but very close to our neighbors at the same time), we asked to move to a corner booth. Our waiter was attentive, though our water glasses did not remain full throughout the evening. We ordered the crab cakes, which sounded tasty. They were not. For the price, I expected more, but the cakes instead were three teeny-tiny almost quarter sized bits. More importantly, the cakes did not taste like really freash crab, but instead, more like the canned variety. Realizing our mistake, we looked around the room and saw another couple with an order of fired green beans that looked amazing. We asked the waiter for an order of the green beans, and they were nothing short of amazing. Not an ounce of grease was to be found, they were light, crispy (almost a cornstarch based batter), and the dipping sauce was very good as well.

The soup served in between the appetizers and the meal was okay, but I would have preferred it to be a little hotter, and as many others would agree, more of it. For such a tasty soup, I would think that Local would be proud to serve more of it!

Our entrees were decent. My wife ordered the filet, which was decent, but could have used more seasoning. Also, the portion was not equal to the price. As for me, I ordered a rib eye, which also could have used a tad more salt or sauce or something. The meat was in both cases, sadly, just average.

I'm not trying to sound like more food on the plates would have made a big difference, but when the food is not perfection, and the price is super premium, I tend to have a problem. If the food is amazing, and the price is high, I am more than okay with that. In this case, Local came up a little on the short end. I might still go back to try other things, and of course, more green beans!!!…