Local Restaurant
Dallas, TX 75226-3359
Phone: (214) 752-7500
- Price:
- $$$$
- Cross Street:
- South Malcolm X Boulevard
- Hours:
- Tue-Sat 6pm-10pm
Editorial Review for Local Restaurant – by Cheryl Ng Collett
The Scene
Tucked inside one of Dallas' oldest standing hotel buildings, the former Boyd Hotel, the boutique restaurant opens up into a dreamy lofty haven for mid-century modern fanatics-classic Eames chairs, shag pile rugs and curved zebra wood bar stools. Original hardwood floors and exposed brick walls adds charm to the minimalist design. Deceptively laid-back servers cater to diners with ease.
The Food
On short orders or smaller portions, fat pieces of tuna tartar meld sublime with a petite daikon radish salad. Tiny silver dollar-sized crab cakes are too cute to pass up. In the tall order section, artistically presented Niman Ranch lamb chops on fingerling potatoes in a Madeira-lavender finish is a new take on plain ol' meat and taters. Desserts like the divine blood orange cheesecake catapults diners closer to Nirvana. The chocolate souffle served with a shot of Ovaltine chocolate malt and chewy chocolate brownies is also praiseworthy.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
What to DrinkThe signature cocktail, champagne with a scoop of homemade rosemary grapefruit sorbet, is the perfect early evening aperitif.
Where to SitNo reservations? Then park yourself by the bar lounge where the full dinner menu is available or nibble on bar nosh like mini Niman Ranch pork tacos or panko crusted potato logs with homemade spicy ketchup.
Know Before You GoThe bar serves beer and wine only.
User Reviews for Local Restaurant
10/18/2007 Posted by wacohoover
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!!!
Pros: Fried green beans, atmosphere
Cons: Portions, flavor, crab cakes!
07/15/2007 Posted by hoover101
A local friend recommended this as a cool place to go for good food, a bit pricey, but what the hell, you only go around once. The place is eclectic and pleasing to the eye, but that's where the good stuff ends. We were seated and waited on in a timely manner, but unfortunately everything went down hill after that. Our wine was delivered a good 25 minutes after ordered and in the absence of our water glasses ever being refilled, my mouth went dry. Our appetizers came another 30 minutes after the belated wine, and our 3 microscopic crab cakes (at $13 per order), stunned me to the point that I almost broke out hysterically laughing. The presentation was nice, but they might just as well brought us a food magazine picture of the appetizer for all the substance that was actually provided. Finally, another 25 minutes later (now over an hour and 15 minutes after we had ordered) our entrees arrived. Decent, but I can promise nothing special. Oh yeah, as a consolation for the tardiness of the meal, the wait staff brought us 2 cups (and I use the word cups advisedly) of asparagus soup. One normal size eyedropper would have been plenty to have distributed the soup to both myself and my date. I am not a great epicurean, but I have dined in upscale restaurants in NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston as well as in Europe and I know an overpriced pretentious restaurant when I see it and believe me, I have now seen it.
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