Local Kitchen and Bar

This is a great restaurant. I came here on a Monday night with my husband for dinner. This place has nice vibes. I like the décor, ambiance, and music. The menu was impressive. Being a vegetarian, I’m used to looking at a menu and having limited options. There are quite a few meatless dishes to choose from and I applaud them for that! Thank you! The craft cocktails were nice. I got the Rosemary’s Baby and thoroughly enjoyed every sip. It’s a little on the pricey side for what you get, but the everything was delicious. On a side note: I was also here for a baby shower (upstairs) and I must say, it was the hippest baby shower I’ve ever been to. The space upstairs provides a very chic and modern space to host a party.

Ate at Local tonight for the first time in a long time and loved it. I didn’t really care for the food the previous times I had went. Tonight was completely different. It was top notch from beginning to end. Great service as well. Until next time!

I’m very selective with my 5 star reviews, but this place is deserving of one. Although the mac and cheese is on the small plates menu, it’s enough for a whole meal (and it is delicious!). The Caesar salad and scallops were outstanding as well. Great overall experience!

I’ve been to Local twice and I love it! The scallops and local burger are my favorite. It’s evident that Local uses quality ingredients in all of their food. I prefer to eat locally sourced meats and food so Local is obviously a restaurant that I would prefer to go to. Along with the tasty food, Local has an awesome craft beer selection and the environment is cool and cozy!

January 2015 Update: Monday’s are definitely the night to go. Had the scallops, crab cakes, shrimp and grits, and mahi mahi. All wonderful!
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December 2015: The food is hit or miss. And even the hits are inconsistent within days of ordering. I ordered the mac and cheese for dinner on a Monday (very creamy and cheesy with crisp bacon on top). When I ordered it again on Friday, it was completely different, tasting overwhelmingly of mustard and with thin cheese sauce and chewy bacon. Do not order the lamb with lentils. It comes out on a mostly empty plate (making you feel like they forgot to give you your food) and is too delicately flavored and dry. The description said it was flavored with fennel and masala but we could barely taste any of that.
If you do come, come for the atmosphere which is cozy and inviting, even in the dead of winter. Sit at the bar or in front of the fireplace and enjoy the nice selection of craft beer, wine and craft cocktails.

Tons of tasty appetizers and great atmosphere. We tried over six appetizers and the rack of lamb — all very tasty. Lots of good drink selections and service was good.

Joined two friends for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. We were seated immediately, our server was pleasant, and the food (omelets and other egg dishes) was good, but it took literally an hour for our meals to come. One of us had once eaten at a restaurant where the head chef had a seizure, and even that person was served faster than we were at Local. No one ever acknowledged or apologized for the wait.
The ambiance is nice, and the bathroom was clean, though it had a weird sink that was basically a trough with a fountain spraying streams of water into it.

I went here for breakfast/​lunch today and was very impressed. Our waitress Nina went out of her way to recommend some favorite items on the menu, and was very helpful. We followed her advice and ordered a cappuccino, veggie omelette and the migas. The veggie omelette was my favorite, and the biscuit it came with was very good. I’m glad they offer dairy free options for their coffee drinks, because many places don’t. The atmosphere was so cute, and will definitely be back to try dinner there.

We came in on a Saturday night for dinner and drinks. It really wasn’t overly busy. We ordered 3 burgers, 1 was a veggie burger and a salad and we had to wait over an hour for our food. I believe for sit down to food it was an hour and 20 mins. Food and drinks were good but I don’t know if I’d want to come back to wait that long to eat. Plus it’s a little expensive for what you get.

Made reservations here for a Friday night although I’m not sure they were even needed as the restaurant was empty upon our arrival. I also thought it was strange they called me an hour before our reservation time to confirm our reservation and asked me to call them back to let them know if I was still coming. It almost made it seem like they wished we weren’t coming haha!
Once we arrived they were so unprepared for us, we actually stood at the hostess stand a good five minutes before we were even sat because they had to set a table up for us. Don’t you think if you had made a reservation that they would have the table ready to go before you got there? Especially since there was no one else in the restaurant.
Anyway, I ordered the Detroit Rock n Rye punch, and my husband an old fashioned. We both really enjoyed our drinks and it seemed like everyone else at the table did as well. We were a little confused by the menu as the small plates section was SO huge and the mains so small. We decided to order a few small plates for the table as an appetizer as our waitress told us 2 people needed 4 plates which seemed like a lot to me. We ordered the mac and cheese, pork belly, and mushroom ravioli. There was a large Christmas party there as well who were getting most of the attention from the staff (understandably) but once our waitress was free to run us our appetizers everything was lukewarm. The pork belly was just disgusting, the mushroom ravioli was bland and mushy, but the mac and cheese was EXCELLENT. So good intact that I am giving this restaurant 3 stars instead of two. The portions of the pork belly and ravioli were very small but you get a huge serving of the mac and cheese which is nice.
I ended up ordering the Sea Bass for my main dish which was just SO SO boring and bland! Swimming in a broth that desperately needed salt with canned artichoke hearts and grape tomatoes. The rest of the table order the local burger which they all said wasn’t great.
I will say the atmosphere and décor of the restaurant is so cute. I loved the way the restaurant looked. I might come back here just for the mac and cheese and a cocktail but I don’t think I’ll be rushing back anytime soon.

I’m actually surprised this place is still in business. It seems like somewhat of a miracle, honestly. My friend and I were walking back to my place from the Oakland and we were a bit hungry so we thought we’d stop in for a few small plates. It seemed busy so I thought it’d be alright.
None of the cocktails sounded particularly enticing so I perused the wine list. Okay, huge issue here. There are only like six wines on the whole menu that you can get as a glass. There was only one cabernet that could be ordered as a glass so we both got that.
I ordered the beet, bleu cheese, and frisee salad. My friend got the Caesar with chicken and we were going to split the mac and cheese. The waitress brought back the glasses of wine rather quickly but my glass was filthy. There was food crusted on the outside. Gross! If I’m pay $ 10 for a damn glass of bottom shelf wine, at least give me a clean glass so I can imbibe this swill with some semblance of propriety! Have you no decency!?!
The food was delivered and it was… well, it was. My friend’s salad was a grilled head of romaine lettuce slathered with dressing and some sad looking chicken on top. My salad was a tiny half moon of diced beets with two little frisee leaves and a couple of chunks of bleu cheese atop applesauce. It was really underwhelming to say the least. I tried my friend’s salad and the chicken so salty. Ugh. The mac and cheese was also really mediocre. It looked so delicious but there was way too much flour in the sauce. That’s all I tasted. Meh. I won’t be back. It was super overpriced and the waitress was not friendly and the food didn’t even taste good.

I joined my family here for a birthday dinner; our party of 7 was promptly seated and expertly served. The ambiance is rustic chic. Very comfortable.
The cornbread muffins were delicious, as was the parsnip mushroom soup. But the star of my evening were the sea scallops — the best I’ve ever had.
Between the seven of us, we ordered and ate a pretty big array of what was on offer; everything got a thumbs up from the orderer/​eater. Of note, everyone loved the macaroni and cheese.

This was our first visit since they changed their menu to a lot of small plates. I started with the butternut squash soup and it was delicious. I then split a Charcuterie Plate with my granddaughter and it was a little disappointing. The menu said there was 3 meats and we only had one salami and it was very sparse — very thin cut and not much. The two cheeses were good, but still, way too little meat. I then had the Grilled Crimson Pear. The menu said the pears came with serrano ham — –I found one very small bite, a one inch roll of about ¼ inch thick. Again very disappointing. Maybe because we were there on a Sunday evening they had run out of meat. These disappointments are why I changed my rating form 4 to 3 star.
As far as I know everyone else liked their dinner. The mac and cheese was awesome — especially with some bacon bits on it. I tasted it and it was excellent and a very large portion was served.
Our server Andrew S did an excellent job.

First let me start by saying last year I had the best chicken pot pie of my life at this restaurant. In fact up until tonight I have always had a delicious flavorful meal here. Looking to go back for a wholesome hearty home-​cooked tasting meal was at the top of my list today… and then as we were seated we were told the menu was… changed!
Why anyone would change the menu here is beyond me. My wife had the mushroom ravioli and I had the burger. The food was just ok, very bland and no where near the flavor we had grown accustomed to. The home-​cooked favorites were gone from the menu and replaced with things like neck of lamb?!
Local, you had a god thing going, why change? We won’t be going back.

I really want to like this place. So I keep coming back, hoping they get better, but just bad experience after bad experience. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I decided to try it again today. Recurring theme is poor service, WAY overpriced mediocre food, short pours, and walking away disappointed.
So this time, they get a review and only get 2 stars, primarily due to location and atmosphere. This place has so much potential, but just cannot capitalize on it. Wish them luck. Maybe new operator would do better.

I went to Local for my birthday brunch a few weeks back on a Sunday afternoon around noon. We had a party of 12 — which they did take reservations for, but they would not seat anyone until the whole party have arrived. This was frustrating because it was my grandparents that were waiting.
Anyways, the restaurant itself is adorable which a funky vibe to it with waitstaff to match. I really go for this kind of atmosphere.
The food was okay. It wasn’t bad at all by any means, but it was just that — okay. I ordered the Ribbon Salad with romaine, celery leaf, sunchoke, pita, watermelon radish, chevre, charred citrus vinaigrette and I also ordered a burger: house grind, lettuce, tomato, special sauce, challah bun, pickle, chips — I got mine with no bun and added bacon and egg. The burger was good, but your typical burger and for both of those it was about $ 22. A little pricey for your run-​of-​the-​mill food. My roommate had the frittata which was on special and said it was okay as well.
Feel free to give it a try, maybe with cocktails… but I’ll be checking out other places before repeating.

Visited on a Sunday morning for brunch. We did not have any drinks, but the selection looked good.
The food is higher end pub/​bistro, and was really good. The staff was friendly but slightly slow. We sat on the patio/​sidewalk area and it was really nice, with even an outdoor fireplace and lounge area.
The only complaint was that they really like sending food out in cast iron small skillets, however, they failed to heat them enough so that the potatoes were not fully done. I assume they time the cooking for properly heated skillets, and the kitchen helper must have screwed up. This would have been five stars if not for that issue.

I came here for lunch, right after they opened, so we were seated right away.
I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich, potato soup, and fries.
My sandwich was absolutely delicious! It had a fried green tomato, some kind of yummy cheese, but the best part was the bread! It was thick, crisp, and grilled to perfection. My soup was equally amazing and the fries were just so.
My companion ordered the veggie burger, but was less than thrilled. She didn’t like the olive flavor that lingered long after her burger was gone. Also, our bill was inaccurate and had to be corrected twice.
Other than that, it was a really nice restaurant with great ambiance. I would definitely go back for the grilled cheese!

Local was one of the most hyped up and talked about restaurants in it’s first year. In that time, I tried getting there once, for lunch on a weekday, but after checking the website for their hours and then walking in through the open front door, we were greeted by a confused looking staff member in an empty dining room telling us they were not open, due to some repairs taking place. No biggie — but at least lock your front door or post a sign or something.
It’s taken nearly over a year since then before finding myself back here, this time for Sunday brunch. Was it good experience? Yes, food and service were both pretty good. But was it anything that would make me want to run back there? Not really.
The brunch menu was small, and a touch pricey for the portion sizes. I am a believer that you can’t judge a place on it’s brunch menu alone (unless brunch is their specialty), so I should really go back for a dinner some night.
Either way, it’s a decent and cute spot that seems to continue to thrive and be one of downtown Ferndale’s favorites.

I’m a little torn how to rate this restaurant. The ambience is really awesome and it’s a nice, inviting restaurant. We came here for dinner on a Saturday night. It wasn’t very busy when we came here yet the service was still slow. The service got slower as they got busier.
We had fried green tomatoes and bbq brisket sliders. The tomatoes were good and the sauce was good. I don’t expect fried green tomatoes to taste as good as they do in the South so this was above my expectations. The bbq brisket sliders were good as well but on my wife’s sliders (you only get two small sliders) at least 40% was part of the fat cap. Not very appetizing and I would expect more from this type of restaurant.
As the main meal I ordered a «season feature», moroccan sausage with cous cous and peppers. This was a truly amazing dish! The sausage had wonderful flavors and had a perfect heat level.
We had two appetizers, two main dishes and one kids meal and no alcohol. The total price was over $ 80, frankly I expect a lot more for that price when it comes to service and consistent execution of all their food.