Local 1205

Had the Viva brasil. This place is way too overpriced and slow. Way to jump on the juice bandwagon. I wouldn’t go back here again — try another spot. One nice part is that the interior looks kinda cool — but in an under-​furnished cheap-​chic way.

If you don’t make fresh juices don’t advertise that you do. This is the 3^rd time I have come here and been told they were «out of» the kind of juice I wanted. I have only been here 5 times. Need a new juice spot!

I used to buy several juices a week from here. I’ve stopped shopping here as the hours posted on the Internet and on their doors don’t seem to mean anything. I’ve been turned away twice (since I posted my original review) for juices — despite arriving well within posted hours.
That’s a bummer, as the juices taste great and are very potent. (They are made with the Norwalk juicer.)
But I’m not going to deal with parking on Abbot Kenny and go out of my way to drive to a place that closes whenever the employees feel like it.

I suggest getting food from the front versus being seated. They take a pretty long time to do anything, so expect to be there for a while. Sometimes the servers are nice, but last time we had a really pretentious guy. Bleh.
The food is super good though, I will say! I love going there after hitting The Otheroom because they are open until 2 Thurs — Sat. But lately they haven’t been… So don’t count on it.

I used to be the biggest fan of this place, until they changed menus. Not only did they remove some of the best items, but they’ve changed the way they prepare the majority of my favorite dishes. The Acai Bowl, the Hester street, I could go on…
Its just not the same, and it disappoints me when I crave the old stuff but can’t get it.

the food is great. i highly recommend their roast beef sandwich — they make their own roast beef. it’s usually not listed on the menu, so ask the server.
they also have a great selection of smoked fish, like nova, lox, etc. there’s a difference between nova and lox! nova is lower in sodium.
what the others are saying about the service is true, but i blame the management, not the staff. HELLO? ARE YOU LISTENING, MANAGEMENT?
the service appears incompetent because they are understaffed and overworked. there were only two people serving the entire premise as the cashier, the bus boy, and the waiter on a gorgeous, which means very busy, saturday afternoon.
my experience today: i sat on a table that had been occupied by previous diners no one came to clean it up. the staff could tell it wasn’t mine because i had one of those number thingies on the table, indicating that i was waiting on my order. after waiting around patiently, i flagged down one of the two people working the floor and asked him to clear the table. the previous diner had left strips of bacon on the plate, and i just wasn’t feeling the aroma of some’s leftover bacon. The due picked up the plate but not the bunched up dirty napkins that were right there.
On top of that, he had an awfully sullen expression on his face. way to kill my appetite!
from the moment i sat down and actually finished my roast beef sandwich, i saw at least 3 sets of potential diners leave because no one came to take their orders.
I still go because it’s within walking distance from my place, and the food IS great.
Isn’t it annoying when places that serve great food have such atrocious service?

Atrocious service. We decided to stop in here for a coffee as an alternative to waiting in line at Intelligentsia down the street. There wasn’t much of a line, so we figured that it’d be easy in and out. Boy were we wrong!
We ordered an americano and a macchiato. We had our order taken and proceeded to wait a full twenty minutes for our coffees to be prepared. During this time, the staff were running around trying to attend to both the coffee/​juice bar in front AND the rest of the restaurant inside. If it took us this long to get two simple orders of coffee, I can’t imagine how long it might take to get food.
The coffee itself was alright. Definitely worse than Intelligentsia, where, ironically enough, I’m guessing that we would have spent less time waiting!

Wow such a shame, I come here a lot and everyone’s right — service has not been unfriendly, just mostly incompetent.
The food when you get it is usually quite nice, and for the light eating atmosphere and taste I love this place most of the time.
Owners read your Unilocal reviews, make some changes people love your place they just need you to give a sh&$t!

I come in here for the breakfast burrito. Compared to other sandwich costs along Abbot Kinney, this amazing burrito full of yumminess is reasonably priced, comes at a good size, and will help start your morning with a smile.
For the most part I’ve had a positive experience with this place as the staff has been quite pleasant. I took off one star as I’ve noticed they’ve been going through some minor changes in procedures over the months which have been a bit confusing for us regulars. Otherwise, did I mention the breakfast burrito?

Local 1205, I wanted to like you and support you. I’m also local; my girlfriend and I walked here and wanted to show our support. Your interior is great, it reminds me of every casually hip place I ever went to in Portland. And the waiter who took our order while he wasn’t even on the clock is your one redeeming quality.
Other than that, your service is just. bad. Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten my breakfast sandwhich 20 minutes before my girlfriend got her granola-​less acai bowl if the waitress wasn’t talking to her boyfriend the whole time.
Again, though, your one server who took our order when he noticed the ones working weren’t, bussed our table for the same reason, and gave us a discount on our bill… he deserves a raise!

I like this restaurant/​market. It’s just down the street form me and very convenient if you don’t mind paying higher prices. I’ve had their juices a couple of times and they’re very tasty and healthy but anywhere from $ 10-​$ 15 per drink.
They also make panini’s and sell veggies (kale, sweet potatoes, etc) and herbs/​spices.
I want to try their pizza and raw bar. They look more reasonable for what you’re paying. I’ll write that review soon.

Literally doing a 180° on Local after a long run together. You’ve changed Local… You’d think you were on Rodeo Drive with these pretentious fools running this place. Used to be my favorite spot on Abbot but now I can’t stand it. We get it, all four of your parents are rich, we’re not good enough to grace your polished concrete with our presence, but we just wanted to trade money for sandwiches.
Peace out local, I’ll be elsewhere.

I hope the owners take notice of these reviews and improve this declining concept. I used to love their lobster avocado salad and this past weekend was craving a lobster roll which is advertised on the front window and listed on their big sandwich sign. However the sign is now defunct and ¾ of the items are not available. Even the cashier said he wished management would take the confusing sign down.
OK, I got past my disappointment and ordered the Jersey sandwich and fries. Sorry, out of fries (at 2pm). Getting more annoyed but trying to be understanding. The sandwich arrives and 3 ingredients promised in the description were missing. Seriously? I had to ask the line cooks for a plate with these items.
The waitress gave us 10% off the bill for the trouble which was appreciated. The bread was good and the quality of the ingredients was fine, but I won’t be going back until I see an uptick in the star rating here to show improvement.

Located on the ever-​busy section of Abbot Kinney in Los Angeles’ Venice, you’ll find Local 1205 as a chill spot for quite a few meaty meals and oysters. I found parking relatively quickly during the lunch hour, and considering it wasn’t a First Friday (look it up if you have no idea) I strolled up to a nearly empty Local 1205.
I found this place busy with mostly locals who knew, unlike myself, that the walls echo quite a bit. I took a few minutes to order the turkey burger, and my friend went for the turkey wrap.
Turkey burger:
Turkey wrap:
The wrap only took a few minutes to arrive to our table, while the burger took over ten minutes to arrive. We weren’t in any rush, but the difference in wait times was noticeable. My friend was kind enough not to attack his place while my burger cooked. The turkey burger was quite large in size, namely the amount of meat provided. I can understand why it took so long to make: a giant piece of turkey takes a while to cook. I just wish the food had came out at the same time. I enjoyed the burger, even though it was dripping and getting messy towards the end. The small amount of lettuce and tomatoes wanted to slip out, but I kept them (heroically) in their place. The bun fell apart and the crowd went wild.
I noted that most patrons were locals, and crowded around the oyster bar. They were savoring oysters and quite a bit of seafood. Something must be going on there that I’m missing out on. Either way, the place seems to be a low-​key spot in the area.

I must admit, I was invited by the awesome and urban décor of this place. Wooden tables mixed with detailed artistry décor, it’s a picture worthy place, especially for those café bloggers and tumblr fanatics, it was definitely a trendy and modernized setup.
Loved the high ceilings, pretty attentive and serviceable staff. I don’t know if Wednesday was a lucky day but raw oysters were all for $ 1. Tried their famous one which their name were so intricate and new to me that I forgot, but definitely worth the «to try» experience, make sure you use the oyster sauce, squeeze those lemons, and sprinkle the vinegar sauce. You’ll need it.
Onto the Pastrami sandwich, the deli staff member said, «our specialty is that we custom make our pastrami.» So we got it. It was pretty decent for someone who doesn’t really love pastrami.
Overall, very decent for their food, cleanliness, staff, and superb ratings for their décor and spacious set up.

On first glance, the space and menu look promising, but then you deal with the reality of poor service and overpriced food and this place is ultimately disappointing. When you walk up to the counter closest to the sidewalk, it looks like they only offer breakfast fare, but if you glance inside you’ll see there’s more available at the deli. We didn’t clearly see where we could place our order so we asked someone and they gestured to a register where no one was. A lady came over to help us, but when I tried to pay with cash, she asked if I had a credit card. She looked bored, maybe annoyed, that I only had cash and walked off with my $ 20 to see if she could get change. She eventually came back and offered no apology for taking so long to complete my order. So safe to say that customer service is not the highest priority here.
Also, despite it being early in the day, my friend couldn’t get her first choice sandwich because apparently the deli was out of the specific meat. What?
I ordered the EL CUBANO, with housemade porchetta, jamon, pickles, gruyère and stadium mustard on a roll. It was a bit dry, but not bad. But also not good enough to be $ 12 either. I added an order of BEETS, which was a generous serving for $ 5, enough to share between 2 – 3 people.
Overall, skip.

I agree with all the reviews that state how confusing the layout is. Initially I thought that I could only order juices and breakfast foods, but in the back there is a deli and where you can order sandwiches on the menu on the blackboard. They also have random small blackboards at the deli counter that shows even more daily menu items such as salads and soups.
I had the grass fed hot dog without the bun and the turkey fennel salad. The hot dog was well cooked (well how can you screw that up, really?). The salad was heartier and more filling than I originally thought, though it tasted just okay, with the turkey meat kind of dry and the overall salad pretty tasteless other than the flavor of celery and fennel. I was expecting another contrasting flavor in the salad for that.
Anyway, seating is pretty communal and overall very pricey for the food you receive. Service is pretty good.

I guess the management doesn’t like to or know how to train their staff. Or maybe they just don’t care.
Can a place this overpriced in this neighborhood afford to be anything other than «fantastic» on all levels of experience for customers? «no» is the answer, folks.
Walked in and the dude that was taking orders began telling us how to order. We asked a few questions and as we were ordering when a film company guy came by to drop off the «hey we’re filming soon and there’s going to be no parking» blah blah notice. So the clerk just stopped interacting with us and began chatting up the film guy. Then the clerk walked off and never came back into the dining room. WTF?!
So we wandered around for a bit and then went to the juice bar, since there was nobody behind the food counter. The juice girl walked over to take our order and couldn’t answer our questions about the food because «I don’t work on this side. I’m in the juice area.»
We had the soup and the turkey salad. Von’s quality.
Don’t half step. Don’t let «rustic in a box» fake interior draw you in. That said, if you came here super drunk, then you may like it here.

I’ve only been here once, and I don’t often dole out my highest rating on the first go ’round. But since everything about my experience was freakin’ fantastic, I just gotta do it.
We went the deli route and ordered sandwiches for dining in, although they also have a juice bar and breakfast menu as well. I went with the albacore banh mi and it was one of the best sammies I’ve had in quite some time. Seared albacore on toasted, fresh baguette with a flavorful aioli and a hint of spice. I think there might have been mint in there somewhere, too. And shredded radish. So fantastic. I wasn’t feeling too hot, and this sammy totally picked me up. That, and the ginger lemonade. Yep, ginger lemonade. A delightful combination that I’ve never before experienced. I’m a ginger fan and now think I might have to try this at home. I can imagine this being the perfect hangover cure after a long evening out on the town.
True, the sammies are a bit pricey, but for me, a sandwich this good is totally worth it. And I also enjoy the open market feel of the joint. Well, done, Local.

I was so excited for this place to open and immediately saddened when I saw all the bad reviews. I came in before to check out the market which I thought was a little empty. They had a few produce items, some pasta/​meats and raw/​vegan products. I feel like they’re all overpriced though. I bought a tiny package of raw white chocolate almonds (3.5oz) for $ 7 dollars!
I came in again to try out their food and was not impressed at all. I went with two other people and they weren’t impressed either. I love the concept and really wanted this to be my next fav lunch spot but was so utterly disappointed and the prices didn’t help. Lunch on Abbot Kinney is pretty pricey, i.e. GTA, Lemonade, etc., and I don’t mind spending the money when it’s good and quality ingredients are being used. I got the house roasted organic turkey breast sandwich (without mayo and brie) which was $ 9. It tasted like any other turkey sandwich. Nothing set it apart sadly. I also bought the seadew smoothie ($ 9), a bag of granola ($ 10), and a bottle of kombucha ($ 5). The smoothie was tasty and the granola wasn’t as good as it looked. They actually have a variety of yummy-​sounding smoothies which I do want to try but for $ 9 – 12 a smoothie, I’d have to be dying for one.
They have pre-​made salads in a display case with some raw items but they didn’t look too fresh, i.e. the hummus had a brown crust on it which usually means it’s been sitting out for awhile.
Their customer service was pretty good. The lady at the window was very helpful in helping me decide what smoothie to get. A guy was really nice about explaining what was in the display case and another woman was so nice about offering help with their products. Sadly, the only reason I’d come back is to get a smoothie…