Local Sol

YES! One of the best experiences in DTW yet! My husband and I have lived near Willoughby for three years now, and I’ve been waiting for a fun, unique restaurant to move in. Finally, it came in the form of a Latin-​infused cuisine that was fresh and delicious! The atmosphere was fun and beautiful. We went early, so we were seated immediately. Our server (Debbie, I think) was fan-​freaking-​tastic. She greeted us quickly, reviewed the menu with us, set our expectations, and took our drink order. I was feeling fun– so I order the Mai Sol. Dear god– it took me straight to a tropical island. It was AMAZING. We took some time to review the menu– there were so many tasty– sounding options!!! Debbie walked us through the types of courses, and was very knowledgable about them. She was able to recommend items for us, and even told us to take our time; we didn’t have to order everything right away. So we ordered the Brussels sprouts. Now– my husband and I don’t eat brussel sprouts, ever. So when they arrived at our table, I was hesitant, but my fears quickly fell away with the first bite. Cooked to perfection, with a yummy grilled sear and this citrus aioli– they were out of sight!!! My husband and I ate them, had great conversation and when Debbie reappeared, we were ready for our next order. Now– all of the food looked so good, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to eat a full entrée. So, we decided to split the flank steak skewers– and it was also amazing! The skewers came with a stack of freshly made fried onion rings, super thin and crunchy. Just plain yum– the steak was peppery and mega flavorful, cooked to perfection. After we ate the plate, we were ready for dessert. We ordered the churros, and were not disappointed. They were at least a foot long each, with chocolate and caramel sauce, and cinnamon sugar. SO good. Throughout dinner, our waitress would pop in and see if we needed anything. She was great for conversation, and didn’t feel too invasive. More like part of the family. The manager also popped in to check, which was nice. Overall, amazing experience. We’re going back for the Valentines Day pre-​fixe dinner– SO EXCITED!

This place is phenomenal. The service is next level and the food taste amazing. You pay for quality. Its not just a run of the mill restaurant. This is the luxury car of fine dinning. Will definitely be back. Vince the manager is next to none. I felt like I was the only person there.

Owned by the same people as Local Tavern and Taco Local, our first visit to Sol was exactly as expected.
I’m a big proponent of not judging a restaurant in their first month of business. Having worked in and opened new restaurants myself, it’s not fair to judge a restaurant where not one single member of the staff has worked together before, and no one has ever worked in that building. It takes a while to work the bugs out.
I will go back soon and adjust my review as necessary!
On our first visit, the valet was nice and simple, the restaurant was beautiful and well decorated, and the menu was nothing if not ambitious.
The bartender had three other people at the bar and acted as if she had no time for us. I would have had more than my one drink (the house cocktails looked delicious!), but sadly no matter how long our glasses sat empty, we were never once asked if we would like another drink. Hopefully the the unrelenting gauntlet of a new store opening has since chewed her up and spit her out. The manager Dave introduced himself to us and is a very nice guy, but if I’m in a nice brand new restaurant, paying $ 18+ for an entrée, and tipping a valet on the way out, I would like the restaurant’s manager to not be walking around greeting guests in a dirty hoodie.
My wife and I split the roasted brussel sprouts which were delicious. She had the shrimp and grits which she found to be good but very bland. I had the pork stew (I wish I remembered the actual name, the menu is almost all in spanish. Very authentic but incredibly confusing despite the key at the bottom.) It was good, but heavily spiced so despite all of the quality ingredients, it all tasted the same. The house made tortillas on the side were covered in the same seasoning so I could have gotten the same experience chewing on a packet of taco seasoning.
All of these gripes hopefully will be resolved once they get their legs under them. It’s a solid concept, a solid menu, a great location, and proven management. There’s no reason they can’t do well as long as they get the kinks worked out.

I have already posted a review but I’d like to make a suggestion… When my husband and I dined at the restaurant the manager (a woman with glasses and short hair) never made eye contact with us. There were maybe ten people in the restaurant at the time. I would recommend having the manager ask people for honest feed back before they leave.

After reading reviews and people wanting hearty foods and writing that cleveland wants more on plate. I’m sure people do not understand what Tapas are and what the true Spanish cuisine is. I believe cleveland has some of the best restaurants and chefs. Glad we discovered this gem and drove from summit county. Looking forward to checking out their brunch

I really liked it here and I hope they make it as a restaurant. We went to the bar after work tonight and got a few drinks and some tapas. I got the avocado margarita and it was delicious. My boyfriend and I split the sol plate, and although the portion was smaller than we anticipated, it was delicious and I highly recommend it, esp if you have a picky eater (like my boyfriend). I will definitely be going back, esp in the summer for that patio and their house made cinnamon whiskey (yum).

The menu contains some exotic dishes. Nice to see variety. The menu is basically all small plates. So yes portions are small. I have always felt tapas restaurants are great for an appetizer or two before you go someplace else for dinner. This place fits that bill. Cocktails were tasty. So I will be back for cocktails in the summer on the patio.

My husband and I had dinner at Local Sol for the first time tonight, it was amazing. We started off sharing the mussels, and then a beet salad. I would highly recommend either one or both. I had the salmon and my husband had the double boned pork chop for our entrees both were outstanding. In fact the best meal we have had in years. My husband is hard to please and I can tell you he was pleased. Our server Edwin, was exceptional from start to finish. He was knowledgeable, attentive and guided us through the menu which at first was intimidating. We were in good hands. Edwin told us that last night the Chef, Mike had just won Iron Chef of
Cleveland, I know why. We are looking forward to coming back and exploring his other creations. Now for the décor, that’s simple just beautiful. It’s not really Mexican food if that is what you’re thinking this food has a flare of Spain. Chef Mike and Lee the General Manager both stopped by our table. I would feel confident in recommending this gem to anyone. The East Side has something to brag about. One last thing I’m shocked by other reviews they seem personal; my next visit I am going to order everything past reviewers have knocked, just to check the validity. I’ll keep you up to date.

I love it – just what downtown Willoughby needed. Great to watch a game at the bar or sit down for a special occasion. My favorite dish is the pork chop and to drink you must try the avocado margarita. Sounds different but it’s amazing! Can’t go wrong with anything off of the lunch menu either. Looking forward to the warm weather and patio. Definitely give it a try!

Terrible and overpriced. We had a group of ladies on this past Saturday evening. I ordered the risotto and it was undercooked and cost $ 18 for 2 cups of rice and 4 brussel sprouts. My friend ordered the salmon and to say it was rare with no sere is an understatement. I also had an appetizer (pitiful) and a drink that was okay. It took almost 1 ½ hours to get our food so for it to not be cooked properly was ridiculous. Very disappointing since the other «Local» establishments have good food and are mostly reasonably priced. I can honestly say that I had the worst meal of my life and it cost me $ 47.

The Local crew did a great job redesigning the building and setting arrest atmosphere for a new restaurant in Willoughby. I give it two stars because of that and the creativity of the drink menu. Unfortunately that is not enough to make us come back.
We checked this place out with a few friends last night for dinner. After about 45 minutes of waiting for the server to acknowledge us and to figure out the menu, we contemplated just finishing our drinks and going elsewhere. We all felt the menu was odd but given the good vibes and reputation the Local restaurants have, we thought we would give it a shot. I will tell you that $ 100 «shot in the dark» with what I order is quite the chance. We talked some things over with the server and placed our order. We were appalled when our meals actually came, thinking we were still waiting for additional plates, because the serving sizes were so small.
We all like nice places and do not expect giant portions but when we are spending $ 25-​$ 35 per entrée we expect a little more than a crock of grits and 4 shrimp or a pork «soup».
Sadly, I know what Local Sol is doing here and they have a great shot to really shine in this big beautiful building in a great location but they will sadly end up, like Gavi’s, if they continue on their path of overpriced, idealistic food that they expect patrons to come back for.
We will not be fooled again, and chalk it up to a $ 100 loss… too bad we can’t write it off!

My wife and I dined there last night. Beautiful place and very comfortable. We love all of the local establishments, they are unique, quality driven and reasonable. The ghost of Gavis’s took control of this establishment. 12 dollars for two tamales really El Mexicana in Painsville sells them for a buck and that is authentic. I am not Looking for the most bang for my buck, but I am also not looking forward to having an upset stomach for the rest of the evening either. There is tremendous resturant competition in Cleveland a little adjusting might keep them in the game.

Let me start by saying that I don’t normally write bad Unilocal reviews, but after eating here, I think the restaurant would appreciate constructive criticism. I normally love local businesses and want them to succeed.
I’ll start with the GOOD:
They did a great job on the redesign of the Gavi’s building, and the atmosphere is excellent with a Latin American/​Caribbean islands/​Polynesian vibe going on. Also, they played good music, mostly reggae, if a little loud for dinner service. The servers were very attentive, in fact we had two waitresses (which actually caused some confusion because they would ask us if the other waitress already took our drink, app, dinner, etc. order). Our food, appetizers and entrees arrived very quickly. Also, the drink menu and prices were pretty good.
But here’s the BAD, which equals the two star review:
I guess my wife and I are spoiled by the Latin American restaurants in the CLE area like Paladar, Momocho, and El Carcinero, but the food here was not even close to those places. We ordered:
Goat cheese and chorizo croquettes — the flavor was good, but they were OVERPRICED at $ 8 for THREE of them.
My wife ordered the nights entrée special which was: Lobster risotto with a frisée salad and sun dried tomatoes. Like the croquettes, flavor was good/​OK, but VERY underwhelming, small, and cost $ 28 — not exactly good value.
Finally I ordered my entrée off of the «shared» menu (which seems like it’s just an appetizer + menu, the «plates», or entrées are basic proteins like salmon, chicken, pork, and steak — kinda boring for a Latin restaurant) which was their shrimp and grits. The grits were terrible; no flavor at all. No garlic, salt, pepper, or cheese — nothing. Quaker grits in a can taste better. There were four shrimp in the bowl and they were very blah as well. All for $ 14.
When all was said and done, our bill for the appetizer, two entrées, and three drinks was about $ 70 plus tip. For that much, I would have been very satisfied (size and taste) at Momocho or Paladar. We had to leave and get more food, due to the small portions.
We won’t recommend this place to any friends for dinner, but summertime drinks on the patio will be great, and we’ll come back for that.

4 stars… It’s difficult reading some of the poor reviews. I mean, you gave Texas road house 5 stars… How do you take yourself seriously. I gave them a 5 to help offset the morons in society.
It’s great seeing a restaurant in a small Midwest town like Willoughby, Ohio sharing some culture from the outside world, even if it’s not the most authentic.
If you’re interested in not scaring off future businesses taking risks I suggest the locals learn to support the small business and try to think (eat) outside the box.
Review:
We started with the queso. Nothing special, but it was original. Probably won’t have many fans of this tapas dish. So if you aren’t open minded, just pass.
We also shared the croquetas which were good. The chorizo and goat cheese were barely existent. still had a good taste. Would compare it to a deep fried tamale. Yes small portions… But that’s tapas. Traditional Spanish tapas.
Shrimp and grits were top notch. Grits were cooked perfectly. The honey ginger on the shrimp did not shine through, but still had a great taste.
Tamales in size have been upgraded according to the others at my table. They were not traditional tamales, but they also had a great taste. The golden raisins and poblano sauce added some nice complexities to the flavor.
Finally, the entrée. The salmon. Very tasty with a mustard cream base and Yukon potatoes. Really hearty dish.
Sculpin Ipa from Ballast Point (sell outs) on the beer list doesn’t hurt either.

Nice job on the remodeling, looks really nice. Our waitress did a fine job considering that even she had a hard time with the food and drinks menu. The disappointing thing is the price for the portion and preparation. Ordered the Yuka fries, they were cold, crammed into a way to small dish and taste like eating sticks. Had a Cubano sandwich, while the taste was just okay, it was definitely not worth $ 12. The sandwich consisted of one piece of ham, pulled pork that was dry, a piece of cheese that was so thin that I didn’t even realize that there was even any cheese in the sandwich, a pickle and some kind of sauce (true Cubans use a Dijon mustard). The sandwich is supposed to be slightly pressed but this one was hard as a rock. I could have eaten 3 of them but not at $ 12 each. The Cuban at the Wild Goose is much better, bigger and way cheaper.
Would I go back to Local Sol? Probably not unless they up the portions and lower the prices. Lunch set me back $ 70 for me and my wife and we left hungry.

This place was great! With this in addition to morehouse in dt Willoughby it is really giving the area more of a selection that could be competitive with the Ohio city/​tremont food scenes.
All ingredients were fresh, well blended and perfectly combined. We had the sol plate which was delicious! As well as as the venison meatballs (love seeing different things on the menu) and something else (pork adobo?) we loved everything.
The best thing was the Brussels sprouts. Lemon flavor was so different. I considered getting a takeout order of them to eat the next day they were that good.
Décor was neat and again something more of the likes you would see in Ohio city/​tremont area restaurants.
Smaller portions and more pricey than other dt Willoughby eats but you pay for quality and a more upscale atmosphere and menu choices.
I hear they will be doing brunch which I can’t wait to try!
Not sure why such negative reviews on this place– people need to get out more or just give this place a second try!

The food was very good but if your hungry skip it. Three people three salads, 3 shared plates didn’t even get entrée/​dinner and four beers bill was a 94 plus tip. Still friggin hungry. Guess they got to pay for the Gavai’s building somehow. Maybe I don’t fit into the new downtown Willoughby.

I’m not sure why people are being so harsh. This is a nice little restaurant that just opened and is working out the kinks.
We dropped by on a Friday night and immediately sat down at one of the two bars. Word definitely hasn’t gotten out that they’re open yet so it was a little dead, but that just meant we got our food and drinks extra quickly.
There isn’t a drink menu yet, but the bartender told us about their specials — we went with an avocado margarita (just ok) and a Rob Zombie (super boozy). We tried the papas bravas (potatoes covered in tomato sauce) and found them to be a little salty but still good. We also had the chips and salsa and the chips were a little salty, too. But not terrible.
The one thing that seemed odd about the menu is that a third of the menu consisted of descriptions of the words used on the menu. I’m not a fan of trying to decide what I’m ordering, but that’s just me.
I plan on going back once the dust has settled. I’m sure the menu will be tweaked and the recipes will be perfected. But they’re off to a solid start.

Beautiful space with unimagined food. Small menu that is confusing and the food left us wanting more food but not off their menu… Very pricey for small portions. For the prices I expect to be blown away and the food just didn’t do it for me. Just another «local» establishment to check off the list to not go back to. Underwhelming.

I get it. it’s the ‘soft opening’. The service was tremendous. the server did the best she could. writing hand written notes down on the backs of blank menus of the drink specials. she gets 5 stars for sure. The restaurant is a totally different animal.
When we looked around the table at the end of our meals we all said, and I’m not making this up,‘is there more coming?’ We all were left wanting a larger portion. a more clear menu. and an easier to understand breakdown of the menu… something.
Perfect example is the pork tortillas. which I was lead to believe was essentially pork tacos. When the meal came. it was soup. Yes… soup. With three tortilla ‘chips’ on the side. Comical honestly.
I just came from Yuma, Arizona and trust me when I say I know what tamales taste like. The tamales we ordered came out bland and the serving was 2… yes TWO. for what had to be close to 20 bucks. For 10 bucks a tamale those things better give an orgasm or something.
Long story short. the food falls short and doesn’t seem to understand that it’s not located in downtown New York. this is cold, crusty, OHIO. we need portions that warm the belly. This place won’t be here long. Oh… and every drink tastes like tequila… Come on guys.