06/08/2025: Neighborhood gem! Everyone who works here is also very friendly. I love the ricotta cavatelli and chicken Milanese
30/07/2025: Update: 7/27/2025. I am a local. I live 2-3 blocks from this restaurant. My wife and have been walking over and eating here for years since its inception. And yet, no one seems to know us, nor remember us. It's weird.
Compared to other places that we frequent regularly, we often receive a warm smile upon our return, or even a "welcome back" or "good to see you again" by our servers and wait staff. We hoped LOCAL would be our local hangout. Nope. I realize now, after years, that we've never really felt welcomed. Not warm. Yet, we'd still come back time after time for our favorite dishes: But now they've changed this too. Frustrated, I've changed my ratings. They've changed my favorite mushroom truffle pizza (it came cold) and the mussels "lost its chili flakes bite" (plus super tiny tiny mussels this time.) At least the manager removed the mushroom pizza from our bill. That's good service.
On top of this, one of the hostesses is not very friendly, depends which one you get. I always expect that a hostess should make you feel welcome. A warm smile and greeting. Nope.
Our waitress was friendly, but new.
Not my local favorite anymore. I'm hoping they'll improve. I was routing for Local to be my favorite local restaurant.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
One of my favorites new restaurants on Ocean Park, only a few blocks away from my house. It's great to have such a nice restaurant within walking distance. Not only convenient but excellent food, cocktails and wines.
One of my favorites is the mussels with sourdough bread. Great for sharing, but you must pay extra for the toasted sourdough bread which you must have to dip into the wonderful seafood broth (perfectly spiced and seasoned.)
The second is the mushroom truffle pizza. Ghisallo, known for their pizza, is a block or 2 away, but i think Local's pizza is better. Better cheeses, less oily, crispier, thinner crust. The best IMO.
Lastly, the 24 oz bone-in aged ribeye. This is a great dish to share. I love the chef's version of this classic dish. Again, other places can serve bone-in ribeye steak, but the smoky, grilled flavor is amazing. The only negative is that sometimes the ribeye may have a lot of fat. Sometimes, I'm cutting away 20% of the steak. I'll have to search back and find a picture of their ribeye and post it.
Overall, as a local, I enjoy eating here and trying their different dishes. They're all pretty good. Coming out of the pandemic, they had the best outdoor patio seating arrangement: cozy, front patio and a large parking lot patio, all with ample patio heaters. I prefer the indoor seating but it can get really loud when busy. I also gave only 4-stars for service, because sometimes, they seem understaffed. The service staff are good and friendly, but can be overwhelmed during peak hours. Thus we eat early and leave early, often taking our leftovers and walking back home. It's great to take a nice walk after dinner.
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