Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Local


Local is a gastropub located on South Main Street - former "Sauces" residence. What the he** is a gastropub, you say?? Straight from Wiki - A gastropub concentrates on quality food. The name is a combination of pub and gastronomy and was coined in 1991 when David Eyre and Mike Belben took over The Eagle pub in Clerkenwell, London. The concept of a restaurant in a pub reinvigorated both pub culture and British dining, though has occasionally attracted criticism for potentially removing the character of traditional pubs. Personally, I'm not criticizing. I like the idea. I like the idea of going to a rustic, casual bar atmosphere with some friends and having a break from your typical bar double fried potato skins food. Instead, you get that chill atmosphere with good, quality food like grilled flatbreads, shrimp and grits, seared ahi tuna, seared sea scallops, chorizo bacon burger with sweet chipotle aioli....you get the idea. Now, the food is a little more pricey than your average bar, but trust me, it's worth a couple of extra bucks. At Local, you have plenty of options in the $10 range, but you can also decide to splurge and order one of their $25 range steak, chops, or fish entrees. This past week, some friends and I attended a free kickoff event with Bravo Arts downtown. Afterwards, we left around 9ish with growling stomachs. So, we just strolled on down to Local, which was only four or five doors down on South Main. Now, I've been to the only other gastropub in Memphis - SOB (South of Beale) - and I really liked it! It's actually on South Main as well, but more toward the arts district. I went before the birth of our blog so that's why I have not reviewed it yet. Yet being the operative word here. Anyway, in comparison I liked Local almost just as much. The food was very tasty, reasonably priced, and creatively a little more upscale than your average bar food. However, I thought Local's atmosphere was a little more dull than SOB's. It seemed less friendly, colder, and not as fun, for lack of a better word. We did go to Local on a Thursday night and I believe I went to SOB on a Friday or Saturday night so that may have something to do with it. At local, I split the goat cheese, asparagus, and pancetta grilled flatbread with a friend (not just any friend, the ballllllin' Katie!) and it was delicious!! A must order if you go. Everyone else got a hodge podge of stuff - burger, fries, iceberg wedge salad, bbq chicken flatbread, etc. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food. I would recommend visiting both gastropubs because you get delicious food with a fun, chill, and stay-a-while atmosphere. Oh and girls, they also have fun and spunky cocktails - a nice choice if you're tired of your typical bar beer. Oh and boys, with the big flat screens, I can imagine both of these places being fun to watch some big football games this fall. If you want a more "hoppin" atmosphere, I would try SOB over Local. Regardless, I'm a big fan of the gastropub idea. And, whoever decided to bring them to Memphis...well, I want to be your friend=) I give Local 3 stars and will be back someday to review SOB. Here's a peek inside Local until you go....

3 comments:

  1. Hey who did you split that flatbread pizza with? I bet she's awesome!

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  2. please see revised edition above....:)

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  3. Agreed - that was a solid wedge. I guess the other thing I had wasn't too memorable.

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