Lackluster Local

The Local

My return to Charlottesville has already been filled with lots of tast(e)y eats. All in NYC, as I've been out of town every weekend since August. My one outing (beyond Mas, yet again), has been The Local, a new trendy-ish place in Belmont. This neighborhood, with Crush, Mas, and now the Local, is clearly attempting some weird kind of revival. We'll see if it actually works.

The Local boasts, well, local ingredients and flavors. It's not particularly spendy, but then again it's not cheap. Entrees are generally in the high teens, and the burger alone costs $11 (although compared to the DB burger, this is fast food prices). The reason I'm launching into price right away? With this weird middle ground of cost also comes a weird middle ground of a menu. There's nothing particularly ingenious about anything available. We've all seen it before; Pork Chops and mashed potatoes, Short Ribs with pearl onions, "The Chicken" with prosciutto and basil. It certainly sounds like stick to your ribs food (I honestly don't know how much that carries through - I had the burger, more to follow), but at the same price Bizou offers that weighty feeling with more...ingenuity. That was honestly the biggest disappointment with the local menu, that The Local also refers to local (read: middle-of-nowhere Virginian town) tastes.

The drink menu seemed exciting at first, and The Local actually does a Late Night food menu, which seemed like the perfect combination. Across the board, though, The Local seemed to fall. On wine, a friend was disappointed with her Riesling (it was flat and missing the crispness). As for my "Localjito" I could barely taste the rum, and the whole drink seemed watered down. For $9 in NYC, I'd expect this drink. In Charlottesville, I was hoping for more.

And about that burger. It was a solid burger. Caramelized onions, smoked bacon, the usual. The added umph (and cost) was the Manchego cheese. Manchego is one of my favorites (See generally The Number of Times I've Been to Mas), the subtlety was completely killed by the onions, bacon, and rest of the burger. It could've been any cheese. For the same price I'm interested in Boylan Heights (formerly Orbit Bar) with ts own local flavor (meat from the Organic Butcher, and buns from ABC, both at Main Street Market). Or see the review on Beer Run for that matter.

The saving grace was the Fries. Enough to share, and a really good balance of crispiness, fries say so much about the bistro. But a friend's steak fritte didn't seem to be particularly amazing, and with other options (read: Zinc) at much better prices (read: Monday night discount), the fries alone can't justify a restaurant.

Dessert was a brownie sundae and strawberry shortcake, both of which were forgettable and a waste of money. By the time the sundae reached us, there was none of that hot/cold contrast that I live for. Get dessert elsewhere.

In fact, get dinner elsewhere.

-M.