The Local Oak

The wait staff sits at the bar on his ass instead of taking orders. Had to flag down someone else to get order for drinks and food. Prior to that he was taking selfies with the local drunk. Posted a pic of them on here.

A long-​awaited night out with my two best friends led us here. One of them had moved to Winnetka Heights so we stopped in at this joint for a relaxed dinner. All I can say is… yessss. The restaurant has a modern-​rustic but divey feel and was the perfect environment for a Saturday night of catching up. We wanted to avoid getting right into the middle of Bishop Arts (so we didn’t have to wait an hour to eat) and this is on the outskirts. There was plenty of seats open and our waitress was attentive and knew how to answer all of our questions about the menu.
The drink menu was eclectic and could satisfy just about any kind of cocktail you fancy. I tried the Wild Orchid and The Local Oak — drinks on complete opposite end of the flavor spectrum. The Wild Orchid was fruity but light and sparkly, with what tasted like hints of grapefruit. The Local Oak was also perfect with picked red onion and basil — omg. Just so good.
I ordered the tuna melt. It was fresh, the toast was crunchy; the sandwich had a creaminess to it even, and I loved it. I only wish I lived closer. I could see this being a place I would frequent often if I did.

I ate at this place on last night the waitress Nicole was very friendly and nice. my order which consisted of the off the hook was awesome!!! everything was great and the atmosphere was very nice and upscale.

Certainly a fun experience. Atmosphere is great and our mixed drinks were great! They have some unique ones on the menu. Nobody received a bad meal and many of us tried each other’s food. Everything was so good we wouldn’t know what to order if we went back.

I will absolutely come here again. Terrific food, atmosphere and service. Good bar as well.

Came here for a friend’s birthday on Saturday night. Was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no wait and that they have hour happy hour all day on Saturdays. I ordered the Mango Daq and another friend ordered the Wild Orchid. Both were amazing! For appetizer, we ordered the queso, which was a white queso with good flavor. As an entrée, I ordered the chicken fried steak. It was so tender and had a hatch chile and cheese topping that was not too spicy that went so well with the steak. It also came with a side of mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini/​squash. Overall, we had a wonderful experience and already have plans to come back soon.

A quaint rustic restaurant off Zang and W 7^th Street near Bishop Arts District.
Food and staff were very good. The biggest surprise was Spam on the menu. Now anyone who has been to Hawaii knows the cook feasts with Spam. So green eggs and Spam was a treat for us at brunch today.

Went there for my birthday dinner. The place is nice. The waiter forgot my friends order (didn’t even put it in). When everyone got their food she was sitting waiting, starving. I have worked in the restaurant industry in the past. I think her meal should have been comped at least received an apology from the manager.

Great food, great drinks! Super cool little place, only complaint is the noise level gets pretty high because of the open (but awesome looking) ceiling.

Very disappointing. With this bar being in the heart of bishop hearts and looking like a very cool and chill place– a server (who was already off) greeted us when he realized that we were just standing there. He took our order and was very nice. Then, randomly the bartender came out of from somewhere and said, «kitchens closed.» great– because it’s 10 o’clock and were here for drinks only… The bartender who looks like guy Ferrari was not polite or at all ! Short and inattentive Even when there are only 10 people (including us). This place has so much potential — but no wonder it’s dead on a Saturday night :(

On my visit, the local oak had pretty average food and average service. It looked like they may have been a little understaffed which is maybe why things felt a little slow during our lunch visit. The lunch specials didn’t allow substitions or modifications (they were pre made so, for example, i couldnt get a wrap without mayo). I got a very salty cup (not bowl) of tortilla soup for $ 6. My friends got the lunch enchilada special and they seemed satisfied. I probably wouldn’t go back for the food, but I might go back to try a few beers.

Just what the Dr. Ordered!!! Stated afternoon brunch with a bucket of love, perfectly seasoned bacon. They nailed it.
Then green eggs and spam for my lady. Voted best spam in Dallas with superbly prepared eggs and fresh fruit.
The Fritos pie for me was excellent the portion somewhat small but for the price if you bitch you really don’t get it, order two.
The service here is prompt and friendly, the ladies room was described as beautiful spacious and clean.
I would return when in the area.

The food and cocktails were excellent. The service was also good. We ordered the chicken fried steak and the enchiladas and we pretty much cleaned our plates. I really encourage everyone to go out and try this place. It would be a shame to lose them.

Great food and great craft cocktails !!
Took my daughter she three and they are great with kids
Loved it

There is something to be said for simply being nice. Many times we run into people who have been in the restaurant industry way too long. This was definitely not the case at The Local Oak.
I went in for a late lunch. My server/​bartender/​everything was Hillary (sp?). She was a breath of fresh air. She looked and acted as if she genuinely enjoyed her job. From the time I arrived to the time we spent trying to figure out the our last Schlitz sighting, Hillary made my experience worth the trip.
Then there was the food. I read about the burger, but I saw a meatloaf sandwich on the lunch menu. I treat meatloaf like bread pudding. I am an admitted snob regarding both. I had to order it. I figured the burger could wait, but it was a tough call. I don’t know how to really put this, but I felt like Vincent Vega after he tried that $ 5 milkshake. It was good. The kind of good where you just get quiet and don’t really care if your mouth has crumbs on it from the toasted bread. It was the kind of good where you don’t really care what you look like when you’re eating. The meatloaf sandwich came out with a companion of assorted fries, which did the trick.
That is one of the absolute best restaurant meatloaf recipes I’ve devoured. Hats off to Paul, the chef.
Hillary, you will see me again. Service is one of a kind.
Ok, the burger is next…

After leaving the Dallas Zoo this past weekend, we did a little exploring via the handy Unilocal app and discovered this little gem.
The Local Oak smacks of Austin, with a dim and divey vibe, a spacious garage-​type feeling and kitschy décor. The menu is unique and thoughtful with items like the Texas Surfer, featuring Spam (complete with tidbits of info from your server like how Spam is actually more healthy than your common hotdog with a short and pretty pure list of ingredients). Their cocktails are fun and creative, like the Wild Orchid which is a fruity /​champagne concoction with bright flavors. Candied Bacon is a best-​seller on the menu and there are lots of other fun and appetizing options.
Our server was as sweet as can be — we really enjoyed chatting with her and having her as part of our experience. However, it took what felt like 20 minutes to get our drink orders on the table once we placed them which is just way too long, I had to ask her to check on them and I’m sure the bartender forgot. In a restaurant that’s not busy at all, that’s irksome. But she had a 5 star personality :)
The owner, a native Austinite who clearly brought that personality with him, is also a 5 star gentleman and came by to chat us up when he found out we just moved in from there. He’s wonderful and we’re very happy patronize his restaurant.
Other fabulous perks include Geeks Who Drink pub trivia on Tuesday Nights which I’ll definitely have to get in on.
I had the soup & salad on the brunch menu and the tortilla soup was extremely flavorful and good. I’d like avocado and cheese in mine, but as a standard broth, chicken and tortilla strips it still really holds its own. The salad was very simple and fresh and extremely lightly dressed. I’d probably dress it up a bit more before ordering it next time.
My husband had the Cobb salad with buttermilk dressing and it was delish — and huge. Great portions there.
I’m glad we found this little spot and can see us doing some Bloody Mary brunch on their quaint patio in the near future!

I felt like I paid a very hefty price for a sandwich… Inside was just lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and a portobello mushroom. I couldn’t even get to the mushroom without eating 4 bites of bread and lettuce. Overall, not that great. Service was also slow even though there were only about 5 other tables.
I did like that their fries are a combination of tater tots, waffle fries, sweet potato fries, and regular fries. The best of all worlds!
I will probably come back because it’s a lovely place, and I want to give it another shot. Just avoid the portobello sandwich.

The Local Oak is located in the very cool Oak Cliff/​Bishop Arts area where there are several unique shops and restaurants. There are about 6 or so restaurants/​bars that are dog friendly within in few blocks of each other so we decided to brunch here with the pup.
We found a seat on the cool aqua and white patio which we had to all to ourselves. They have some awesome looking craft cocktails and brunchtails to include a carnivores bloody mary with candied bacon and spam along with a build your own Moscow Mule. Jesse ordered the super delicious Love Potion 409 and I kept it simple with a Sauvignon Blanc. I had drink envy when Jeese’s cocktail arrived. The tropical Love Potion was refreshing with coconut rum, pineapple, mint, jalapeño and fresh lime.
Our waitress mentioned that they are known for their Texas Surfers so I had to give them a try. Texas Surfers are grilled Spam sliders on Hawaiian rolls topped with homemade pineapple relish, crispy local slaw, Sriracha (I ordered mine on the side) and a generous portion of «fries». The mix of flavors complemented each other and I devoured every last bite of the 3 sliders. The fries are a mix of sweet potato fries, steak fries, waffle fries and hash browns. The sweet potato fries and hash browns were perfectly cooked and the right amount of crispiness but the waffle fries and steak fries were undercooked. Jesse ordered the migas tacos — scrambled eggs, black beans, pico, breakfast potatoes and fresh fruit on a cinnamon puffy fried tortilla. I tried a bite and thought the migas were great, the fruit was fresh and tasted great with the cinnamon but the breakfast potatoes were a but undercooked.
Some pluses:
— They grow their own herbs on the patio
— The patio is dog friendly and they bring water for your 4 legged friend
— They have a parking lot and lots of street parking nearby
— Our waitress was helpful in both making drink and food recommendations
— Happy hour Monday-​Friday from 11am-​7pm

Right on Zang, away from the Bishop Arts strip initially feels a bit dustier, like off a country road, and happily misplaced as an authentic hip kind of joint with cinder block patio walls and 1950’s metal lawn chairs outside.
Inside, tables with flower arrangements, an overly perky waitress, an older clientele, an 80s pop music soundtrack suited
for them and a boringly standard menu marked the calibrations to «carefully calculated marketing success.» Where the unique is forfeited for mainstream comfort with a few bones thrown toward the unusual like «spam sliders» but mainly the usual comfort foods done with a slight twist like fish and chips with whitefish fried with cornmeal.
Truthfully I wanted the Local Oak to be more cool than it is. Ten Bells down the street is an edgier version of pub that’s more my speed. But for an easy lunch with an older out of town guest this little place (really a café with a small beer menu.) hit positive notes.

Yo. This place = awesome.
We wanted something SUPER casual and knew this just opened, so giddyup. MP and I sat at the bar (which we often like to do) and I ordered a Moscow Mule. He ordered an old fashioned (random), and enjoyed it immensely! My drink was out of control delicious, and when I requested another the bartender asked if I would like it flavored… um, yes please! So I got a cucumber Moscow mule and I don’t think I’ve loved anything more. They also have good beers on tap and huge TV’s, so you could totally camp out at the bar and watch some sports on a lazy Saturday/​Sunday!
FOOD! We started with their chicken wings tossed in the Portuguese sauce. Listen up you fools… if you go here, order wings and do not get them in this sauce (as mentioned) I’m afraid I won’t like you anymore. The HUGE wings were so hot (temp wise), crunchy thick fried and super fresh! I probably could have eaten 20 of them! For dinner I got the open faced chicken caprese sandwich. It was good, the chicken portion was a little small, but I cut it in half and made myself an actual sandwich and it turned out to be PLENTY of food — with the fresh basil, tomato, and mozzarella. So no harm, no foul. Plus it was served with a variety of fries, waffle, sweet potato and regular — loved this idea! MP ordered the meatloaf which had chunks of bacon in it and served with whipped potatoes and green beans. He cleaned his plate.
The menu is small, but there is literally something from every food group on it. Enchiladas, salads, soup, meatloaf, burgers, nachos, wings, grilled cheese, and something called the «Bucket of Love» which is candied bacon. So basically its yummy bar bites and the kitchen is open till 10pm (wish it was open later). We need more late night eats in the Cliff.
The restaurant itself is totally laid back, MP and I were discussing how it would be so fun to bring some friends for a game night and just camp out here (can you imagine all the wings you could eat!!). Tons of different tables and the décor is great!
Our bartender was awesome and so friendly, gave great recommendations and thanked us for coming!!! Overall, the Local Oak is something I could def see myself becoming a regular at… yes, yes indeed.