Local On The Square

I want to like local. I used to love it… but lately the food is just horrible. I dont mind paying their higher than average prices when the food is good. But the last 2 times I’ve been I feel like I’ve gotten ripped off. I went last night and had one of the worst meals I’ve had out in a long time. I got the short ribs with fries. It was just 2 bone in short ribs that were nothing but gristle and fat. There was hardly any edible meat on the plate, and the meat that was there wasn’t tender or flavorful. I paid about 17 for less than 2 ounces of real meat.
My friend got the pork shank with grits. The pork was OK, but I’ve had much better. The grits were an abomination. How can you mess up something as simple as cheese grits?
The only good part of the meal was the bacon blondie. That blondie alone bumped my rating up to 2 stars. It’s an outstanding dessert… one of the best in the city. It’s a shame the rest of the meal was so horrible.
Babalu, Lafayettes, Bayou, Bar Louie are all better options at Overton Square now. Not sure what has happened to the kitchen at local but it’s really gone downhill.

Waited 40mins for some simple BLT sliders!!! Waitress, Heather, was HORRIBLE. She seemed to get an attitude with me bc I inquired about my food taking so long! After the food arrived, I boxed it and asked for a «to go» box. It took her 15mins to bring our ticket. Needless to say, my food was cold then. I don’t think I will EVER return! Bummer

Tried to go there YET AGAIN in my wheelchair. Once again the handicapped entrance was locked, a violation of the fire code. Last time the hostess not only had to unlock the door so we could enter, but had to make the party of 8 get up and move the table so we could enter. I told the manager this was unacceptable. She said she was sorry and that the owner had a relative that was in a wheelchair. I told her that I have a friend who is black. I notified the Fire Marshall who gave them a warning. Seems handicapped people are not welcome here.

Food took over 30 min to come out and was cold. Ordered a miller lite that took 20 min to come out that I was told I would be comped for that I was still charged for. Not coming back!

**They no longer have a pint night on Wednesdays
This place is OK. Sometimes I go and I’m a super happy girl. That was mostly when I could feel better spending a bit more on their expensive (but tasty) food because the beers were reasonably priced on pint night. Sadly, they’ve done away with pint night, so a single beer will cost you $ 6+. At this cost, you may as well get a house made cocktail. So I did, and it was super weak and not the quality I’ve experienced other places for a $ 10 cocktail. Bummer.
Service at a booth/​table has always been great. The hostesses are super friendly. The bartenders not so much.
That said, the food is delicious. And I still love the look and feel of this place.

I’ll come out and say it — I’m a fan of this place. It’s usually my default spot when indecision of where/​what to eat takes root. I get some of the negative reviews about the service spotty and the food being ok — I’ve had those same feelings before. For me, they’ve been the minority of my visits, but if it happens the first or only time you’ve been, I get the frustration. I do sometimes think they coast on being a big, cool, hip spot in Overton Square.
Lately, my weekend routine includes a brunch visit — I sit at the bar, order a couple of mimosas, eat a yummy plate of fried chicken and waffles, and watch whatever game is on. The bartenders are cool and friendly, and are happy to either chat you up or leave you alone, depending on your mood. My glass is never empty, and I’ve found a dish that I actually find myself craving throughout the week. It’s not healthy and it’s not inexpensive, but I always enjoy my time there.

My wife and I came here after a football game. The food was just ok. The biggest issue I had was that this place is that the chef who came up with the menu was trying too hard to be different. Everything has something that really shouldn’t be there. I understand putting a twist on an old favorite, but nobody needs curry powder and cinnamon on their fish and chips.
It’s a bit pricy, and doesn’t know what it wants to be. That said, everything was fresh, the whiskey and beer list were good, as was the service.

This place seems like the place to be, but after you get past the trendy looks and fancy sounding menu, you realize it’s overpriced and the food is just average. They do have a good selection of beers, but I wouldn’t waste my money on the food again.

Merp, not my favorite place. They do have a nice pint night with a good selection. The food options are overpriced and not vegan friendly. The servers are hit and miss. The atmosphere is cool, but meh. I like to munch on snacks while I drink, so I’ll only go here if someone else wants to.

I used to go and do some writing here during the weekdays. It has a chill vibe, good food, and GREAT drinks, including beer and cocktails. The staff is friendly and will remember you after a few visits. It can be a bit of a madhouse during the weekend, but hey, it’s all fun, and I’ve never waited more than a couple minutes at the bar for a drink. Great place for a date, and their brunch is out of this world! The patio is a nice touch as well, although it’s on the North side of the building so don’t expect much sun except for the middle of summer.

Good place for an impromptu dinner with friends and you don’t have a reservation anywhere else– they usually can fit a large group. They had a good beer selection but were out of 3 types I had asked for, finally gave up and switched to Meiomi the old faithful red.
Service is always good. Food is usually good, but a little salty in my opinion and not enough «healthier» options– because of this, it’s not my first choice on the Square.

Pretty easy review… this was our last stop for the night with our group. We hopped restaurants and bars for a few hours and decided to call it a night afterwards. We climbed upstairs and had a beer with the bartender on the clock. He was very nice and easy to talk to. Our group decided to chill out and linger around so I can’t say I was able to check out too much of the spot. I definitely want to order food next time… their menu looked delicious. Overall, nice place to stop for an ice cold beer and to visit with friends. I hope to update my review the next time we come home for a visit.

I want to state upfront that when I came here, it was for a somewhat special event upstairs, but it was still a deal where everyone ordered off the regular menu and everything, so I still feel okay leaving a review. But I at least wanted to note that my experience was with the upstairs area and not downstairs.
That all being said, I thought the area upstairs was nice, very cosy. The chairs looked incredibly uncomfortable, but luckily I got there early enough that I was able to grab a sofa and sit there. Plenty of televisions to be able to watch what’s on. Despite the upstairs being completely full by the time we ordered our food, all seating was full and very little standing room, the waitstaff/​bartenders were great. Definitely stayed on top of things and made sure we got refills, our food came out, at least as much as was humanly possible given how busy they were. But at no point were we ignored or anything.
In my opinion though, the prices are a little high for the food. Entrees are all at or around $ 20, for me that’s kinda steep. I’m not expecting $ 7 or anything, just a couple dollars less.
The food was good though. Fish and chips were good, some places just batter fish in bland batter but I was told by the person I was with that the batter had a good flavour to it, and it was crispy. I got the burger and that was awesome. The onion jam was really good, it tasted like a slight hint of beer so I wonder if that’s what the base for the jam was. Not a bad thing at all, just an observation. The burger was perfectly cooked, good amount of cheese. The fries were good too, they were salted but not overly so, they actually tasted like something. Some places just have really bland fries but here they were really good. There’s also stuff like poutine on the appetiser menu so if that’s up your alley, you’ll love it because the fries are great.

Pros:
The whiskey selection made my husband drool. We will soon be returning JUST for that! And bar fries, of course…
The location is hip — let’s be real, we all wanna feel like we’re foodies here. This place makes it happen.
The raw oysters are outrageous. Fresh, salty, and PERFECT. We’re from the Gulf Coast, and this was the taste of home we were looking for!
The waitress was friendly. She complimented my lipstick… Gotta love a good ego boost.
The wings were spicy. I love spicy wings. BOOM.
The blonde brownie had bacon… need I say more?
Cons:
The waitress took a while to greet us after the hostess seated us.
The waitress took even longer to come back and take our orders after the initial greeting.
The ‘poutine style’ fries are definitely more ‘style’ than true poutine — I’m Canadian, I know these things. The short rib on those fries was over salted… More water please!
We weren’t acknowledged when we walked out the door, despite walking past a hostess and three waiters… Oopsies.
Conclusion? Come here for the food (other than the poutine) but know you are paying for prime eats and mediocre service.
We’ll be back for the oysters!

Great food, average service.
We visited on a Wednesday night and it was quite busy. Good atmosphere and the décor is just fine.
The menu is awesome. There was plenty to choose from but we finally decided on the tv dinner (meatloaf) and the short rib sandwich. Both of these dishes were amazing. Couldn’t fault either of them at all.
I decided to sample the bacon maple blondie for dessert which was not great. And served with two spoons made it pretty difficult to eat.
The service was efficient enough but certainly not friendly. This goes for everyone we came across in the pub — not just our server.

Service: although server was nice, he did not check in after meals were served OR to refill drinks.
Hostess saw me struggling to enter with my son and his stroller and did not open the door for me, I was clearly struggling as they do not have a ramp… And no changing tables in bathrooms. Not kid friendly at all.
Food — Serve Ware — Ambiance
If a places lunch menu’s price point averages $ 20 per meal then they better bring it all the way around. This is a bar — hard seats — crappy cheap serve ware. My fork was a baby’s fork. When eating a $ 20 dish, I want serve ware that I can’t bend with one hand. And I don’t want to have to pour my own water out of a jug that has a DIRTY tip.
Also if I am paying $ 20 for an entrée — I want more options that FRIES as my side!
Food Ordered:
Mac Tots: glorified cheese sticks. The breading needed seasoning as they had no flavor.
Shrimp Roll: Literally shrimp tossed in mayo and placed on a hot dog bun. No flavor aside from tasting overly «shrimpy’…which is sorta like tasting fishy. Which is not a good thing. I took two bites and the rest wasted.
Fish and Chips: This was good — batter was flavorful and crispy however not worth $ 16 and served with literally a dab of tarter sauce. My husband was kind enough to share this with me since my meal was not edible. And there was barely enough tarter for one of the fish sticks… and since our server never came back by — we made due.
The best part of the entire meal were the fries. I love a good, hot, salty homemade french fry — and that they delivered on.
I am truly appalled this place is still in business. There are so many places that serve up way better food, and way better dining experience.

For brunch, I had the French toast Monte Cristo
It has Guyer cheese
and spicy capicola
and a blueberry dipping sauce
I ordered it with a side of thick cut bacon.
It was wonderful and plentful
(wished I would have split it with my wife)
We had the «hoper» ful of mimosa and split it between 3 guest,
it had plenty of bubbles and all has a nice little buzz when we finished it.

I feel like I should update my review since I’m here literally every week. My main problem is they have no consistency whatsoever.
For example, I waited for an order that I called in 40 minutes prior… they said it would be ready in 20… but clearly forgot to even put it in. Annoying… and has happened more than once.
That being said, they have the best chicken and waffles in Memphis. Seriously, my favorite brunch item in the 901. They’re like crack… but expensive. Speaking of expensive, drinks are definitely on the «eeek» side price wise. I rarely come here just for drinks, because if I only have 2 or 3, I’m still looking at a $ 25 – 35 bar tab (not including tip).
But their location can’t be beat, and the food IS good… especially that lobster mac and cheese (just be sure to order extra lobster). All in all, I like this place. I just wish their bar stools and chairs upstairs were more comfortable.

Local is good for 3 things.
1. Watching the Tigers play
2. People watching opportunities
3. Picking up chicks from Germantown or Collierville that consider midtown the downtown. Midtown is midtown, and downtown is downtown. Let’s not mix that up.
Personally the few times I’ve gone; I have always preferred the upstairs sitting in the lounge chairs by the window than anywhere else. It isn’t as loud upstairs if you come early rather than later.
Prices are more on the higher end which doesn’t make sense for the area. This isn’t Bosco’s. The prices don’t match the quality.
They do have a good beer selection, but I’d go elsewhere for food. Not saying the food isn’t edible, but money could be spent better than here. Save this for an after dinner place.

I am so confused on how this place got 3 stars! I’m guessing someone got pissed about service or something and wrote a bizarre review after they had their bald alien baby.
The food and atmosphere is one of the best I’ve had in Memphis. We had the poutine and duck quesadilla and let me tell you; I AM THE POUTINE CONNOISSEUR and the braised short rib poutine is enough to go back everyday for. I wish the duck quesadilla was a little more crispy but it was still very enjoyable.
Love love love the couches and the warmth this place brings. You must stop by and give it a try!