Local Loaf — Restaurant in Charlotte

A good friend of mine was in town last weekend and we decided to go to brunch that Sunday. I found a hidden gem off the beaten path in NODA. It's called the Local Loaf. It's very unpretentious and welcoming from the outside. Wooden picnic tables line the corner perimeter of the building. The inside isn't fancy either. Simple, spartan and comfortable. You'll find the menu online. No paper or laminated cards here. There was a gray haired gentleman taking orders and he was very friendly and knowledgable about the fare they offered. His name is Jay. So is mine. Anyhoo, there were only three people working...Jay, taking orders, one cook and a dynamite server who not only served, but helped the cook on the line. Jay told us that they had in excess of 30 call-in orders so it may be about 30 minutes before we would be served. We instantly liked this little place so much, we decided we didn't mind at all. Jay served us two cups of freshly brewed Smelly Cat coffee in rustic stoneware mugs and we quickly found an empty picnic table outside and settled in. My friend and I chit-chatted about everything and nothing as we are prone to do. Quaint little bungalow houses lined the streets of the intersection where the restaurant is located. We were in the shade and the fresh, hot cups of coffee fended off the lightest chill in the breeze. Our food finally arrived and the server, I forgot her name, placed it in front of us with a big smile on her face. We had a short friendly conversation and she left us to enjoy our brunch. And enjoyed it, we did! I ordered Croque Madam and it was everything. Brioche, nice salty, smoky ham, the morney and the cheese topped with the Sunnyside up egg. I lived in Montmartre, Paris and the Croque took me back to those days at Cafe Remy. Had my first of many there. I digress. My friend had light and fluffy waffles, bacon and overeasy eggs. She said for a simple meal, it was perfect. Cheers to the cook at Local Loaf! We will definitely come back. You don't come across little...

Visited for brunch after looking for a "new" place to visit. The restaurant was nice and was snuggled in a very "quiet" community. Parking was a challenge, and so was seating. I tried to make reservations, but the restaurant did not allow this feature. However, with limited parking and seating, this would be a good option to help with traffic in and around the restaurant .

The wait for a table was not so bad, but the wait to receive our order was extremely long. ( People that came after our party were being served, but it was random dishes at these tables. Not everyone at the table was served.)

*Please note that I pay close attention to service and where we are in reference to the order that we come into a restaurant.

Once our food arrived, I was disappointed with my Shrimp and Grits. The dish was very salty. The eggs with the pancake breakfast were also very salty. The pancakes and bacon were okay, but the pancakes were cooked very well and mostly hard rather than fluffy. The Spanish Omelet tasted very good. The Omelet was fluffy, not too much salt, and loaded with peppers, onions, and tomatoes.

The most disappointing thing about our experience was the poor service. No one came to refill our coffee (unless we asked) or ever came to check on us after we "finally" received our food. I would like to think that this experience was due to them being short staffed, but due to the entire dining experience, I...

The man at the front was super kind and helpful, and informed us of a wait time of 40-45 minutes. When an hour passed and we noticed people who were sat after us receiving their food, we asked a server to check for our food. We watched the server look for my ticket and ask others, then come back and confirm my name was the name on the ticket, which made it seem as if my ticket was lost. I assume they ended up finding the ticket as they repeated the order, and then finally began making our food. When we received our food, they forgot the pancake we ordered, which my sister was looking forward to the most. We asked the server if our ticket got lost and expected transparency and kindness, and instead the server told us it was the long wait time in a not-so-kind tone and walked off. I walked to the front after a few minutes as I noticed they were never going to bring the pancake, and was able to receive a refund for the pancake. However, I noticed some eye rolls from a nearby server when I explained the situation to the helpful man at the front, and was at least hoping we’d still receive the pancake, other food as an apology for losing the ticket, or even just a check in from a server explaining the situation in an honest way.

As someone who just moved to the area, I’ll never go back to this place after...