The Local-Kitchen.Bar.Bakery — Restaurant in Lake Jackson

Great place! Atmosphere leads one to believe that The Local could be a fine dining establishment, requiring a specific attire in order to eat there.. However, they welcome any and all patrons (beach attire or professional attire. It doesn't matter). Service was excellent! We were waited on by Meghan, who was covering two opposite areas of the restaurant, and did an outstanding job. She was attentive, warm, fun and friendly, and didn't seem to be flustered by her current situation at all. In fact, the hostess assisted Meghan by bringing us water, place setting and asking what we would like to drink. It's not everyday where you see the host staff and the wait staff working as a team. We initially order the artisan bread and herb butter. Bread was hot! Butter was incredible! Probably could've made a meal out of those, but we were eager to try other items. My wife ordered the Chicken Fried Steak, with mashed potatoes, green beans and cream gravy. I ordered the Cajun Penne Pasta with chicken, sausage and sun dried tomatoes (with extra sauce). The portions were surprisingly large (doggie bags were needed). The Chicken Fried Steak was some of the best we have tasted! Green beans cooked perfectly. Potatoes were creamy, soft, but firm and delicious. The cajun pasta was probably some of the best I have ever had! We asked Meghan to give our compliments to the chef and kitchen staff. The meal was priced very reasonably. The staff - Warm and friendly. Great atmosphere. Food - excellent! All in all, The Local was outstanding!! We will...

Breakfast review. Get the "Local Monster" taco. It's large enough you may share it with your partner or family, or buy them one and keep it to yourself. There frankly isn't a better breakfast taco in all of Southern Brazoria Count. The only down side is the Local opens so late that breakfast is hard to make This is due to the realities of Covid and too small a morning attendance by the locals prior to the pandemic anyway. But it's a great breakfast Taco, and the coffee here is really good too. If I just woke up at 11 am.....

Lunch Review - again 5 stars. Best hamburger in the county as well. With a side of fries this flame-broiled bad boy is a treat. Just don't order it after the Local Monster or you might be visiting our equally efficient ER for having eaten too much. Large Lunch menu. Food is great.

Dinner Review - 3 stars. There is something that happens to this restaurant between lunch and dinner and it's when the establishment attempts to convert from a "counter-order" to a "seated dining" experience - with waitstaff, menus and making formal orders for dinner. Honestly, the place struggles in this transition. While it is a "go to" for Lunch (and for breakfast if it wasn't so late), dinner is usually second on the list to other locations nearby that - if too crowded - I'd head over to the Local. Great potential but is not fully...

This restaurant is fantastic.

I can't believe such a restaurant exists in Lake Jackson, being a fairly small town. The food was excellent, and on par with high-level Houston restaurants. It just had that special, delicious taste and fancy presentation that you only get with higher-level restaurants. I don't know if it's the head chef, the recipes, the ingredients, or a combination of those. But those who have had enough really good restaurant food know what I'm talking about.

And the prices were incredible. We had a bottle of wine, plus meals for 4 adults and 1 child, and the grand total was like $120, and that includes tip. If we didn't have the wine, it would have been well below $100 -- for 4 adults and 1 child at a very nice sit-down restaurant! I really liked the bakery display in the front of the restaurant when you walk in -- gives the restaurant a nice higher-level feel. Our waitress was very genuinely sweet. She struck the perfect balance of care-taking, but not checking up too often. (This was Saturday evening 9/03/2022.)

If you are in the Freeport / Brazosport / Clute / Lake Jackson / Brazoria area, this should be your first choice.

The only negative I can think of was the evening lighting was maybe a tad too...