The Local Peasant - Sherman Oaks Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My wife and I are HUGE fans of another Antonia Lofaso joint, Dama, in downtown LA. So when we suddenly got great news on a random Wednesday and wanted to celebrate, we decided to give The Local Peasant a try. We quickly booked a reservation on Resy and headed north to Sherman Oaks.

Dama sets a really high bar with its food, and for us The Local Peasant didn't get to that level. I'd say it's good, but not great.

We started with cocktails and starters--if you're into whiskey you'll definitely like the bar options. For a starter we ordered the Brussel sprouts, and they were good. Well charred so you got that crisp bite you want, but the balsamic glaze pulls the char back a bit behind the bitterness line, to make for a well-balanced plate.

Moving on to main courses, we had a REALLY tough time deciding what to order, as there are many dishes that sound so good when reviewing the menu. Ultimately I settled on the turkey pot pie, because how often can you really get a good, scratch-made pot pie in LA? My wife ordered the fish & chips, and we got a side of charred broccolini to share as well. The fish & chips were definitely the better entree--thick-cut fries with some ENORMOUS pieces of fried fish. Probably the largest portion of fish in a fish & chips that I've ever seen, honestly. I'm sad to report, my pot pie was no bueno! If you're like me and eat with your eyes first, you see the server deliver the pot pie and you're like, "Wow, this is gonna be epic!" Crispy, flaky crust on top, and inside big chunks of turkey and carrots swimming in a creamy sauce. On point, right? WRONG. I couldn't put my finger on what was throwing the flavor off, but it was VERY acidic tasting, almost like someone had dumped like lime juice in the pot pie or something? The sauce inside the pot pie looked creamy but you got zero creamy notes when you actually tasted it. My wife confirmed, it tasted off to her as well. Also, the charred broccolini was anything but--there was zero char on them. Like, not "not enough char," but "literally NO char anywhere." It read more like it had been steamed than charred. It was still good, but it's definitely a misprint to called it charred if that's how it's usually served. Between the broccolini and the pot pie, we came away a bit disappointed.

Service was a little slow at times, which I found odd considering there was hardly anyone there. But staff was friendly and accommodating for sure, especially the bartender with the big beard (I didn't get his name, sadly). He was chatting me up about our whiskey choices, and asked if I had tried one of the other kinds they offer, which I hadn't. He brought me a small amount of it in a glass, on the house, just so I could give it a try and we could compare it to the other whiskeys we had ordered. I thought that was really cool--definitely not something that happens every time you go out (especially in LA), so shout-out to that bartender!

All in all, a good, but not great, experience, especially when compared to other Lofaso restaurant experiences. Although I would give it another chance on another night if I find myself in Sherman Oaks--there were many other dishes on the menu that sounded worth a try. I'd say give The Local Peasant a try, just definitely avoid the pot pie, and remember to chat up...

I've been wanting to try The Local Peasant for a while cause of my proximity but just kept pushing it off. I finally went in the other day and honestly, I'd prefer if I kept pushing it off.

Off the bat it is just any other generic Restobar. Minimal decor means you can easily forget what restaurant. Even the exterior of the place offers no hint that it is even a restaurant thanks to lack of signage. The waiter we had was polite, attentive, and probably the only highlight of the visit.

The food, while tasty, was lacking. We started with the Truffle Macaroni and cheese with bacon, which turned out to be Penne Pasta in a runny alfredo. I have no clue why anyone would call this Macaroni and Cheese when the cheese is simply a runny sauce that was more truffle than cheese and the Macaroni is a completely different pasta. Also, to pay extra for Bacon on it and there be maybe a quarter of an ounce of bacon is insulting. Overall the Macaroni and cheese is a collosal failure. Just call it Penne in an alfredo sauce and you're off to a better start, however, even then the sauce was too runny and you still have the insult of paying extra for bacon and having no bacon in it.

I had the Fish n Chips for my main. The chips were larger than I'd normally prefer. I feel all of them could have been cut in half and still been large chips. As they are, while the outside was crisp the chips are too large to get that really good pillowy inside. The fish were also good. Good breading, Good crisp, good flavor, but they delivered it on a metal tray which was considerably cooler than the fish, therefore condensation quickly formed so the entire underside of each fish because soggy and they fell apart. Not only did they fall apart because of the failure of the breading to stay crisp, it felt like these were hunks of fish that were slapped together. Each chunk quickly came apart from the whole as you eat and without a truly crisp breading to keep them intact, they just fall to the plate creating a mess.

Overall this place seems to exist purely for the sports crowds. Come in, get drunk, watch the sports ball, and enjoy overpriced almost there food.

If you're looking for a place to actually eat though, there are better...

I've been coming to The Local Peasant for years. I've had birthday celebrations, dinners, and french-fry destination events here. I like the atmosphere, choices as a vegetarian, and always friendly service, and can say unequivocally that they have the best thick French Fries on any side of the Mississippi.

We move a bit further away and hadn't been in a while...so I was excited to return...the atmosphere was there, but the food and drink this time around were not quite what I had remembered.

I started with a watermelon cocktail. With the main ingredient being watermelon, and simple syrup included, I was surprised at how not-at-all sweet this was. I had to send it back to sweeten it up some. It came back sweeter, but the watermelon flavor was not as present as I would have wanted it.

The french fries - and I mean the thick ones, served criss-cross on the plate like lincoln logs were on point, and reason enough to visit this place.

The grilled cheese may have changed since the last time I had it. It was served on ciabatta bread so it didn't have the kind of satisfying "non-end piece" grilled bread situation you kind of want out of a grilled cheese. The cheese mix in it was pretty good though.

My son ordered the Beyond Burger and (blasphemy) the thinner fries. The fries were good but he (a teenager who lives for greasy foods and sugar) kept complaining that the burger was too greasy.

My wife assembled her own meal as the website menu didn't quite match what the actual menu was...She had salmon, bok choy, and fries (the good ones). The Bok Choy and of course the fries were great. She said she'd had better salmon here before. Perhaps slightly overcooked.

Our server was fantastic. Super nice. Like he was from Canada nice. (though he wasn't from Canada.) He even brought me a chocolate chunk bread pudding with a candle in it for my birthday. We devoured that.

I like it here a lot and think it may have just been a slightly off night for the food. (Possible also because I had planned on ordering the cheese board which was no longer...