Local 92 — Restaurant in New York

amazing customer service, amazing food. Amazing atmosphere. I don’t write google reviews but once i took a bite of the local92 burger, i was left star struck. You see, my girlfriend, her sister, our friend and I had just had a terrible and rude experience with a dirty mouthed worker at a dress store. Could’ve been owner but honestly I don’t care. We originally wanted to find somewhere to eat pasta when the homey interior of this restaurant caught our eyes, that and the fact that it was nice and cool inside compared to the scorching heat. The waiter/bartender greeted us and told us we could sit wherever we’d like. We chose one of the normal tables as it was only four of us and he gave us plenty time to look over the menu. After we all decided on what we wanted, we called him over and he took our orders. Three of us ordered the local92 burger special meanwhile my girlfriend ordered a chicken parm sandwich which i honestly was debating on getting but i’m a sucker for a good burger. I got mine with the two sunny side up eggs. Now as we were waiting for the food, I personally was admiring how cozy and familiar the dining room felt. The art pieces all correlated to eachother as it had classic cartoon characters painted in an abstract style. All i can say is the dining room was very well put together and made sense. Only complaint however. We ordered cokes and even tho they were poured straight from the can. They were flat and had a watered down taste but that’s completely understandable as it happens at times. But what happened next totally made up for it times a million. The food came to us and we were all excited to eat after the long day we had. I put the eggs in my burger and get ready for the first bite. As soon as the flavor hit my taste buds, I was star struck. I don’t know what it was about this burger but saying it was delicious would be an understatement. The spices worked so well all in one and it all came together so beautifully. It was a symphony of flavors, the patty was juicy and flavorful, the bread was sweet and perfectly toasted, and the cheese was perfectly cut and melted and stretched so satisfyingly. Don’t even get me started on what i assumed to be an aioli sauce. We were given a side of ketchup and the aioli sauce and when i tell you we had to order more sauce, it was THAT GOOD. I did not touch the ketchup at all. I dipped my burger in the sauce and it boosted the flavor tenfold. We all devoured our plates and even my girlfriend enjoyed her chicken parm, of course i took a bite of hers as it’s just in typical partner fashion but the parm was on par with the burger but obviously in its own league. I will say this, the park should come with marinara to dip but i’m sure we could’ve ordered that. Overall, one of the best dining experiences in my life. Truly amazed on why it was packed especially during lunch. Would it be selfish to say i want to gatekeep? Next time i’m we visit, i’m trying the meatball hero...

This place is bizarre. No complaints about the food itself, but their service is tragic. The most recent time I went, despite having a reservation, they claimed they were overbooked and had to put my table in what they called "the speakeasy" which really turned out to be a glorified storage closet. Most of the meal was spent dodging staff coming in and out to store/retrieve things. After our waiter took our order, he disappeared for an hour. When we finally got up and tracked him down he informed us that the kitchen was flooded and they stopped making food. We then asked for and payed the check, but noticed other people in the main dining room (not "the speakeasy") still receiving and eating food. We asked a different waiter about the flooded kitchen and he informed us that there was no such thing. We then sat back down and our waiter said he would re-enter our oder. Another hour later we finally got our food. We asked for some sort of compensation on the bill for the ordeal, which our waiter reluctantly agreed to. However it was quite minimal.

Another time I tried to pick up an order that I had placed through Seamless. When I arrived at the specified pick up time they told me it was not ready yet but that it should be out shortly. After waiting over a half hour and asking for updates repeatedly, they finally informed me that it must have been accidentally taken by a different customer. I assumed they would remake it, but they told me there was a fire in their kitchen and they could no longer make any more food for the night (sounds familiar right?).

I will say the few times I was successfully able to eat here it was great. But beware of their...

Flying solo today. Time to up the ante on l exploring those back streets of popular and not so popular places of NYC. From #littleitalynyc to #chinatownnyc and everything in between, it was a walk of discovery that cements my reason for travelling. People. Food. Culture. Plus expanding my world view and as always - humbling. I ended up in the popular part of town #littleitalynyc at happy hour. I found @local92nyc in #mulberrystreet which somehow drew me in for its happy hour and I stayed for two. Texted JT to join me and we were reunited for another NYC experience. Although I didn’t have a meal, I will return, just on the superb service I received. Wanthy and Eric were my hosts and wow! What a great team. So friendly, accomodating and focussed on their guests. Thank you. The menu is enticing and certainly the interior design itself should draw people in. Bonus although that’s not the right word, I ended up chatting to Adam who recognised my accent. We chatted for two hours. It was a tough day for him yet he shared his story and we united on the grief of losing a parent. His mother was a nurse through the Covid pandemic, in particular working with the elderly. Before I left he thanked me for “listening and not judging”. Say no more. A reminder to thank those front line workers during that tumultuous time of 2020/2021. Today was a day of reawakening. Being amongst the locals and the communities that make up NYC. I’m somewhat speechless as I write this. My cup is full.

#thewanderingreviewer #local92 #local92nyc #local92soho #sohorestaurant...