Lokal

This was a really good place to eat. We had to wait over an hour but it was well worth it! I had the B.e.L.A.T. My wife had the wedge salad and skirt steak! You won’t be dissatisfied!!! Great wine for the price, too!!!

Most amazing pear salad!!! Best salad anywhere mushroom pasta tasted like no other AMAZING! Steak that melted in your mouth (grass fed) Truly best dinner ever… server– Joseph 100% satisfaction I promise.
DeDe

We found Lokal yesterday on an overnight to Carmel Valley. We stopped in for brunch and came back for dinner. Both meals were interesting, delicious and unusual. Brendan is very talented and it’s clear he is passionate about his craft and he cares about pleasing his customers. If you are looking for something quick, don’t come here. Come here for something good. He takes time to prepare each meal from scratch. The vibe here was good also. There were not very many diners when we were there and we got excellent service. Brendan was our waiter in the morning and Joseph waited on us at dinner. I’m looking forward to going back. I’m still thinking about the vegetarian Eggs Benedict with spinach and mushrooms. It was more than I could eat, but I wish I was eating some now. The pear salad was perfect.

Ok guys — I really wanted to like this place. There are ties to the General Store, (which I’ve been to and LOVE), so I knew I should expect an eclectic experience, but I must say, I was not impressed. I took a friend of mine for Sunday lunch/​brunch, and when we arrived at 1:00, I almost thought the restaurant wasn’t open because I didn’t see anyone around. There was only one other table there, so I thought service should be pretty on point, even though it was just the chef and one server. Then I noticed, it was quite smoky from whatever was cooking in the kitchen (we definitely smelled upon leaving)…hmm…this was going to be interesting.
The server came up to our table and handed us menus and I tried my best not to gawk. He had a LOT of black grime under his nails, and filthy hands. I mean filthy. If I had been with one of my close girlfriends, I would have left. The food wasn’t bad, but I could not deal with the server with dirty hands handling our food plates. I ordered a salad because I was too worried to order anything cooked in that kitchen if this is what the servers look like, and they’re considered «front of house.» Sadly, I won’t be going back here.

Awesome food, atmosphere and owner. Must stop for anyone in the area– great side trip for those traveling along PCH 1.

While doing a west coast road trip our little group of four stopped into this wonderful little restaurant. Be warned that if you have a ravenous appetite and stop in at dinner, you may want to order 3 – 4 plates with a date in tow as to fill both your appetites. They have kind of a tapas situation going on. So it’s best to share bc sharing is caring:) Also this place is for the cultured tastebuds. This is not your everyday, norm, run of the mill type of food and the restaurant is very small and quaint. It doesn’t seem to sit more than 7 tables at full capacity and with ¹⁰⁄₁₂ or so bar stools. So now that you have been warned… Let’s proceed with the drink/​food rundown… We were sat at the bar as it seemed to be crowded when we arrived. It looked like they had several specialty beers on tap and also a pretty nice wine selection which my friend definitely took advantage of, trying a small tasting until she found one that took to her palate and liking. We decided that we wouldn’t mind just eating at the bar and boy did we. First up was the seared abalone with quinoa. Oh my… It was amazing! But wait it gets better. Then up came the Pork with mashed potatoes and apple!!! Omg!!! To die for! Then came the ceviche, bone marrow and carrots! All mind blowing amazing! And then our beef tartare with tarragon ice cream which seriously shocks your tastebuds! It’s the craziest thing! Mwah, mwah, mwah! Compliments to the chef! Seriously! The only thing I would change is to leave a water pitcher at the table since our server seemed to have a hard time refilling our glasses.

Wow, The Bones were the richest thing I’ve ever eaten! Over the top good. Great personal service on a slow Sunday.

I recently visited Carmel Valley and got to try out Lokal for brunch! I was pretty excited because I’d heard great things but sadly I wasn’t too impressed. The concept of creating your own eggs benedict or scramble/​omelet was really cool, I don’t understand why more restaurants don’t do that! Even though the concept was cool, I don’t think Lokal executed it as good as they could have.
We ordered one eggs benedict and one scramble. On the benedict, we got spinach, mushrooms and some cheese. It was ok, but nothing special. Same with the scramble — we got arugula, onions, and a cheese on that and it was good, but nothing that was super impressive. We were one of only 3 parties in the restaurant so I would have expected service to be faster/​better than it was. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as impressed as the others before me.

They were not equipped to handle a large group. The space isn’t that big, and there weren’t that many people there — just a few other tables, but I guess with one server, one guy who does coffee and water, and one chef, they were overwhelmed with our group of 13.
Note: we specifically called ahead to see if they could accommodate us since it looked like they would be a small place, and the person who answered the phone said she would check with the chef, then came back to the phone and said yes. If the answer had been no we would have just gone elsewhere.
It took forever to get our orders in because the server was busy with other tables for a while. They also kept running out of coffee. While the spa water with cucumbers and mint was good, I had to repeatedly ask for more of it.
After placing our orders, we assumed it would take a while, and it definitely did. The food took forever, and between when the first few people got their dishes and when the last ones got theirs, it was at least 15 minutes, and the first people were already done with their food. In addition, multiple orders were messed up: missed order of fries, aioli on a burger when we asked for it without it, burgers being well done instead of medium, etc.
The server apologized for the wait and brought us an extra order of duck fat fries, which were quite good, but everyone was just tired and hungry.
No split checks.

Arrived for breakfast. We were the only 2 in the place. I now know why. 2 eggs, horrible hash browns and lukewarm coffee for $ 13.00 without a tip. Yes, we conplained, so they had a chance to correct the bad breakfast. Waiter said so sorry and never saw the cook. We are local and will not return.

Nice place for dinner!
A little expensive for eating well, but the food was so good!

I came here with my fiancé for our anniversary. SOMETHING TO NOTE FOR THOSE VORACIOUS EATERS OUT THERE: my fiancé and I do not eat that much and we ate three full dishes and a dessert for both of us to be 90% full.
The three dishes we ordered were the steak, the ceviche, and the duck salad. The steak dish was probably my favorite dish of the three. The mushrooms it came with were delish. The ceviche was my fiancé’s favorite dish. It was not overly sour and had a nice amount of avocados (Two thumbs Up!). The duck salad was alright but I dont think I would order it again. I think the duck was a little dry, some of the berries in the salad were a little mushy, and the dressing tasted like diluted balsamic vinegar. However, the lettuce in the salad was very very good. It tasted super organic and my old withered face was rejuvenated.
NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY… The worst part of dinner was the dessert, two chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream. We barely ate this. I can bake a Nestle Chocolate chip cookie and throw it with some dreyers ice cream and I would be delightfully satisfied. THIS chocolate chip cookie was hard/​stale and it had chocolate chips in it that wasnt fully melted. It was microwaved for like 15 seconds before it came out. It was smothered in Hershey’s chocolate syrup. The ice cream had ice crystals on them. Holy moly. Take this off the menu NOW.
I gave this place three stars because of the following reasons: The food is good. It was probably the best food we ate in that area. The price for the food is expensive for the portion sizes (I dont think i would have minded the price if that coookie wasnt that bad). DARN THAT COOKIE SANDWICH. TAKE IT OFF THE MENU NOW. The waitresses werent really on top of it. They brought us our food and sort of forgot about us. My water cup was empty for 10 minutes before refilled. I had to ask for the check after waiting unneccessarily for 10 minutes.

We have been here twice in the past 3 days.
First time: 11:45 on a Wednesday morning. We were the only two customers for nearly the whole time we were eating, which seems totally insane to me. The food was DELICIOUS. I had eggs benedict with sausage, asiago, chard and tomato. The English muffin was fluffy and had a little crunch, the egg was velvety, and every topping was perfect and distinct. The hash browns were flavorful and not too oily. My wife had the pear salad: ripe juicy pears, a copious amount of flavorful blue cheese, and dried parsnips showered on top. We shared duck fat fries, which were crispy and fluffy and, in my opinion, might be the standard against which all fries should be measured. We also had excellent mimosas, but lest you think my review is colored by that fact, we sipped them slowly along with our meal.
Second time: 7:30 on a Friday evening. We actually had just eaten dinner at Lucia (the restaurant attached to Bernardus Lodge), where we had planned to share a tasting menu but ended up being fairly unimpressed by the offering and had small plates instead. Since we weren’t blown away by that dinner, we hatched a plot to return to Lokal, just down the road, for dessert. We came in and this time they were a little slammed — there were maybe six or seven parties there, and we were told by the one server at the front of the house that no one had made a reservation and so they were understaffed. It wasn’t too much of a bother though, it’s just that the food and service took slightly longer than usual. Still a little hungry for another savory dish, we shared the blistered padron peppers, which were perfectly cooked, pleasantly spicy and generously salted (our only complaint was that there were a few too many of them — we couldn’t quite finish the plate even between the two of us), and then ordered a french press coffee and a Jack Daniels bread pudding to share. The bread pudding was flavorful, had plenty of apples and cranberries mixed in, and was topped with a rich ice cream and drizzled in a caramel sauce that was not overly thick.
Because we are not locals (heh), I’m not sure if Lokal is a well-​known spot around Carmel Valley, but if it’s not, it should be. The service is unpretentious and to-​the-​point, but friendly enough, and the food is beyond just good diner fare, it’s actually really memorable. You should go there even if it’s a little out of your way, especially for brunch, it was really worth the drive.

Oh boy, no.
We went for dinner and will never go back again.
The beers were tiny, the entrees were tiny and the price tag was big. There was a long wait to get the meal, and it didn’t even resemble what the menu description.

OMG !!! the best ever!!! fresh delicious cool atmosphere unparalleled food service awesome !! prices great get 3 things and share great wine list Brunch to die for eggs and veggies the wedge with skirt steak keep going back !! yummy !!! The ceviche deconstructed is so amazing fat avocados and orange segments juicy delicious !!! you just have to be patient be happy it’s casual and amazing ike his dads if you’re gong to snap your fingers or have a sense of urgency it’s not the place for you If you can kick it and amuse yourself you’re in !!!

Tried Lokal after reading Sunset Magazine’s review and ending up in Carmel Valley for a wedding. Stopped in for lunch and enjoyed a simple, fresh, healthy and most certainly Local farm to table meal. We tried the jefe salad and the pear salad which was the bomb! Get this! Salads are fairly large and good to share. We split the skirt steak sandwich with duck fat fries … Oh yes, highly recommend. Breakfast items were also available and they were tempting especially the BLT with a fried egg! No room for the desserts but the bourbon bread pudding sounded delish. Very rustic and simple with chalkboard walls and daily selections posted including craft beers, desserts and remaining specials. Cute outdoor patio, amiable service and reasonable prices. Dinner menu looks great for next time I am visiting wine country!

We went to Lokal with friends and the staff was very quick to accommodate our group of 12 people.
The service was quick and our waitress was very nice.
I had cappuccino (of course) and it was good, and pancakes (delicious) and omelettes with very fresh veggies. Even the water was good, flavored with mint and cucumber!
It was all very tasty and fresh, and our waitress even offered (we didn’t ask) to split our bills into couples.
If you are ever in Carmel Valley, I really recommend this café!

Understaffed.
One waitress and one cook is not enough to handle a weekend lunch crowd. I’ll give credit as the waitress was in constant motion and trying with all her might, but after 15 minutes of not so much as a drink order being taken we eventually got up and left in search of sustenance elsewhere.
We are locals and by that I mean you could just about throw a rock from this restaurant to our house so in the normal manner of gossip with others in the area it appears our experience is pretty much the norm for this place.

Definitely love the place! Got here after a long day biking along Carmel. Thought they were close, but,
No! They let us in joining their private movie night.
We were helped by a nice waitress and the owner’s dad, the chef, he was awesome!
Ceviche: love it, the citrus and lime taste totally got me.
Lobster mac and cheese ball: my bf likes it a lot.
Pear Salad: refreshing and healthy, way to go!
Pork Belly and Buns: meat was soft and juicy, though i wish the buns were a little softer and sweeter, im spoiled by the Bay area asian buns ;)
Sardine and toast: like it a lot as well! The toast was crispy and makes it good.
All desserts are home made, we tried the chocolate w olive oil, crispy toast and sea salt,. Different and unique! We tried and we liked :)
Ah, also, cuz of the event, got to meet the Dry AppleCider Beer maker while we were drinking his beer, great for holidays occasion!
Def recommend if you are in the area!

Dinner @ 6:00 this past Saturday.
Value: 3.5
Service: 4.0
Food: 4.0
Ambiance: 4.0
Location: 3.5
Value — notably the pear salad at $ 14.00 that was not only delicious but could feed an army, the $ 3.00 beers on tap and the desert @ $ 10.00 cause it was enough for 4 are all great values.
Everything else, although very good seemed a bit pricey given the portion size and for a restaurant off the beaten path. OBP definition, 10 – 15 minutes from highway 1 and tucked away in the back of a random strip mall in C.V.
The restaurant itself is quaint and not pretentious. They even have a herb garden in their patio area. If the place gets slammed 1 restroom total to be used by men and women can prove difficult.
On to the food — the Chef is very creative and uses fresh ingredients to prepare his dishes. It’s nice to see his spin on some popular dishes.
Posted pics of everything I had with notes.
To my surprise I saw 2 items that I had at the Cachagua General Store. Coincidence… Probably not as the proprietor/​chef is the son of the gentleman that puts on the Stores awesome Monday night Only dinners.
The 2 items you ask are the Beef Tatare with Taragon ice cream and the Velrhona Chocolate with oil and sea salt. Both are on my All Time Foodie list as MUST HAVE at least once dishes (right alongside Oysters n Pearls @ French Laundry).
I was torn because I wanted to order the beef Tatare (again) but decided I had to try something new.
As for the Desert… had to order it! To my surprise at Lokal you get a Baseball size scoop if the chocolate goodness!
Now I’m not privy as to who had what on their menu first but Lokal is a true gem! Highly recommend coming for dinner — IMO over Marinus down the street.
Tip: if you want but cannot make it to CGS this is just another reason to visit Lokal. Try the Tatare and whatever else temps your taste buds and you must get the Chocolate desert!
Service: very hospitable and friendly!