Local 188

Extreme excellence each time I have brunch there. I so enjoy the eclectic atmosphere and the wait staff is hilarious and fun. Never a dull moment and they talk back and forth to each other as if they are all taking care of you. They probably have the BEST wait staff in the city. Love the food too. LOL

This review is for dinner. The food is good, but the portions are very small and the prices are high. If you don’t order one of everything, you’ll most definitely leave hungry!
Go for brunch instead. It’s much more worthwhile.

I honestly have to recalibrate my standards and taste levels after having brunch at Local 188. If I could give 500 stars I would. I had the Corned Beef Hash and it was so amazingly delicious that I can never order it ever again unless I know that it’s been made on the premises of whichever restaurant I’m in and that the chef is known specifically for making amazing corned beef hash. It was what I imagine you would get at a place that charges hundreds of dollars for a steak. Every bite on my plate was to die for, even the English muffin was unlike any I had ever had in my life. The eggs were perfect. The hollandaise sauce was what I always imagined it could be if done well. Had this with a Bloody Hell which was the best spicy Bloody Mary I’ve ever had. We sat at the counter and it seemed like our food came out faster because we chose the counter instead of a table (the place was packed). Had a boozy coffee, too, and that was also excellent. Definitely coming back to Local 188 next time I’m in Portland!

This is my favorite place for tapas and drinks. The wine list is also quite extensive and very diverse. The best this on the menu is the deviled eggs or the meatballs… Sounds simple but they are very tasty! Love this place.

Funky and cute and always has good cocktails… but it’s completely inconsistent which makes for it hard to be loyal to them.
5 star experience: A couple months ago hubs and I went in for apps and snacks and it was great– good food great service and pleasant experience. Bartenders at night are awesome, chatty, make good drinks and are very chill. Apps are well portioned for two. Definitely will return in the evening.
1 star experience: 180 to a terrible brunch experience on Memorial Day for 4 of us– 30 minute wait turned into 70 minutes… When we finally sat down and ordered drinks it was 20 minutes easy to even get drinks delivered. Server was super slow and indifferent, not checking in on us, throwing jam down on the table aggressively, ignoring other tables in her section. It seemed her whole section was just chilling there the entire time and we were all wondering what the heck was going on. Food was forgettable– hot plates and cold food makes me think items were left in the window for ages. Key items were omitted from 2 of the scrambles we ordered. Our bill was riddled with mistakes. We checked into the host stand around 11am and didn’t leave the restaurant until after 2pm. Yes it’s Memorial Day and yes they were slammed but every part of the process was so painstakingly slow it was almost funny. Won’t be hurrying back for brunch…

Waited an hour for a table. 45 into the wait they came over to tell us they’re out of the hash and steak. By the time we sit down they’re out of biscuits and gravy and black beans for the bfast wrap. 20 mins after ordering they come over to tell us they’re out of homefries and ask if 2 of us would share with the person that ordered them as a side. Service was incredibly slow on top of it. Took 30 mins to get 2 eggs, half a pile of homefries and an english muffin for $ 10.

We stopped here for brunch around 9.30 and there was no wait — although the line was out the door half an hour later.
We had the herb and mushroom omelette, the corned beef hash, and the salmon and bagel platter. The food came quickly, although it took a while to get our check. The omelette was divine — the goat cheese was tasty but not overwhelming, and both the home fries and accompanying English muffin were great! My father thought his corned beef hash was fine but not out of this world; my mother loved her salmon bagels, although she mentioned that the salad wasn’t very fresh.
Great place for brunch, make sure to get there early (you can also order coffee while you wait). Would highly recommend the omelettes!

I’ve never felt the need to try Local 188 and I’m glad I did this Mother’s Day. The wait was just what we expected for a holiday and Sunday morning brunch. The staff seemed to have everything in order and tried to accommodate all of the demanding patrons. We were seated in a corner of the restaurant filled with fluffy pillows and a view of all the action. I love the building, it reminds me of a past time favorite in NYC, TIME Café on Lafayette. The space is wide open, airy, and loaded with early 1900’s charm.
Our waitress was friendly and quick to serve us. We ordered basic eggs, potatoes, and toast along with the pancake, and a breakfast burrito. The burrito was great, well balanced, and stayed together after every bite.
My one gripe is the pancake. If you are a fan of traditional pancakes you probably won’t love this deep-​dish offering. It arrived at the table and instantly reminded me of a whoopee cushion or a bottle cap, I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts. The outer crust is nice but the interior has a corn bread feel which I didn’t care for.
I applaud them for being creative but this seemed like something you would frost rather then drizzle syrup over.
I think I’ll be back to try other things.

This place is crazy good. I’m in town on business and wandered up the street in the rain to find dinner. I sat at the bar and had a fabulous meal. The cocktails are creative and the bartender is awesome and friendly. It’s quiet enough to hear your conversation, yet busy enough to create a good vibe. Portland — what are you doing at home? Get down here!

Their service is always amazing, and their brunch is true perfection… but their pancake is LEGENDARY! You must try it… you have not lived until you have had a pancake from Local 188.
This particular trip was for my mother’s birthday and when they found out she had her drink served in a birthday mug and her pancake arrived with a candle!

4 stars for their brunch! Omg. Everything was amazing, including the drinks. Portions were perfect as well– With that being said, we went for dinner and ended up just ordering a ton of appetizers and drinks. We were pretty disappointed when they came out because the portion sizes for the appetizers were next to nothing. I would suggest if you go for dinner, order an actual dinner plate off the menu, don’t do what we did!

I ordered the seafood paella. It was delicious and very well proportioned which is the only positive thing about the menu because my other party members ordered other plates and was very dissatisfied with how small they were. In total, we ordered the acallops (which comes with two), 2 salads, and the ricotta gnocchi. Like really? I’m dropping $ 250 for food and drinks and you can’t even fill my salad plate with lettuce? No.
The drinks were very tasty and we’ll made. Definitely try the Caribbean mule or mojito. We also ordered a bottle of reisling. Very fruity and not too sweet. You can never do wrong with thr one they have.

The food here is so good from the full on Tapas to the entrées. The complimentary bread they provide is so good. The service on the other hand is average and to me needs improvement due to its inconsistency.
I was here twice, the first time I did not get a friendly vibe from my server. She barely asked if I was familiar with the menu or if I needed assistance ordering and walked away; good thing what I ordered was excellent.
The second time I wanted just a drink. I arrived on a Thursday and The bartender was also the DJ. She spent almost ten minutes fussing with the music and didn’t take my drink order till finally I got her attention. I had to lower my stars due to service.
She has not even asked if I wanted another drink. I thought this place was good… but I may only come back when the kitchen is open.

Me and some friends went there for brunch so I’ve got lots of things to review. The wait for Saturday brunch at 11:30 was about 30 – 40 minutes which was a while but they had couches inside for us to sit at while we waited which was nice
Coffee — free refills! very important if you’re a wee bit hungover. They also give you an adorable mismatch of mugs which makes it just a bit more cozy and comfy
Pastries — the pastry of the day was this amazing cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting, super tasty but not so big/​sweet that you felt overwhelmed before you even started your meal
Mushroom Omelette — very rich with the addition of goat cheese, quite tasty
Breakfast Burger — honestly stick an egg on anything and I’m happy, stick an egg on a burger and I’m even more so
Breakfast Burrito — probably the best presentation of the lot but also tasty. Only problem is they cut the burrito in half and then place it cut side down so you lose some of it when you try to flip it over and eat it but that makes really little difference when you’re already licking the plate clean
Smoked Salmon Bagel Plate — exactly what it sounds like, perfect if that’s what you’re really craving though I’d argue if you’re brunching you should get something you can’t pretty easily make yourself
Corned Beef Hash — delicious, especially with poached eggs that you smoosh all around! also should have mentioned most of the breakfast things come with a fluffy tasty english muffin that really makes the breakfast much more complete
all in all, perfectly solid and tasty brunch place when you need some food!

Brunch is the bomb here.
The waitress had, like, sort of a 6^th sense that I was borderline alcoholic on this particular morning, and she whisked away to the bar and brought me a ginormous glass of vodka. But come on, I was at brunch with my pregnant friend. I had to drink for myself, and for prego, and for prego’s unborn baby. I basically had to drink for three.
Ambiance, on fleek. Sorry if you don’t like that word. Fleek, fleek, fleek, fleek, fleek, fleek.
This place has everything I like for brunch. I feel like brunch is the hipster form of breakfast. You take a regular man in flannel, he’s just regular. You take a regular man in flannel and add a man bun, he’s hipster. At Local 188 it’s like you have your regular breakfast options, but you have plenty cool spins on the classics.
Hipster-​y, boozy, comfy, loud, open, delicious… and an overall buzzing environment with good energy.

Local 188 has a nice selection of options for dinner. My fiancé and I split the seafood paella which was delicious and full of mussels, fish, clams and lobster. It was the most expensive thing on the menu at $ 39 but well worth the high price tag especially since we split the dish and both walked away full. Out for friends ordered the hanger steak ($ 17) which was much more of an appetizer though that was unclear on the menu and our server didn’t mention the small portion size when they ordered it as their main entrée. Luckily they also serve complimentary bread drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt — yum!
They have a nice long list of beer options with quite a few local brews. There is also a good sized wine list and interesting cocktails.

3 stars because of the décor! Such a cool/​chill place. I wish there was a place like that in Jersey! The whole place is filled with antique furniture, couches, a cool bar, and a live (you can see the cooks) kitchen area.
Now, on to the food. I have to start off by telling you guys how hungry I was. I seriously was starving searching for a restaurant with the best reviews and found this one. First off, the good thing was that they start you off with a complimentary plate of bread with olive oil and salt which tasted delicious. As for the entrée, I ordered the Flank steak and it was good… but incredibly small (maybe I just eat too much haha). My boyfriend had the rib entrée and it was so small too, it was mostly bone and just a few pieces of meat. This would probably only apply to those who are searching for a decent sized meal. Seriously, I was so disappointed. I was still so hungry afterwards I had to search for a pizzeria.
With that being said, Local 188 is still perfect for a nice place to hang out and enjoy a drink just don’t come here hungry.

We only had one night in Portland, and although I initially wanted to have some kind of fancy dinner, neither I nor my gf were particularly eager to go to a stuffy restaurant in Portland. And, after a pretty heavy lunch, we decided to venture out for some late bites. Local 188 was a somewhat random choice, but fit the bill.
As soon as you walk in, a cozy feeling settles in. It’s a big, open, beautiful space with lots of modern, local touches. There are regular tables, couches, bar seats, and fanciful oversize lounge chairs fit for giants. It’s an artist’s paradise.
The kitchen was closing around 10, so we quickly ordered some drinks and bites. I got the charcuterie (house cured ham, Montréal smoked brisket, guanciale, oxbow spam) and a flight of some fantastic beers (including «Lunch» by Maine Beer Co.), as well as a Bourbon hot toddy. Our waitress was friendly and rolled with the punches, even as she was preparing to wrap up kitchen service.
Highly recommended any time of day!

My husband and I went here on a whim the other night. We arrived around 5 on a Monday and it was nice and quiet. My sangria was delicious and my hubby had a local beer. The menu was a little smaller than we expected but we are not fussy eaters so it didn’t prove to be a problem. We had some of their tapas and 2 entrees.
The pickled veggies were great and had a bit of Indian flair to them. The deviled eggs were so much better than my mom’s (shh dont tell her). the last tapas plate we had was a Chicken croquette. The filling needed a touch of salt but other than that it was really good.
For entrees I had the ricotta gnocchi and my hubby had the hanger steak. Both were out of this world! The steak was perfectly cooked and the sauces were on point. The gnocchi were browned on all sides which added an unexpected texture and flavor that was amazing. The mushroom sauce was the perfect accompaniment.

Friday I stopped into Local 188 for a cappuccino to go after enjoying happy hour and ramen at Pai Men Miyaki. I’d heard a lot about this place but hadn’t been until this night. It was busy at the peak of dinner service on a Friday night. Young families and couples arrived at a steady pace while I waited; those with reservations were seated immediately while others who were drop-​ins were told there would be an hour or so wait.
Like some of the other neighborhood joints, Local 188 also has an open kitchen allowing patrons to get a view of the oft behind the scenes action — even more so if you are seated at the kitchen bar. On the other side of the room, there is the actual bar, the wall behind it fully stocked. The dining room has a long table that made me think of community dining, as well as smaller tables for parties with less people, and some lounge areas with couches for socializing over drinks and small plates.
I had a sample of one of the in-​house made ice creams while waited, the chocolate chip. It was good but I was more impressed by my cappuccino. It was made with Coffee By Design espresso and at $ 4.00 it wasn’t inexpensive, but it was a good size and quality. It kept me awake on my drive from Portland to Lewiston after not enough sleep and a cocktail at dinner. I look forward to coming back and trying the food!