The Local Eatery & Pub

The customer service is great but please don’t ever try the wings from here. If you want disappointing food, this is the place to eat! The wing bones broke apart while I was eating, which is a hazard, and did not even look like real chicken wings. I was convinced the portions resembled rat «wings» versus chicken. I cannot recommend anything since the change of owners. Very disappointed in the food, will reconsider my bar selection for a Friday evening.

Not a fan of Irish food, but I keep giving it a chance, anyway. I love spicy, flavorful dishes because I grew up on Lao/​Thai food. It was lunch time-​ish, and I ordered buffalo wings, some kind of fish (it was not memorable, obviously), and some seriously bland cheesecake. I’m grateful for the cheesecake, though, because it was one of the last two slices they had left for the day.
The best thing about this place was our server. No, I don’t remember her name, but I can tell you that she was hilarious, entertaining, and knowledgeable. She was really sweet, too. She even moved us so we could accommodate a coworker on crutches. Forgive me if this is inappropriate, but our spunky, red headed waitress totally drove home the pub vibe. Because of her, this place got 3 stars from me.
Oh, don’t sit in the wretched, uncomfortable wooden booths. There is hardly any room for my petite 5’1″ self to cross my legs.
Go for a good time with buddies. Ask for the red head.

The food took rather longer than usual, but the service was pretty good, the hamburgers tasty, and the beer cheap.
Super laid back and friendly vibe. We’ll be back!

It’s a dive, but I love it. The food is good. And the specials are good and everything is priced well. I make a point to go once every couple of weeks.

Excellent pub grub with a laid back vibe. They have great Mac and cheese with daily specials. The kitchen staff is new and very creative. Give them a try!
Shawna is the bartender with a great smile and caustic sense of humor. If you tip her she is insulted!

Got the Irish burger for rvaburgerweek. Burger was delicioussssss. The fries are probably the worst fries I’ve ever gotten. They were soggy and greasy… Service was great though!

Good food… sometimes. Pretty inconsistent.
Service is also inconsistent. Bartenders are a mixed bag and don’t seem to get to know the regulars.
Pros: Not many undergrads. Food is good if you catch it on a good day.

It took me over 45 minutes to get my food and it was just average. Place seemed to have a cool vibe with lots of regulars though.

If you don’t mind an awkward crowd and smelling like smoke, this place isn’t half bad. Bonus: a girl waiting in line for the bathroom gave me the number to Napoleon Cab when I was new to Richmond.

I just had to go food so I can’t speak for the dine-​in experience. Service was quick and to the point and the cook even came out to ask if I wanted a substitution for the cheese on the salad I ordered. I’m writing this to steer people away from the chicken salad. It is abysmal at best… way to much sugar. Tastes like they use off brand miracle whip.

So before catching Anthony Bourdain at the Landmark this evening, my girlfriend and I met up with a colleague of mine and his girlfriend for some drinks and food here. Let me preface this by saying that some Richmond restaurants are participating in restaurant week, this one included.
While the establishment wasn’t busy at all, this was definitely my kind of scene. For drinking. Off the main road, little dive bar feeling to it. That I can get behind. However on the food scene, it fell pretty short on my kind of scene. Let me explain my opinion on why:
I’ve been cooking in restaurants for over 10 years, and if there is one holiday/​event/​spree I hate more than flippin’ Mother’s Day, it’s restaurant week. So I feel for the kitchen of any of these establishments, I truly do. But as aforementioned, it wasn’t busy. At all. We’re talking like 5pm dinner and drinks.
Girlfriend and I strayed from the restaurant week 3 course menu, and while I won’t touch on her dishes, I will touch on mine. We split the «Scotch Egg» — hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, rolled in bread crumbs and fried $ 7. The concept sounded good, I mean hell, I love eggs and sausage and when you combine them in a deep fryer — that’s my sort of pre-​game food right? Not so much. It left so much to be desired. While the crust had its appropriate crunchy bite, the egg and sausage were INCREDIBLY muted in this dish. You could only pick up texture from the dish. I’d almost recommend spinning a deviled egg with it and spicy sausage to kick it up a notch. The underside of where the egg met the breading was super soggy, something that can be easily fixed in the kitchen, but wasn’t done. Over all, a great concept if capitalized on, but the only saving grace was the horseradish sauce.
For my entrée I went with the «Bangers and Mash» something that I’ve had several times at various restaurants, and I always enjoy to see the variation between places. I was really disappointed at the attempt, honestly. The potatoes were house made, that much was obvious with the chunks of potatoes whipped in the purée, but it lacked seasoning. Topping it with green onions isn’t doing it justice, and the sausage was arguably something bought from the grocery store and tossed on the grill. Seriously, as an Irish pub this should be one of the few signature dishes that you should stomp the shit out of. Find some legit sausage from WV, Cumberland sausage or any local butcher that incorporates various meats and spices, and dress those potatoes up. Drench it in flavor, please! Onion gravy, fried onions … lace it with peas. I’m honestly not trying to one up here, but this establishment feels like «my spot» so bad, I want a signature to shine. For real, I do.
The dish I had was accompanied with fried turnips, which my colleague raved about, and I couldn’t tell if it was fried turnip, fried green tomatoes, fried squash, or friend zucchini. The texture of any of them were there, but the bland breading did nothing to accompany it at all. Which is a testament to everything I had tonight.
Wrap up: Get drinks here if you like the dive bar scene close to VCU campus, but unless you’re several pints in, I’d stray away from the dishes I had if you’re wanting to having your food be flavorful. What a shame.

Never again. This is what happens when I don’t use Unilocal to find great food. Food (fish and chips, pot roast) just didn’t have much flavor… creamed spinach might have been good if hot, but was cold.

We went here for the first time today and loved it. Very chill place with great food and drinks. Fried turnips are a MUST. We had the scotch egg and wasabi guacamole for appetizers and enjoyed both. The food was unique and delicious. Looking forward to going back!

Love the food 4 lunch & the staff; though a bit unrefined; are VERY hospitable & nice.
In fact, the only reason for my star rating not being higher is simply because as nice & genuinely caring as everyone, they are kinda forgetful if your a patron and not sitting at the bar in front of where they hang out with their regulars who they also seem to be friends with.
To be fair, I’ve only been here at lunch time when it’s kinda slow so perhaps @ night, when things are likely busier, they are more «on it».
They have a seating area out front but unfortunately (4 a non smoker) it’s often frequented by smokers… many of which are the staff. If you don’t mind the smoking but don’t want to listen to a lot «F’ing» & «S’ing», this might also be a good reason to sit inside the dining area (where no one seems to sit as it’s a bit drab & boring) as the explatives tend to be whaty makes up the majority of each sentence that comes from the mouths of those hanging outside.
The service for a lunch meal could be considered a bit on the slow side… in fact as I’m writing this it occurred to me the server must have forgotten I was outside cause I don’t think I gave her a food order yet after sitting 4 a half hour.
Oh well… its a nice afternoon so I guess I’m a flake too…
So my fav on the menu is the Club Burger. You won’t find this in the burger section of the menu; flip it over and look at the sandwiches… yeah, right there.
This thing is insane! Part club sandwich, part Ginormous cheeseburger. Unless you’re a total hog, I suggest splitting it with someone. If you don’t split it, you will attempt to eat the whole thing on your own… and when you get to the last 2 bits down you’re going to be asking for a wheelchair to get to you car or bike.
I kinda think of this place like a modern-​day Cheers with a bunch of young granola patrons & staff… Everyone seems to know everyone, the people who hang out there even at times try to help the staff by letting them know if someone needs something (because like I said, not always the most attentive).

This place is okay. It’s close to my office so I decided to go one day with one of my friends.
The service was okay, nothing special. The food was just okay. Not sure if I’ll go back – there are so many other places around the VCU area that have better food.

I’ve been there twice and it was twice too many.
The food is ok… and the service is seriously lacking. The place is also small and there is only single bathrooms.

I like this place. I’ve sampled most of the entrees (Cottage Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Roasted Chicken, Irish Stew, & Pot Roast). I liked all but the stew. I love that they offer stuffing as a side; it’s very good. I do not like the mac and cheese — it’s just bland is all.
I like the atmosphere, even though it’s a dive. The beer selection is very good. The prices are very good for what you get. Most entrees are $ 10 and under. I’ts really hard to go to a bar and get beers and entrees this inexpensively in The Fan. I really hope this place sticks around as it has become one of my favorite spots. A good pub, for sure.

A coworker and I went here for lunch last week. Service was quick, there were only four other people in the restaurant. We decided to sit at the bar, which was nice, the two bartenders/​servers were very attentive.
We both got the fish and chips, although she got the coleslaw as a side, and I got the fried turnips. I loved these! I will go back just for that side. She said the coleslaw was «okay.» The «chips» aka french fries were also good, but the fish was so-​so. A little soggy and a bone or two. I will definitely try something else when I go back again. A big plus is the price — you get a lot of food and it isn’t very expensive. I think my lunch with a diet coke and tip came to $ 13, and I couldn’t even finish my meal.
I have seen a lot of VCU students outside on the patio during happy hour, so if you want to avoid the college crowd, lunch may be a good option.

Easily the worst place in Richmond. Not only is the food abysmal, but the bar and its bartenders are equally as bad. The bartenders were extremely rude and inattentive. I have gone back several times hoping that my previously bad experiences were merely just due to either bad timing or to the inexperience of the staff because of its recent opening, unfortunately this was not the case. Don’t waste your time with this place.

I went to the Local the other night just to check it out. It wasn’t too busy when we got there, there was enough room for the four of us to sit at the bar. At first it was great. We were helped pretty quickly. After the first drink it was a different story.
Three of us sat for at least ten minutes before getting another drink. The male bartender came by and asked my two friends how long their drinks had been empty, then apologized and gave them a second round for happy hour price. He still completely ignored me and my third friend, who had finished their drink by then. After a few minutes we gave up and went outside. It took my friends getting us drinks to be served again.
We wanted to order shots and food, which turned out to be a bad idea. The female bartender pretty much ignored us. We continuously tried to get her attention while she was right in front of us washing dishes, but got no response. Then she just walked away and went outside. We knew we didn’t want to stay after this. The other bartender helped us soon after she left, but it didn’t help our already bad experience.
The food was average, nothing that great. The portabella club looked as if it was just thrown together, and the bread was soggy in the middle and hard on the outside. The fries were the only good thing about this place. It took us forever to get our bill and pay.
The female bartender needs to learn that women are customers too. She was more than attentive to the male customers down the bar, while we got ignored the whole time. I work in the food industry, and I usually tip at least 50%. Needless to say this didn’t happen here. I won’t be going back.