The Local Panini & Flat Bar

Great people and love the new owners. Awesome sushi and love their union soup. Big difference with new owners.

Well they’re only getting a 2 star bc the guy on the phone was nice… But WTF?! This is so NOT a panini. I was told my club panini comes w tomato — no tomato… And the quality overall was awful. Awful bread awful cheap processed meat and cheese. Pretty sure they were craft single slices. No wonder the joint was dead. I think there was some dude Falling out on heroine on the couch too. Eww. Never again. AND my sandwich was 12 $$$$$ I coulda made the same thing times 5 for $ 3

No matter what you may say about The Local, it is a restaurant and bar that serves at the pool and keeps the menu new and different!
They have great specials for ladies’ nights and have just added an entire line of American favorites priced very well.
As a resident, It is a favorite!

BBQ Chicken flatbread was not very good. $ 1 budlite drafts were.
Atmosphere feels like a swanky dorm/​college eatery, which I guess is what it is because it’s in the Flamingo. Same crowd a lot of the time, which is fine, because my friends keep inviting me over.

You know when you get used to eating fast food, even in a setting that would normally call one to crave a more elaborate meal? South Beach is one of those settings, but due to my late blast of marathon days my body’s sort of become used to fast food — sandwiches, burgers and the like.
Such was the case tonight in South Beach, after visiting a nearby art exhibit. I heard about the Local, and went because of proximity to said art show. Located in the Flamingo lobby, you walk through a winding paved path, under the futuristic looking central tower and the landscaped area to find. a Quizno’s shelf. Yep, there at the entrance there was a shelf with the distinctive stylized Quizno’s Q. I wasn’t going to let that bit of stylistic borrowing deter me from some fancy fast food, and that I did.
My waitress was very pleasant, and despite the automatic gratuity checked in on me during my meal. My chicken panini was nicely customized with no guacamole and had a nice little buttery sheen on top that takes me back to the Cuban cafeterias of my youth. Chicken breast was nicely proportioned with the bread and sundried tomato spread, and tasted fresh. They even doubled up in the tator tots — these were OK, slightly crispy but nothing jumping out — instead of dreaded mixed greens. I even got to enjoy a strawberry smoothie (hey I had to eat something healthy!)
Pricey yeah, but it’s a great little oasis and convenient late dinner spot on the west end of the beach. I even got to enjoy some college hoops in one of the TVs.

The food is actually a 4 but the service… ugh.
First of all, it’s not that easy to get to, but that’s OK because I get the feeling they are there primarily for the benefit of Flamingo residents.
We came to do take away on a Sunday night. There were very few people there eating, but it still took 30 minutes to get the food.
Definitely should have checked the boxes before we left, but at that point, we were hungry and just wanted to get home with the food. When we arrived, we were really disappointed to find the order was missing items. We each got a med platter (one with grilled meat, the other featuring grape leaves and baba ghanouj) — both were supposed to come with hummus, pita, basmati rice, chobani salad and the yogurt dill sauce. Only one order came with the sides. Really disappointing. And considering how long it took to get the order together, you would think it would include everything it was supposed to.
I could see eating here if I were spending the day at the Flamingo pool because the food (what we actually received of it) was good. We didn’t order drinks, but they were reasonably priced (between $ 8 and $ 10) and they looked quite large.

Charge you $ 1 for crappy tap water. Not on menu, and don’t tell you that they are charging it. Never again.

I’ve always staunchly defended The Local because at the end of the day it’s reasonably priced, the food is good and they deliver to my apartment. The service is generally pretty good but after our last experience we haven’t been back. This may sound petty but when we got the bill we noticed 2 «open bar» charges for $ 1.00 each. When we asked the waiter, it seems they charge you for tap water in a glass. Did they tell us? No. This was a new policy and they did not inform us until WE ASKED. Now, I’m not upset about the 2 bucks because as the waiter so thoughtfully pointed out, «It’s just $ 2. It’s not a big deal — I’ll pay for it if you want.» How sweet. It’s the fact that they tried to pull a fast one on us just to gain a measly $ 2. If they would have told us our tap water would be charged, we probably wouldn’t have gotten it seeing as we each got a soda and a coffee. It makes you wonder the other days they have or will try to get things past you. And on top of EVERYTHING, the tap water tasted weird.
The waitresses we’ve had in the past were ALWAYS a pleasure and every time I call they are nice and fast. However, our last time was just really sub-​par. Besides the extra charge, our waiter had no clue what he was doing and, although nice (up until questioning the bill) messed up our order more than once. I don’t like feeling like a restaurant is trying to use cheap tricks to get a couple bucks out of me so our whole experience last time just really rubbed us the wrong way.

I always come to eat here when I visit my friend at the Flamingo. Everytime I ate here the food was delicious. Love the outdoor seating & being pet friendly they always bring out a water bowl for my puppy =)

Seriously nothing exceptional. The food is ok-​ish. I probably won’t go back.

Loved The Local.
Thanks to Arboles Libres, we came out and had some drinks and appetizers. We loved going to see them live and we also found a place we really like!
The Local is a sophisticated bar. It’s a pretty small bar, but it’s clean, neat, and modern. They have great flats. We tried the Greek Flat and it was delicious. We also had their Avocado and Brie on Bruschetta – to die for. They have a wide variety of panini’s, appetizers, flats, and salads.
I had the Malbec [wasn’t really in the beer mood that night] and it was really good.
Our waitress was very nice. There is an outdoor seating area and indoor. They play sports on their two big flat screen TV’s behind the bar.
We really, really, liked this place. Thumbs up!
Side note: It’s kind of difficult to find it, if you’ve never been there. It’s in an apartment complex off the marina side of Miami Beach. It’s on the South Tower. They have Valet Parking that’s not TOO expensive. You have to pull up to the gates and let them know you’re going to The Local and they will let you in and show you the way to Valet.

WOw the Flamingo has been saying for years they are getting a restaurant. That day has finally come and guess what the food is excellent. I split a greek salad $ 9, and a veggie flat bread $ 12 with my friend. I could have eaten 3 of these flatbreads they were so good. They spread goat cheese, on a fresh made flat bread with all fresh roasted veggies. WOW WOW. They even have a liquior license so you also order drinks. They also serve you at the pool. You can eat here even if you do not live in the Flamingo. They have a pool table, and happy hour.