The Local Kitchen and Bar

Update:
After leaving a review that was slightly less than satisfactory for Local Bar and Grill a few months ago, I received a message from Dave S, one of the restaurant managers (owner? not sure). He was very polite, apologized for any missing items in my order, and offered me a free lunch «coupon.» I’m looking forward to giving it another shot, and definitely wanted to update this post after his quick response and the effort to placate the previous negative experience. I’ll update again after I’m able to get back in.
Noah
Original Post:
Went for a to-​go lunch today. I’ve heard good stuff about this little restaurant, but hadn’t tried it till today. We ordered today’s lunch special, blackened gator tacos with a side. Not really sure about portioning and me not terribly hungry, ordered one «special» to share with the wife plus an appetizer fried green tomatoes. Got home and opened the bag to find two mini to-​go boxes. Two gator tacos in one, fried green tomatoes in the other. Guess my fries are still behind the bar at the restaurant somewhere.). Tacos were decent. Gator well seasoned with Cajun/​blackening, nicely cooked. Taco presentation was rather boring. Just some coleslaw, gator bits and sauce on a little tortilla. Nothing flashy to make me feel like my $ 5.50/piece tacos were worth the dough. Fried green tomatoes were decent. As with most other fried food, if you get it to go it inevitably ends up a bit soggy. I’m sure they would have been better as an eat-​in item. I wondered what condiments do people use on fried green tomatoes? Figured it would have come with some kind of «ranchy”(?) dipping sauce but it didn’t have anything (maybe it’s with my fries;). Overall, this place has decent food. I ALWAYS love little locally owned cuisine, but I have an issue with the $ 22 price tag on my decent tasting but half complete order. I suppose I’ll go give it another shot sometime. Maybe when I find an extra $ 20 in my washing machine. ;)

Nice place. Located downtown Tifton at 1^st and Main (Apple maps, ergo TomTom, are way off). Very nice beer selection. Haut Comfort Food with a great selection of craft beer and wine. Atmosphere is country chic in an old downtown setting. Wait staff is excellent. I had Fish Tacos and Kentucky Bourbon Ale. The ale was delicious and the fish tacos had ahi tuna as the fish. It was perfect! To top off the comfort side of the meal were homestyle french fries, that is cut from actual potatoes. This place rocks!

The Local sums it up perfectly. Have a small but comprehensive menu, and source as much as possible locally.
On my biannual visit home, I made sure to schedule a meal here. During the spring, I had fried green tomatoes, but they were absent now in December. Why? Because they’re not in season! That’s another driving concept behind the brains of owner and chef David.
We started with a cheese plate replete with a tasty pickled okra. I enjoyed 2 bottles of my local favorite, Sweetwater 420. Then my dish of seared tuna arrived. A generous portion, crispy on the outside, melt in your mouth on the inside. My dad had the gator tail, loved it, and moved on to the duck, also loved it. One of our companions wanted the duck confit app, but needed it gluten free, and she got it!
Even with a private party of 40 upstairs, we had great service.
I realize this is a meat heavy town, so if like myself and my wife, you don’t eat meat, you’re options are limited. However, we ate well and I look forward to my next visit to make this a regular stop.

I love the idea of supporting small local businesses & am not a fan of chain restaurants so naturally I’m drawn to these types of restaurants. Good fresh, local food, nice small menu selection with specials offered. Can be a bit on this high side of pricing. Staff is very friendly. My only complaint is you usually have to make a reservation to eat here because seating is so limited & the space is small.

Several of us from Atlanta were here visiting family. The meal, the service and really everything about it was amazing! Try the Still Pond house white, the cheese tray and the special entrée featuring White Oak short ribs and ravioli. It was delicious. I’m trying the flat iron steak or the shrimp and grits next time. We are so glad to have such a great place for dinner in Tifton. If you are traveling on I75, it’s worth the visit. The night we were there, the mex place across the street was busy, and there was live music next to it. The Local has a fun bar upstairs, and we heard a group up there enjoying the UGA game. We’ll be back!

Alright Tifton, please support this damn good restaurant!!!
Aren’t y’all tired of all the same ol’ prepackaged, franchise restaurants that litter your beautiful town?
The chef and his wife are engrained into your downtown scene and are turning out some true southern hospitality, microbrews, original cocktails, and locally sourced products that are turned into the kind of food that should make every local proud of their piece of this planet.
Their menu features dishes that range from amped up versions of mamas cooking like shrimp and grits or fried green maters to adventurous dishes like locally farmed rabbit pot pie, st Simon sources soft shell crab, and blackened gator. The beauty behind every dish is, again, the fact that the ingredients come from our area, our farms, our waters!
If you’re traveling on I-​75, there’s nothing to eat this close to an exit that is this good for a long time north or south. Do yourself a favor and drive two miles east on 82 and make a left just past the railroad tracks, go downtown, and eat some of these vittles.

We decided to try this cute little restaurant on out trip home. We had to wait an hour which we did not mind because we had nothing else to do. We got 2 of the drink specials and were told we could sit in patio by the fountain. Nice courtyard area… they did as much as the could to keep us happy until we got a seat. They were out of a lot of items when we finally were seated. We aren’t real picky so this did not bother us. I got duck and husband ended up with 1 crab cake and fried shrimp. We both enjoyed our meals. We did not partake in dessert since it was already 9:30pm. All in all we enjoyed the experience and will probably return again next summer. Suggestion: make a reservation and go early so have full choices from the limited menu items.