• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Environment/Sustainability
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • 2021 Town Election
  • Bulletin Board
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

The Wellesley Local: Fried pickles, dark wood & magic utensils

December 10, 2013 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

20131205-135438.jpg

We took you inside The Local, Wellesley’s newest restaurant, shortly before it opened, but this past Tuesday marked our first time there since it officially started doing business just before Thanksgiving.

With my palate failing to develop since I was about 3 years old, I’m the last person you want to read a restaurant review from. But I can at least share observations from my party during our 7pm-ish visit.

To start, parking was tight in the lot, but spaces were available. It appeared some people had landed on Washington Street as well and walked over.

I sat with a group of six other high-powered Wellesley adults who ordered drinks and a selection of $5 appetizers, or Snack Things as The Local calls them (Fried Pickles, Truffle Parmesan Fries, Crispy Onion Things). Everything on the menu is listed under a Thing category, with items scaling  up to $19 salmon and rib dishes. We also ordered chicken wings, which came in spicy sauce, plus ginger cheesecake as a finisher (all deserts are $7). A bunch of the appetizers arrived in adorable little tin dishes. Our party enjoyed all of the food, with one member going so far as to call the fried pickles as “great”

The Local offers a wide variety of drinks, with beers served in solid straight-up glasses running I believe $6 or $7 apiece — so probably not the kind of place that’s going to attract a big hang-out-and-watch-the-game crowd. Fancy drinks include the Massachusetts Mai Tai and New Hampshire Smash.20131205-135532.jpg

Fried Pickles
Fried Pickles

We sat at the far end of the restaurant, which seemed to be miles from the entrance, as I suppose was the case when China Sky was located there, too.  The layout overall is broken up nicely with the bar and another section semi-surrounded with dividers. The lighting in the restaurant is minimal, giving the place an intimate feel despite its size. The Local had a solid dinner crowd, though wasn’t packed.

The decor is simple and nice, with elegant overhead lighting and big black-and-white framed photos of sports and old-timey Wellesley scenes.

Our server, Rob, was friendly and attentive, even as he trained another young man on the tricks of the trade.

One very special moment for us all — and confirming we don’t get out enough — was the discovery that a couple of the utensils at our table were magnetic and that we could lift one into the air using the other (see photo at the bottom). Our waiter explained that this must have been because of a magnetic system used in the kitchen to keep utensils from going down the garbage chute.

So, I guess that was a Magnetic Thing that just might attract us all back to the restaurant again.

By the way, the Local will begin serving lunch on Dec. 16 (it’s been open for dinner to start).

20131205-135452.jpg

 

20131205-135512.jpg

 

Magic magnetic knife and fork!
Magic magnetic knife and fork!
print

Share

Filed Under: Business, Food, Restaurants

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Fran's Flowers
Clearhaven Recovery

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
The Moving-Pictures Company
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
covid vaccine
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Most Read Posts

  • Newton-Wellesley Orthopedic Walk-In—no appointment needed
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Bank branch to close; New bank coming to town, sort of; Celebrating women-owned businesses
  • Babson to the rescue: Survey seeks to get to bottom of Wellesley Square issues
  • Town mourns Wellesley High Building Manager Tom Zinck
  • Wellesley Police log: Suspected opiate overdose proves fatal; service dog calms child; man headed to court for unauthorized dumping

Events Calendar

« April 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
Tue 13

STEM panel discussion

April 13 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Wed 14

Fairies, Frogs, and Damsels (online program)

April 14 @ 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Thu 15

Meeting and Discussion with 4th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss

April 15 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Thu 15

Wellesley’s Sustainable Mobility Plan online forum

April 15 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Thu 22

Ben Franklin, The Early Years: Wellesley Historical Society online lecture

April 22 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Pages

  • Guidelines for Letters to the Editor
  • How to submit your flyer for the Community Bulletin Board page
  • Wellesley Community Bulletin Board
  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Cynthia Kelly on Town mourns Wellesley High Building Manager Tom Zinck
  • Sue Morris on WHS senior scavenger hunt to blanket Wellesley
  • Michael Auclair on Town mourns Wellesley High Building Manager Tom Zinck
  • Kelley Downey on Wellesley Business Buzz: Bank branch to close; New bank coming to town, sort of; Celebrating women-owned businesses
  • MICHAEL GUARNIERI on Select Board makes Indigenous Peoples Day official in Wellesley

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (21)
  • Animals (387)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (544)
  • Beyond Wellesley (30)
  • Books (345)
  • Business (1,381)
  • Careers/jobs (45)
  • Churches (73)
  • Clubs (211)
  • Construction (281)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,918)
    • Babson College (244)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (49)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (600)
    • Wellesley High School (895)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (52)
  • Entertainment (728)
  • Environment (679)
  • Fashion (134)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (144)
  • Food (328)
  • Fundraising (565)
  • Gardens (137)
  • Government (422)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (758)
    • COVID-19 (150)
  • History (360)
  • Holidays (367)
  • Houses (121)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (819)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (12)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (97)
  • Music (545)
  • Natick Report (28)
  • Neighbors (252)
  • Obituaries (62)
  • Outdoors (588)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (702)
    • Crime (356)
  • Politics (545)
  • Real estate (293)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (306)
  • Safety (143)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (111)
  • Shopping (123)
  • Sports (906)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (158)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (212)
  • Travel (12)
  • Uncategorized (1,212)
  • Volunteering (319)
  • Weather (168)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (259)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login