The Local Eatery & Pub

My Dad and I laughed on the way to the place about the fact that it was pretty much a guarantee that one of us would like this place and the other would not, since we rarely tend to agree on restaurants, but they were game for trying somewhere new with me anyway.  We were on the Northside, so we figured we would check out The Local, based on a a lot of recommendations.

So it is in a strip mall at 146th and Gray Road, and is somewhat set back, which is probably somewhat of a disadvantage (and based on all the signs on the roadside saying they are open, my guess is a lot of people have no clue there is a restaurant back there).  But we knew it was there, and headed in.  The first thing I noticed was the entrance is somewhat disjointed from the place.  There is a bar side and a restaurants side with a door somewhat in the middle that hardly looks connected to either part.  But we went in and were promptly seated in the bar (I am assuming if you had a kid with you, you would be seated on the other side, although there was no one over there the day we were there).

So they sort of pride themselves on making things in house, with the exception of the tator tots that are on the menu.  So we tried a variety of things.  Let me start with the highlight of the meal--my Dad ordered the chicken fried pork tenderloin sandwich.  It was really good.  The breading a little lighter and I don't know, more loosely stuck to the meat than your usual pork tenderloin.  Not so crunchy I guess.  But this was a damn good sandwich.  The pork itself was really tender, and as my Dad pointed out, there wasn't a single bite that was fatty or gristly at all (I only had about a quarter of the sandwich).  There was a nice flavor in there too that was a little horseradish-y almost.  Not sure if they seasoned up the mayo a bit, but the sandwich had just a tiny bit of a kick.  It was served on a properly portioned soft bun with lettuce and red onion. It was well done.

Mom and I split the fried chicken drumsticks and the mushroom and goat cheese flat bread as well as some of their hand cut fries.  Interestingly, there were wings and the drumsticks on the menu, and they first brought us an order of the wings by mistake which we sent back.  But the drumsticks were way larger than the wings, and looked so much better (although I didn't try the wings).  They were regular sized legs that were fried and rolled in sauce, much like wings (we got the regular barbecue sauce) but were nice because they were so much bigger. There were 5 of them on the plate (even though the picture only shows 4).  The meat was maybe a touch dry, but the sauce was flavorful, with a smoky flavor with just a touch of heat.  They need to give you some wet wipes with these though--eating barbecue sauce coated chicken legs makes for some serious sticky fingers.  But would I order them again? Not with that tenderloin as an option.

The big disappointment of the day was the flatbread. Honestly, we thought it was pretty bad.  The crust was that thin cracker-type crust which can be good when done right, but this one was really soft under the toppings and really hard on the edges.  And the "sauce" on the flatbread was basically a caramelized onion paste that was spread around on the crust.  It was topped with dollops of goat cheese and slices of what seemed like completely raw shitake mushrooms.  This thing just did not come together at all for me.  The whole thing wasn't warm enough, and the mushrooms should have been cooked.  Preferably like sauteed with some seasonings beforehand---especially if you are using this kind of a mushroom--they were really dense.  The toppings over all just came across as too dry. I don't know how you would fix this, as there were so many things going wrong with it in my mind.  My mom agreed and refused to even take the leftovers home (my parents are big leftover people).

The fries were handmade and had a nice flavor--they were maybe just a little soft for me, but on the whole, I liked them.  But again, a place only serving ketchup alongside, which seems uninspired to me.

I guess I didn't expect quite so many bar food type things on the menu---from what people were telling me, I was expecting something a little more fresh food oriented or something, and less of all the deep fried stuff.  But the tenderloin was good, worth ordering again (and with the fries). 

The Local Eatery & Pub
14655 Gray Road
Noblesville, IN 46062
317/218-3786
http://www.localeateryandpub.com/