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The Hawaiian sandwich is a Local House staff fave, so we gave it a whirl. Grilled chicken, pineapple and ham with a bit of Swiss cheese and Durkee’s dressing on a pretzel bun made for one sweet sandwich. Reminiscent of a Cuban, but totally different.
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And it comes with fries
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The eponymously named "The Local" pizza, loaded with sausage, pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms, onions and green peppers, is a customer favorite.
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The Local pizza, closer up
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The bar, with its lighted alcove and expansive mirrors gives a pop of color to the room. The night we visited no liquor was served. Had beers been on tap, patrons would have probably lined the bar.
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A close-up of the barrel vaulted alcove.
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In case you had any doubt sports fans gather at the Local House, the chalked team logos on the wall should put that idea to rest.
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Fresh, bright, sweet and a little salty sums it up for the spinach apple salad. And the portions are huge. We split the salad and still took home a small container, which was fine as a side dish at breakfast the next day.
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A view of the beer taps, including the obligatory Stella Artois tap.
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We both enjoyed the honey-maple glazed salmon, which came to the table hot and flaky.
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When our waitress told us about the chicken modega pizza, we decided to try the bacon, mushroom and chicken combo with the white wine modega sauce. Very different, but in a good way.
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We’re still in St. Louis where circles get cut into squares.
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A chalkboard welcome sign spelled out in a can't-miss-it size.
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Owners David Wright (left) and Chris Jacobs mostly spent the friends and family night in the kitchen at their new eatery and bar, The Local House.
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Kitchen manager Brandon Hamm came into the bar as we talked with owner Chris Jacob’s wife Kelsey who filled us in on the story of the Local House.
When David Wright and Chris Jacobs opened The Local House Restaurant & Bar in mid-December last year, the two longtime friends and coworkers envisioned a welcoming place with fresh foods made in-house, right down to the salad dressings. A family friendly place that wouldn’t forget St. Louis is a big sports town.
With 20 televisions in the bar and dining room, screens sized 32- to 60-inches, they’ve remembered the sports fans, but The Local House isn’t just a sports bar. The food, the customers and good value for the dollar are all important at The Local House.
When servers and cooks revved up for a family and friends trial run just before Christmas, children were in evidence throughout the evening.
The littlest reveler, Charley Jacobs, didn’t eat much. Her job was to charm the crowd and she worked the room like a pro, giggled and squirmed at guests and friends and when the party got a little much, she retired to the bar to sleep.
Charley’s the daughter of owner Chris Jacobs. Her appearance tells you pretty much what you need to know about the Local House.
The place is homey, right out of the box, from the sure to please menu to the genuine smiles from the staff, bus boys to bartenders. When the wait staff asked how we liked the dishes, it wasn’t a perfunctory question. They wanted us to enjoy the food and we did.
If you don’t find something to your taste on the menu owners Wright and Jacobs developed with kitchen manager Brandon Hamm you shouldn’t be eating out. The menu of 85 items looks a bit overwhelming at first, but it breaks down easily into appetizers, lighter fare, hearty dinners and easy to order bar food. According to Hamm, eighty-five-percent of the food is made from scratch, in-house.
Wright and Jacobs stayed in the kitchen on friends and family night, but Kelsey Jacobs, charming Charley’s mom and wife to Chris, had a few minutes to chat.
“David and Chris have been working together in restaurants since they were teens,” she says. “Chris grew up on the Hill, his uncle owned a bar and he’s always loved the restaurant business.”
Jacobs brought Wright into the restaurant biz fifteen years ago when a job opened at Mama Campisi’s. Later the two worked together at Skip’s Place Too and then at Joey B’s. According to Kelsey Jacobs, they’ve slowly put together menu ideas over the past few years. “They both love to get dirty in the kitchen,” she says. Operationally, Jacobs will work the front of house while Wright and Hamm wrangle the kitchen crew.
The fare is stick-to-the-ribs hearty, the portions ample. The menu features imaginative bar food with novel touches, burgers, pizzas and sandwiches. It showcases higher-end pastas and entrees like hand-cut sirloins and honey and maple glazed salmon (above). The upscale entrees fit in just fine with the burgers, pizzas, wraps and more.
Interestingly, the unconventional items seemed to be staff favorites. Our server noted with pride that the cheese appetizer used wedges of Provel cheese, hand-breaded and deep-fried. “Not mozzarella.” She recommended a more unusual pizza, Chicken Modega, with a white wine, butter and lemon modega sauce as the base topped with chicken, mushrooms and bacon, crisped. In classic St. Louis style, the pizza came to the table cut into squares.
The picture-perfect spinach salad tasted as good as it looked, in large part due to the sweet, tart apple vinaigrette house-made dressing.
The salmon arrived steaming hot, the honey maple glaze in just-right balance. The entrees come with a side of pasta or with vegetables of the day. The Hawaiian sandwich with grilled chicken, ham, Swiss cheese and pineapple with Durkee’s and pickles is served on a tasty pretzel bun with a mountain of hot fries. It’s an interesting take on sweet/hot, a bit like a Cuban, which they also have on the menu.
The space had been home to the Cafe Arnold, a longtime fixture in the community. The place got a nice facelift with a sophisticated paint scheme and classy patterned upholstery on booths throughout. The bar, with its gleaming arched alcove and colorful lighting, is lively and warm. The dining room accommodated big parties easily on opening night, while the bar provided more intimate seating.
For now, the restaurant offers lunch and dinner service. They’ve got two happy hours Monday through Friday, one from 3 pm to 6 pm and the second from 9 pm to close. Saturday and Sunday, there’s just one happy time, 9 pm to close, but hey, what a great idea. Watch for a new breakfast service on Saturdays and Sundays which debuts February 21st from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
The Local House has a romantic side, as evidenced by the Valentine’s Day special menu. Choose one of five entrees Italian Grilled Shrimp, Honey & Maple Glazed Salmon, Chicken Florentine, Chicken Marsala or Chicken Carbonara. Dinner includes a house salad, a choice of one side, a glass of house red or white wine and a dessert for $17.99. Dinner specials start at 4 p.m. on the February 14.
For Mardi-party animals, they’ll serve homemade gumbo, shrimp po-boys for lunch and $5 hurricanes on the fourteenth as well.
Happy hours feature two bucks for domestic beers, specials on well drinks and four dollars for bombs. This writer had to ask about the bomb. Red bull and flavored vodkas, I think. Maybe any liquor do when you need to rev up to wind down. ‘Nuff said.
The Local House Restaurant & Bar
3946 Jeffco
636-467-9900
Dining room hours:
Mon - Thurs: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Fri - Sat: 11 a.m. - midnight
Sun: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Facebook: The Local House Restaurant & Bar
