Lokal Mediterranean Bistro

Is this places closed for good??? When they first closed they had a sign out front that said «spring» and it’s spring! Please bring back lokal! It’s our favorite brunch!

Food took more than half an hour. Price is pretty expensive for what it is. They probably survive solely on walk by traffic and no returning customers.
And the outside chairs are totally uncomfortable!

We used to come here quite regularly for Sunday brunch. Take the dogs to the park, head over to Lokal for food at their outdoor seating. The food was good. Service was always good. It was usually quiet. After a hiatus we went back today. Unfortunately it wasn’t the same. French fries instead of potatoes with a spinach, egg white omelet, huh? Trying to be healthy with a side of fries? The huevos rancheros with over easy eggs went downhill as well. The eggs were rushed so crisped on the edges and bottom with soft yolks (a personal pet peeve) add some undercooked hard black beans, voila terrible. The fruit and yogurt used to be cantaloupe heavy but was a good mix. But now it was apples, oranges, bananas with canned pineapple.
Needless to say we are disappointed. All the ingredients were there but the execution dropped off drastically. 3 starts at best. 2 today.

I’m fairly regular, probably order take out once a week. Today I bought a Caesar salad that was half full in the container…(look at my pic). I paid the $ 8.71 with a $ 10 bill and only received $ 1 from the waitress who helped me get it from the kitchen. Excuse me but, I didn’t dine it… why did she keep my change. I’m not complaining about the amount, just the principle. I didn’t want to make a scene over a loose change, so I just left. Lokal’s waiters do this all the time… I’m really fed up with them keeping my change (mostly) every time!
I’m pretty much a regular for over 3 years now, hate to not come back anymore. Today’s few pieces of lettuce and some sad croutons was really the last straw, there’s no value for the $ 9 I paid. I had to buy a second lunch…
So sad to write a bad review…

Let me just say that if my phone wasn’t dead and we had checked reviews first, we wouldn’t have come…
Terrible experience. When you go to a restaurant, you are hungry, or will be soon. Even getting a glass of water here is hard, and that’s free. We ordered our food, and after 45 mins it hadn’t come. We had already noticed that other people who had been there BEFORE WE EVEN SAT hadnt received food and were growing impatient. After waiting until an hour, we politely told our waiter that if the food isn’t ready we would like our check to pay for the beer ordered and leave. He said he would check. He came back and said that the kitchen said it would be exactly three minutes. We said ok… Well, 5 minutes later, food comes out for the table next to us… So we paid for the beer and left.
It is unacceptable for any restaurant to be this slow. If you cannot handle the volume of customers, don’t sit as many people or hire more kitchen staff. Now I know it wasn’t the waiters fault, I am a server myself. But either management needs to exponentially step up their game or he should quit, because although he shouldn’t have to, just shrugging it off instead of getting the kitchen to make it on the double doesn’t make much sense to me. He was kind of just apathetic.
Overall, this restaurant is NOT worth dining at, even though it seems nice with the view. We had come after finding out there was a 30 min wait at Calexico. After this incident, we went back and got sat, ate, and left in less time then we sat and drank water at this hopeless institution. I have never experienced such a pathetic restaurant, and it’s a shame that no one has done anything about it, because clearly the reviews have been saying this for a while.

Maybe Sunday evenings are terrible times to go. I dont know. I just know the food was less than mediocre. I’m only giving it two stars because I felt bad for the waiters.
I’d like to say I’d give it another chance but probably not. No issue with wait staff. Our server was nice and attentive. Unfortunately, the food took more than an hour to get to our table (and the tables around us). It wasn’t even super packed.
The sauteed spinach was lacking in flavor and depth. Looked like there was no thought put into it and they had to quickly get it out. The risotto was just wet rice and under seasoned, with 4 pieces of shrimp. Though cooked well, it was, again, another rushed dish that didn’t play up to our expectations. The mussels in a sea urchin butter was also minus the sea urchin. Well cooked, nicely flavored, no sea urchin or buttery taste.
If Unilocal didn’t tell me it’s supposed to be Mediterranean, I would never have guessed it.

Been a couple of times to see if the service would get any better since the food is decent. Service is still really bad. Choose somewhere else if that matters to you.

This is the worst doing experience I’ve ever had. Someone lit a cigarette indoors at the table next to us. She put it out in her water glass. We were horrified. Even more horrified she wasn’t asked to leave. Our food was late and very bland. The staff was overwhelmed even though it wasn’t that busy. It was extremely overpriced. One of our dishes was inedible. My friend put an entire salt shaker of salt in her potatoes, and they remained flavorless.
Oh and when we informed the indoor smoker we had a pregnant guest at our table, she responded: «well I’m not pregnant!»
That pretty much sums it up!

I was walking by and I sat to get a quick meal.
I ordered the $ 10 burger de luxe, rare (½ lb patty).
I sat outside, a nice relaxing spot with a view of the park.
wait staff was prompt and courteous.
The burger came rare as I asked (I would get medium rare, but when I ask for that many restaurants serve a medium one). It was quite good and the center tasted like steak tartare meat.
The fries were fantastic. the sprinkled fresh rosemary was a great touch and complemented the flavor. In the USA I rarely get fries that I like. They are often too thin or too oily or overcooked. These were like what my grandmother used to make.
The waiter told me they use fresh soybean oil.
Just great, non oily, fresh potato tasting fries that needed no ketchup or mayo.
Something so simple that few execute well.
I have not tried other dishes, but I’d go back for a burger + fries any time.
And no line to get a table compared to the nearby hipper, twice as expensive and cramped spots.
I just wish my glass would have been refilled more often with water.

Pretty simple, we order a lamb burger and a steak sandwich, after waiting 10 min for one of the 5 members of the waitstaff to come over. That’s fine, benefit of the doubt. 20 min go by, then 30 min waiting for our food, one water refill is the only interaction in that time. Now I work at a restaurant in Manhattan and know what it’s like to be busy; busy they were not, it was 4:30. Waitstaff was walking around looking at tables, but must have missed us looking around wondering what’s going on. After my grain of salt dissolved, I get someones attention, who then gets my waiter. Waiter never put in the order (what a surprise, he didn’t write it down) and then made no effort to sympathize, apologize, or offer a drink/discount…nothing.
I was here twice, the first and last time.

Hey I have love for you Lokal.
The owner/​manager is a great, friendly middle eastern guy that owns the one next door too I think, sindicato and he always says hi and is definitely invested in the neighborhood. The food is consistently good (I don’t order from here anymore, I wasn’t too impressed) — but when I come in its always satisfying and delicious.
A neighborhood spot. screw 5 leaves anyways they get too much.

Mediterranean? Well you’d never know it by the looks of their brunch menu. (Review for brunch service only.)
I’d passed Lokal many times over the last year or so and hesitated to give them a try based on Unilocal reviews. Finally I decided to try it for myself. Well the brunch menu is pretty standard, almost diner-​standard. You’d never know you were in a Mediterranean restaurant by the looks of it. It’s just not special. But I decided to overlook this detail and order anyway.
My friend and I were seating quickly (the place was kind of bare bones compared to Five Leaves, our first choice with a two hour wait). I ordered eggs florentine and my friend, the frittata. Don’t judge. I told you it wasn’t special. And when the food arrived, the flavors were also pretty standard and basic; nothing to write home about. I probably could’ve cooked up the same dishes at home. The server was friendly, she checked on us a few times.
So I’m not saying Lokal is a bad idea. If you’re in the mood for diner food with a slightly spiffier environment, come here. If you’re on the mood for a knock-​your-​socks-​off Mediterranean brunch, try again.

Best steak I have ever tried!!! The wait was long but worth it!!! I’m from Cali and I can say flying 3000 miles is definitely worth it for their steak!!!

Was lured into Lokal by the chalkboard out front that promised me $ 5 bloodies on a Saturday afternoon.
The waitstaff was extremely friendly, and persuaded me to order the Bulgogi sandwich. It was so good I didn’t want it to end. I always take a waiter’s recommendation, and I was so glad I did. I will definitely be back for this again.
The $ 5 bloody however, tasted like a $ 5 bloody… can’t win them all. :)

This place has the best veggie burgers ever and believe me, I’ve tried A LOT of veggie burgers.
My non-​vegetarian friends also love the food. I would say the only reason this place isn’t getting the full 5 stars is because I wish they had more variety. I suppose I would give them 4.5 stars, really. The service is great too; the waiters are very sweet.

I absolutely recommend this place! The setting is so relaxing, definitely a nice way to get away from the hustle of New York. It’s in a great location and easy to get to/​find.
The service is impeccable and the food is also delicious. We had calamari to start and that was something to write home about! I actually did. I texted my mom about it! I had the NY Strip Steak and it was amazing. My daughter got a burger that was bigger than her face! Yeah, she didn’t end up finishing it… but she definitely tried. We tried a few different desserts which were all amazing. Thinking about Lokal makes me wish I was in Brooklyn, eating there right now! But since I’m not, if you are in the area. please go so that I can read your review and live vicariously through you!

This is my go to restaurant for brunch and great sandwich. The drinks… not so much. The Bulgogi sandwich is my favorite. The fries are fresh and on point. The service is always kind and the owner/​manager is always pleasant and attentive, makes you always want to go back. Outdoor seating with a view of the McCarren Park.
I love this place.

This place is the worst, particularly the juice bar, when it comes to customer service! I just stood there for over 5 minutes at the outdoor juice bar while countless number of employees walked straight passed me. I mean, I’m only trying to give you business but screw me right? Though I’m almost glad none of them stopped because they all looked to be in supremely foul moods. Just how I want to spend my meal… being served by a rude, moody waiter/​waitress.
Don’t waste your time here.

My boyfriend and I spontaneously ended up at Lokal because of the bright awning they had. We sat outside on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Their brunch menu was pretty straight forward. They had a prix fixe option in which the entrée comes with coffee or tea and orange juice.
I had the Eggs Benedict with coffee and OJ. My dish was pretty good, can’t really mess up eggs benedict. What I really enjoyed was the OJ, it tasted so fresh and sweet. I would just come back to get a glass of OJ. The boyfriend got a Tuna Burger and a Bacon Bloody Mary; the burger was mediocre but the bloody mary was excellent.
The entire experience was nice. I’ve been counting the days to when I can return and enjoy another meal here.

Lokal seems like one of those urban restaurants you just awe when you pass by those people who eat outdoors in Union Square.
Let me just say this, I hated my seat. I knocked down their gate lock as it was laying there, ready to stab me. Worst seat ever. And it just so happened to be right under the edge of the upper covers, and it just rained that day, so good grief «rain on me, baby».
Firstly, my friends and I came here for hamburgers. Good hamburgers. Because funny story my friend can’t have Mickey D’s as she vomited a few times during a car ride after having their burgers.
And what a big slice of onion. First time seeing rosemaries cooked with fries, tasted odd yet good.