The Local Tavern closed Sunday night August 30th after a little more than nine months in business. The upscale eatery and bar opened at 2149 Briarcliff Road on November 17, 2025. No reason was provided for the closure, but a Duluth location - Local on North - controlled by the same owner, Kamal Preet (aka Kamal Singh), remains open.
Preet purchased The Local on North in Duluth in August 2020 from its original owners Georganne Rose and Salem Makhloaf. (A Canton location by the same name was not part of the 2020 sale.) Preet reportedly also owns other franchised and independent restaurants, both in metro Atlanta and out of state, but The Local Tavern was seemingly his first attempt at growing a business he had acquired into other areas.
Opening in a predominantly orthodox Jewish area with a menu that featured shrimp, pork, and mussels likely did not resonate with the locals, and its upscale bar model likely similarly did not resonate with Emory students and families.
That said, it's worth noting the restaurant did boast a solid 4.8/5 star rating on Google with nearly 200 reviews. The Duluth location, which opened in early 2019, has an over 4.5 star rating with nearly 800 reviews.
The intersection of Briarcliff and LaVista Roads has also been plagued by seemingly never ending road work for years, and that nuisance has no doubt had an impact on would-be diners' willingness to frequent the center. A freestanding Starbucks in the front of the center - literally at the hard corner of LaVista and Briarcliff - previously closed temporarily [because of the road work] but never reopened and remains vacant.
Are you surprised to see The Local Tavern close at Briar Vista shopping center? Did you ever dine at The Local Tavern? What should open in place of The Local Tavern at Briar Vista shopping center?
Please share your thoughts below.
There are so many restaurants named The Local or some slight variation of it. It’s very overdone and generic.
ReplyDeleteThat’s why they went out of business. They should have called it the “out of town grille”
DeleteIt's an Indian guy trying to bring the motel model mindset to pubs. No one wants that.
DeleteThe one time we dined there (dinner on a Saturday) it was nearly empty with just 3 other tables being served. The food and service was good.
ReplyDeleteThe other is a ROSWELL location on CANTON street.
ReplyDeleteThere was a CANTON location on ROSWELL street
DeleteThe whole area is totally screwed by whatever the hell is going on with the roadwork. My wife and I decided to have lunch at a nearby BBQ place. LaVista was royally screwed going east, so I thought to go down Sheridan and turn right on Briarcliff. Briarcliff was a parking lot, so I did a U turn and we ate elsewhere. So to answer the question, no I am not surprised to see it close. I don't see how anything in that area can operate at all.
ReplyDeleteGave this place a try early on - it wasn't bad but not really good either. Our entrees were average and they were out of a couple items we tried to order. It seemed like they didn't really know what they wanted to be and didn't seem to fit in that area of town.
ReplyDeleteYes I ate at the local alone and with friends several times. The food was excellent as was the atmosphere. So sorry they did not make it but no doubt the locations ongoing traffic and construction issues contributed more to the closure than the neighbors or Emory folks.
ReplyDeleteThe construction has made that whole plaza seem impossible to visit. I feel bad for the businesses there.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea it had changed since Red Pepper! Maybe call it Local Briarcliff would have been better. Local 7 in Tucker. They sure did not let the area know of their existence - at least the area past N.Druid Hills Rd!\
ReplyDeleteWe ate there 2x - barely average food and there are much better restaurants nearby. Yeah, traffic is a mess but we go after rush hour.
ReplyDeleteI ate there a couple of times well after they opened because I know it takes a new business time to settle into a routine. The Local's meals never came close to the level of meals provided by a number of nearby, locally owned, non-chain, casual restaurants I still eat at each month. If you don't live locally, you do have to avoid the weekday evening rush hours to make the drive over here worth your while.
ReplyDeletecan you name a couple of the other restaurants you frequent in that area? My elderly parents live near there and we always struggle to find decent restaurants in that area. Thankful that Novo Cocina finally opened.
DeleteRoughly in order of approximate distance from The Local: Sushi Itto, Ameer's Mediterranean Grill, Pizza Bella Emory, Taqueria El Vecino, Kindred, The Po'Boy Shop, and Community Q BBQ. Based on the number of repeat visits I've made to these restaurants, their consistency (aka, batting average) to provide great meals and service is what really separates them from their competition.
DeleteDid someone in the Orthodox community complain abt the restaurant or are you just casting aspersions towards the community? There are many restaurants around serving pork & shrimp with no impact.
ReplyDeleteThe menu was all over the place. Asian fusion. Mexican. Southern. Pasta. Burgers. Places that try to cram all that into one spot rarely get any one cuisine right.
ReplyDeleteThey had Shasta . Glad they could cram it in.
DeleteApparently you can eat like the apostles here. There’s a picture above this article that says thatZ
DeleteThe orthodox aren’t spending money at any restaurant. That wasn’t what hurt them.
ReplyDeleteDarn! Meant to try it but never got around to it!
ReplyDelete