I love the entertainment, but going solo is a whole different story. It's ridiculously tough to get waited on. You need to have perfect timing to flag down one of the 20 bartenders for a drink, and it's super annoying when they ask everyone around you instead. I mean, I'm not invisible, I'm just sitting here, making eye contact, and practically screaming 'I need a drink!' but they still manage to skip me and serve the people right next to me, without fail. Do I smell? Am I weird looking? What’s the deal with the men next to me getting served and not me? Do you not want solo females at your bar?
Laura Phillips
The Local in Strongsville has a nice set up. If you’re lucky enough to get a table, you’re better off rather than a long wait time to get a drink at the bar. The drink prices are reasonable & food is excellent. If you’re only going to see a live band, don’t waste your time. The sound system sucks. The first few times I went, I couldn’t figure out why all the bands had a muffle like sound. If you’re sitting on the opposite area of the band, near the main bar, it’s very hard to understand what they’re even singing. I remember thinking to myself, wow I don’t remember these bands sounding this bad. Then someone said when The Local bought the additional space, the sound system has never been the same. Very disappointed because The Local offers a variety of good tribute bands. I wish this review would let me add a video sound clip.
The Local in North Olmsted is much better if the main reason you’re going is for the live band.
Marcos Berrios
Great atmosphere. Good food. Awesome bartenders. This place got an upgrade. Great job Kevin.
J. C.
Stop being cheap and fix the soap dispenser in the mens bathroom. It has been broke and empty for months. All the money this bar makes and they choose not to repair that?
Richard Bradish
Food is good service friendly but kinda slow
robert winwood
A fun, safe, comfortable entertainment bar and restaurant. Lots of live music, trivia, line dancing and fun. Go there and give it a try. You will enjoy the experience. My wife and I along with our friends really like The Local in Strongsville.
Rhonda Lucas
Best place ever love shaue an diamond an Kevin an billy they are very awesome people this place always got great bands an great people I am here ever weekend they rock out I will always go here no matter what best prices an the best people ever so I’ll never stop going there
Garrett Schmidt
superior live music venue!!! the best around. amazing food and drinks with extremely reasonable prices. Service is always top tier as well. Highly recommend .
Bernard Bokenyi
Utterly the worst experience I have had in a bar since I was 21.
Mikeymikes Newaccount-Dawes
unbelievable spot..great music..great food and great staff..a 5 star experience all around..best bar in Cleveland and suburban area
This is a great bar and place to eat. Great service and reasonable pricing. One of the best bars in the Cleveland area for live music!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Chuck Prochaska
Great place! Great service,great food, great live bands!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
tami head
The Local Bar in Strongsville had the best New Year’s party!!! Great band great food and the best staff in town. Definitely recommend anyone who hasn’t been there yet to check it out. If you have been there then you know it’s always a fun time ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger with Tots
TC Safavi
It's a dive bar and exactly what you'd expect: really bad planning/organization for the new years party, kind bartenders and well meaning staff doing the best they can to offset lots of poor choices by management. Cheap prices and cheap bar package so no serious complaints; you get what you pay for. Food was pretty okay and served something like 3 hours later than promised despite being pre ordered; they're very much so NOT a restaurant and not physically capable of feeding everyone an entree. Typical dive bar cheap liquor and lite beer only in plastic cups. The shuttle was hilariously badly planned (not the very nice driver's fault, he was booked incorrectly for far too short of a time with far too small of a vehicle and told totally different things than was advertised to party guests. But he was doing his best anyway. )
The owner Kevin is very responsive to texts and emails and tried his best to fix things, but honestly he just bit off more than he could chew with this party. I've worked in this industry 20+ years in NYC and Chicago everything from 3 Michelin stars to extreme high volume nightclubs, and there's just no way a plastic cup dive bar is ever going to be able to pull off a party of this scale smoothly. It always goes like this in the cheap joints and all the angry people need to relax. We stopped over in Cleveland driving home from Chicago to NYC after Christmas specifically because it was so dirt cheap to do new year's here: this is like 1990s prices, sixty bucks for five hours open bar and a disposable plastic plate of pasta they call dinner! I'm totally satisfied because I KNEW I was going to a dive bar in the boonies, but I think my partner was pretty pissed off because he didn't realize what we were getting into. Same for a lot of other guests we talked to. But 5 hours open bar (plus a plastic plate of pasta) was the price of 2.5 well drinks in NYC, so really all yall need to chill and enjoy the shitshow for what it is. You're at a dive bar in a flyover state and everyone is trying their best, calm your tits.
Suggestion for next year, if management reads reviews: cater in a buffet from a real restaurant. They claimed they were going to serve individually plated pre ordered entrees between 7-8 and our area was served after 11pm AND we weren't the last people. They got my entree wrong but I didn't bother correcting the poor smashed kitchen who had no chance in hell. I could see into the kitchen from where we were seated and they were in like 20 miles over their heads. Next year seriously just do a buffet with pasta and chicken, keep it open for 4 hours, and don't pretend you're physically capable of pretending to be a restaurant that makes steak and shrimp with your general expense ratio. You don't charge people enough money to hire and retain a large enough number of qualified kitchen staff. Admit to what you are upfront--a fireball, coors light, and potato chips kind of joint--and then everyone will be happy that their expectations were met. I would have happily paid sixty bucks for merely three hours open bar and some bar peanuts and just gotten dinner elsewhere first.
I love the entertainment, but going solo is a whole different story. It's ridiculously tough to get waited on. You need to have perfect timing to flag down one of the 20 bartenders for a drink, and it's super annoying when they ask everyone around you instead. I mean, I'm not invisible, I'm just sitting here, making eye contact, and practically screaming 'I need a drink!' but they still manage to skip me and serve the people right next to me, without fail. Do I smell? Am I weird looking? What’s the deal with the men next to me getting served and not me? Do you not want solo females at your bar?
The Local in Strongsville has a nice set up. If you’re lucky enough to get a table, you’re better off rather than a long wait time to get a drink at the bar. The drink prices are reasonable & food is excellent. If you’re only going to see a live band, don’t waste your time. The sound system sucks. The first few times I went, I couldn’t figure out why all the bands had a muffle like sound. If you’re sitting on the opposite area of the band, near the main bar, it’s very hard to understand what they’re even singing. I remember thinking to myself, wow I don’t remember these bands sounding this bad. Then someone said when The Local bought the additional space, the sound system has never been the same. Very disappointed because The Local offers a variety of good tribute bands. I wish this review would let me add a video sound clip.
The Local in North Olmsted is much better if the main reason you’re going is for the live band.
Great atmosphere. Good food. Awesome bartenders. This place got an upgrade. Great job Kevin.
Stop being cheap and fix the soap dispenser in the mens bathroom. It has been broke and empty for months. All the money this bar makes and they choose not to repair that?
Food is good service friendly but kinda slow
A fun, safe, comfortable entertainment bar and restaurant. Lots of live music, trivia, line dancing and fun. Go there and give it a try. You will enjoy the experience. My wife and I along with our friends really like The Local in Strongsville.
Best place ever love shaue an diamond an Kevin an billy they are very awesome people this place always got great bands an great people I am here ever weekend they rock out I will always go here no matter what best prices an the best people ever so I’ll never stop going there
superior live music venue!!! the best around. amazing food and drinks with extremely reasonable prices. Service is always top tier as well. Highly recommend .
Utterly the worst experience I have had in a bar since I was 21.
unbelievable spot..great music..great food and great staff..a 5 star experience all around..best bar in Cleveland and suburban area
Restaurantji Recommends
Great Place to Eat and Enjoy!!!
This is a great bar and place to eat. Great service and reasonable pricing. One of the best bars in the Cleveland area for live music!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Great place! Great service,great food, great live bands!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Local Bar in Strongsville had the best New Year’s party!!! Great band great food and the best staff in town. Definitely recommend anyone who hasn’t been there yet to check it out. If you have been there then you know it’s always a fun time ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger with Tots
It's a dive bar and exactly what you'd expect: really bad planning/organization for the new years party, kind bartenders and well meaning staff doing the best they can to offset lots of poor choices by management. Cheap prices and cheap bar package so no serious complaints; you get what you pay for. Food was pretty okay and served something like 3 hours later than promised despite being pre ordered; they're very much so NOT a restaurant and not physically capable of feeding everyone an entree. Typical dive bar cheap liquor and lite beer only in plastic cups. The shuttle was hilariously badly planned (not the very nice driver's fault, he was booked incorrectly for far too short of a time with far too small of a vehicle and told totally different things than was advertised to party guests. But he was doing his best anyway. )
The owner Kevin is very responsive to texts and emails and tried his best to fix things, but honestly he just bit off more than he could chew with this party. I've worked in this industry 20+ years in NYC and Chicago everything from 3 Michelin stars to extreme high volume nightclubs, and there's just no way a plastic cup dive bar is ever going to be able to pull off a party of this scale smoothly. It always goes like this in the cheap joints and all the angry people need to relax. We stopped over in Cleveland driving home from Chicago to NYC after Christmas specifically because it was so dirt cheap to do new year's here: this is like 1990s prices, sixty bucks for five hours open bar and a disposable plastic plate of pasta they call dinner! I'm totally satisfied because I KNEW I was going to a dive bar in the boonies, but I think my partner was pretty pissed off because he didn't realize what we were getting into. Same for a lot of other guests we talked to. But 5 hours open bar (plus a plastic plate of pasta) was the price of 2.5 well drinks in NYC, so really all yall need to chill and enjoy the shitshow for what it is. You're at a dive bar in a flyover state and everyone is trying their best, calm your tits.
Suggestion for next year, if management reads reviews: cater in a buffet from a real restaurant. They claimed they were going to serve individually plated pre ordered entrees between 7-8 and our area was served after 11pm AND we weren't the last people. They got my entree wrong but I didn't bother correcting the poor smashed kitchen who had no chance in hell. I could see into the kitchen from where we were seated and they were in like 20 miles over their heads. Next year seriously just do a buffet with pasta and chicken, keep it open for 4 hours, and don't pretend you're physically capable of pretending to be a restaurant that makes steak and shrimp with your general expense ratio. You don't charge people enough money to hire and retain a large enough number of qualified kitchen staff. Admit to what you are upfront--a fireball, coors light, and potato chips kind of joint--and then everyone will be happy that their expectations were met. I would have happily paid sixty bucks for merely three hours open bar and some bar peanuts and just gotten dinner elsewhere first.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Loading...