Lokal

Hi Uncle Steve,

A quick review on a more casual spot in Coconut Grove. 

Lokal, a (bad) pun on local, is a burger and beer joint heavily focused on locally sourced food: Miami Smokers' bacon, Clewiston alligator, J. Wakefield Brewers, etc. And some additional environmental consciousness to boot. We sat at the full-service bar. 

Lauren had an Apple Pie Cider from Cigar City Brewery to drink for the night. (CCB is probably the largest craft brewer in Florida). It was so good, I recommended it to a guy who came to the bar looking for a "girlie drink" for his date (the bartender was not amused). I had a J. Wakefield Brewery 24th Street Brown Ale, which nicely complemented my meal. (24th Street is the street in Miami with 3 craft breweries). 

Other than our entrees and the above, the only thing we ordered was the alligator. This actually was the highlight of the night. Quite frankly, most alligator served is uniformly fried, of uniform size, and likely all comes from the same generic processing plant who distributes it to every restaurant that wants to serve gator. With that in mind, this was truly unique and I wouldn't be surprised if someone from Clewiston shipped in a whole gator tail occasionally. 

The gator tail was sliced into strips, rather than more cubical bites. For once, it was not overcooked and thus avoided the oh-too-common chewiness of fried gator. It was dusted with Old Bay, served on top of a small salad with a very light vinaigrette, and with sides of Sriracha cocktail sauce and garlic-something sauce. (The research on this review is a bit lacking.....). If there is one thing that was a must-have here, it's this. 

Lauren ordered a Miami Smoker's BLT. Miami Smokers is a local smoker than specializes in gourmet smoked products; damn good bacon. Hence, an excellent (even the second-best-ever) BLT. (The real problem here is that earlier this week I had the best BLT ever, but that's what you get for a really small, small-town cafe that serves terrible coffee, but fantastic sandwiches). 

The bar has red lights. 

I had the Miami Blues, a very nice burger distinguished by the blue cheese on top .Lokal's burgers are all very nice, based I understand on Florida raised cattle with a heavy Japanese heredity. An excellent burger, but given my low standards for gator, the gator ended up being the surprise and highlight of the night. The burgers are excellent, but were par for the course. 

But at least it's branded. 

Also, they have a dog menu. Well, menu for dogs.

Highly recommended.