The Local Restaurant & Catering

It's been weeks since our wedding, and we're still getting an insane amount of compliments and questions on our wedding dinner! One of my bridesmaids even asked if I could get the recipe for The Local's truffle mushroom pasta (the resounding favorite from all of our guests, and for good reason). The other favorite (especially from my husband) was their apple crisp. It's common knowledge that the bride and groom don't get a ton of time to eat on the wedding day. We'd built out a private dinner right after cocktail hour but before sunset photos, and we got to eat a little bit of everything. Let me tell you -- I'm still thinking about the scalloped potatoes I had. I could have had an entire plate of those and still have been happy. We also had the chicken and green beans, and it's an understatement to say everything was incredible. Every dish was high quality, remained hot through the buffet, and were filling but didn't make you feel too heavy/sleepy to dance all night afterwards. Not only was the food amazing, but working with Helen and her team through our engagement was so easy. The Local is very thorough and sends over clear paperwork, including a contract with all items and payments broken down, and they were really responsive with any questions we had along the way. They even had a specific food option for those with allergies or dietary restrictions. Their team also helped set up and take down everything, and really made our dreams come true with the place settings and floorplan. It was absolutely beautiful. Overall, we could not recommend them more, and are hoping we get to attend a wedding where they're the vendor so we can eat more of their food! Thank goodness they're also a restaurant; we'll definitely be going there to relive our wedding dinner yet again :)

I recently had the pleasure of working with Helen and the team at The Local for my wedding, and I couldn't be happier with the experience. My husband and I used The Local for our September 2024 wedding and could not recommend their services enough. We ended up working with The Local for every aspect of the wedding, including cocktail hour, bar, day of coordination, and reception needs. The Local was actually a preferred vendor from our venue and I realized that my husband and I ate there a few years ago for a New Years trip, which made me all the more excited to reach out to them. From the start, Helen was incredibly organized and attentive. She listened to my vision and brought it to life, ensuring every detail was perfect. Her expertise and calm demeanor made the planning process enjoyable rather than stressful. From the weeks before the wedding to the actual day, Helen was on top of everything. I am not a huge planner myself, so her expertise was imperative. Not only is Helen a wonderful person and provides great energy to be around, but she has a plan for anything and everything. For example, the zipper track of my wedding dress broke in the middle of the reception, and before I could even blink, Helen was right behind me with a needle and thread saving the day. That is just one of the many things Helen did to ensure our day was perfect. If there was anyone in the world who could write a blueprint for being the perfect wedding coordinator, it would hands down be Helen. The catering by The Local was outstanding. The food was not only delicious but beautifully presented. Our guests are still raving about the food from cocktail hour to the reception dinner. They also accommodated dietary restrictions seamlessly, which we really appreciated. Overall, the combination of Helen’s planning skills and The Local’s culinary talents made our wedding day unforgettable. I highly recommend both for anyone looking to create a memorable event!

My daughter selected the Local as her catering company for her June 2024 wedding and also hired Eleanore as the wedding planner and the experience was outstanding. Eleanore was extremely responsive, organized and shared valuable insight from her vast experience for my daughter and her fiance to consider as they finalized their plans. Eleanore's presence and guidance allowed the bride and groom to truly enjoy their wedding day as Eleanore prepared for every detail and relieved the bride of any worry as she managed the delivery of every vendor and coordinated the day from sunrise through the grand exit flawlessly and always with a calm and professional demeanor. The food was delicious and exactly as presented in the tasting session and the presentation was elegant with first class service. We offer our highest recommendation for the Local to serve as the caterer for any wedding and Eleanore as a wedding planner was indispensable in creating the wedding the bride and groom dreamed of.

We are so glad we used The Local as our caterer for our wedding! We are also glad that we got to work with Helen exclusively. She guided us through the most stressful part of the wedding – the catering. We were a long-distance couple and she was so accommodating. She helped us create an excellent menu that our guests loved. We also had some specific guest dietary restrictions that she helped us navigate and execute. She was an excellent communicator throughout the entire process. Our wedding day food was absolutely excellent. Each dish was beautifully presented and packed with flavor. The service was impeccable. The day of catering team was incredibly professional, attentive, and friendly, ensuring that everything ran smoothly and that our guests were well taken care of. They were able to quickly pivot when we needed to move our ceremony indoors as well. We couldn’t have asked for a better catering experience. If you’re looking for a caterer who delivers exquisite food, exceptional service, and a truly memorable dining experience, The Local is the way to go.

We used the local for coordination and catering and they made everything incredibly easy! The day of was very chill and I had nothing to worry about. Specifically, Sam was the absolute best!! She was so calm all day, handled obstacles so well and made sure everything looked perfect! The food was also amazing and we got so many compliments!!

My husband and I had the absolute pleasure of working with The Local for our big day. It is always a bit nerve wracking to work with a company that you have not heard about since we do not live in the area. However, Samantha Clarke and her team eased all worries and were so fantastic to work with. Not only was the food absolutely delicious (we had multiple people tell us this was the best wedding food they have ever had) but the team was exceptional and I did not need to worry about one thing come wedding day. There just truly is not a way to put my gratitude into words but if you are looking for a caterer and an amazing coordinator to work with, I cannot recommend The Local enough. We will now be visiting every chance we get to the restaurant!

We celebrated my husband’s birthday and had “The Local” come and cook the meal at the house we rented. From start to finish, Kelly made it a simple process. The food was wonderful. Made to perfection. The staff took care of everything and they left the kitchen cleaner then when they arrived. I would highly recommend this company!

We had an excellent experience with The Local for our 2024 June wedding! From the very beginning the team was communicative and helpful- they built a proposal that met our vision and our budget, and answered any and all questions in a timely fashion. After we booked, they coordinated our tasting as well as our meeting with the rental company. It was a seamless and easy process. We also opted to hire their day of wedding coordinator, which was the BEST decision we made throughout our whole planning process. Our coordinator, Eleanore, was the MVP of the wedding, both in the months leading up to the day, and the weekend of the wedding. We had a number of phone calls with her on a frequent basis and she kept us on track with our to-do list. We truly felt at ease knowing she had every detail covered, and that made the day of nearly stress free! She was with us for the rehearsal as well which was extremely helpful for the next day. We also had a VERY hot wedding weekend and Eleanore walked us through a weather plan to ensure our guests were cared for and comfortable. As for the wedding day, everything went smoothly and the catering team was on point. A number of guests commented on the quality of the food, and they absolutely brought my table decor vision to life. Overall we absolutely recommend booking with The Local- they’re professional and excellent at what they do!

We had the most incredible experience with The Local Catering for our wedding day! Eleanore and her team went above and beyond to provide exceptional service, fantastic food, and a seamlessly organized day! From the planning stages, Eleanore was prompt with emails, so kind, and very professional when explaining every part of their menu to help us curate the perfect items for our day. Every guest was raving about the food, even our pickiest of eaters! We heard from so many people that it was the best wedding food they had ever had! We especially loved the mixed vegetables and salmon, but truly everything was wonderful! The staff went out of their way to check in on us and our family and get us anything we needed throughout the wedding. Also, they were incredibly accommodating to our guests with food allergies. It was such a wonderful experience and I highly recommend using the Local! They are truly such a delight to work with and will make your day even more special with their attention to detail and the yummiest of food!

The Local did a fantastic job at our daughter’s wedding. Eleanore was wonderful to work with and very responsive from the beginning of the process to the end. We had many compliments from our guests that the food was the best they had ever had at a wedding (and we agree!). Everyone was served fast and efficiently. The servers and bartenders were all so pleasant, efficient, professional and friendly. The staff worked well with the other vendors. We could not have asked for anything more.

We had the most MAGICAL wedding day a week ago and a huge part of that was thanks to Eleanore and the Local team! She was organized, kind, EXTREMELY attentive to detail, and made sure everything ran smoothly. I can honestly say we had the most fun, stress-free day thanks to her! Also, the food and drinks were DELICIOUS! Our guests couldn’t stop raving about how polite the servers were, and how tasty every meal was! You won’t regret working with The Local for your wedding day - and work with Eleanore! She’s THE BEST!

OMG! The Local made everything easy and beautiful for our special day on 4/13/24!!!! Thank you Eleanore for going above and beyond, literally, to make it perfect!!!

There is not a bad thing I can say about The Local Caterer. A week has now passed since our big day and we still have guests raving about how great the food was - some even asking for recipes! We had the privilege of working closely with Eleanore, who was nothing short of perfect. She went above and beyond from beginning to end and made the process seamless and stress free. The entire staff were pleasant, kind, and left a lasting impression on us, our guests, and received compliments from other vendors working along side as well. I highly recommend hiring them for your event. It will be the best decision you can make.

The Local team was awesome! The food was great and everyone was incredibly kind. Helen was amazing! She helped bring our vision to life and truly made the day perfect. She was organized, understood everything we needed (before we knew we needed it), and was always positive! I would have been lost without her. We had a great experience with The Local!

Our daughter got married in early September and we thought by now, the owners would have reached out, as we tried to contact them directly. Our venue was outdoors, and all went well until we were asked to shelter in place until a storm passed. 15 minutes later, when the owners of the venue said we could restart, The Local staff had started to clean up and refused to restart the party. Our daughter’s wedding ended at 9:45 instead of 11. The staff at the Local were unresponsive to our requests to talk and not empathetic. They gave us no real explanation. We found the catering staff immature. They refuse to discuss compensation and just mailed our daughter a check, much less then we felt we deserved. We wrote the owners and as of now, have never heard back. If you are planning a wedding with The Local in an outdoor venue, we cannot recommend using them.

We were really impressed with the Local as our caterer and especially Helen for the partial planning services. Helen was a joy to work with throughout the process--she's very knowledgeable, helped walk us through the whole process, is extremely organized, and made me feel less stressed. Day of, Helen really knocked it out of the park. She was somehow everywhere at once and made everything run smoothly. She really made our vision for our wedding day come to life. She's very talented at calligraphy and helped with some day-of decor. The food was amazing. Our guests are still talking about how tasty everything was--the short rib was tender, the mac n cheese is delicious, and we had plenty of food for all of our guests. Helen worked amazingly with all of our other vendors, and the whole staff at the Local were friendly and professional.

The Local was absolutely fantastic, for so many reasons. The food was amazing and our guests RAVED about it - and I have friends who work in the food industry and have high standards. We did family style, and even the meat eaters LOVED the squash entrée (we also served the beef tenderloin and salmon which were delicious, the beef was SO TENDER!!). The grilled cheese and tomato soup shooters were also a huge hit for our winter wedding! We also paid for partial planning services, and Eleanore was our planner. She was absolutely phenomenal and truly went above and beyond on our wedding day. In the months leading up to our day, she was responsive, helped me stay organized with several planning calls and a google sheet, she helped us at our rental meeting, and she incorporated my many changes throughout the planning process, from our specialty cocktail (a recipe we came up with ourselves that they were so excited to make), menu changes, and rental changes. She even tried to help me find a company to rent trees as decor! We went from planning an outdoor ceremony, to a ceremony under a covered patio, ultimately to an indoor ceremony on the morning of our wedding because of weather and she made sure everything went off without an issue. On the day of the wedding, she was doing everything for everyone. She got my mom pantyhose at the last minute. My sister's dress strap broke, she helped her fix it more than once. When I first took my dress out of the garment bag, there were dirt marks all over the train, and she got a ton of Shout pads and scrubbed away. Even with all this happening, she helped me remain calm and still have the absolute best day of my life. I couldn't ask for anything more. I scour reviews before booking anything and I am here to tell you, don't overthink it and just hire The Local.

The Local was so amazing to work with! The variety of food they offer makes it hard to narrow down because it is all so amazing. Everyone loved the food! We used one of their planner Helen and that was the best decision we could have made for our wedding. She handled everything so there was no stress the day of. I could not recommend her or The Local enough!

The Local has such amazing food like OMG....the meat was tender and juicy, the side we had were cooked to perfection, and the communication throughout the entire process was ON POINT! I cannot recommend the caterer more than anyone else. Food was well worth the price we paid for everything. Eleanore was very prompt and always made sure we had the information needed to make the decisions we needed. We provided our own alcohol for the event and it was a very easy process by just sending them an Excel spreadsheet on what we were providing. Overall, 10/10 experience and we will be going back to the restaurant eventually for more. Thank you so much The Local and keep killing it with that food!!

The Local catering is exceptional and far exceeded our expectations with everything. They provided a "one stop" coordinated experience that included set-up, coordination with the rental company MS Events, take down and clean up. The appetizers and dinner were exceptional. ALL staff members were professional and amazing at anticipating every need of our guests. Eleanore, was our coordinator and words cannot adequately express our gratitude to her. She was professional, kind, patient and on top of or ahead of every little detail. She carried herself with a confidence and grace that transcended out providing an unexplainable calmness to the bride, her wedding party and family. If you are waffling at all on a caterer or coordinator, you should definitely choose The Local and request Eleanore as your coordinator. They are both "worth their weight in gold".

We had the best experience with The Local catering at our wedding. The food and drinks they made were incredible!!! I cannot compliment them enough and our guest had nothing but great things to say. They also went above and beyond for our tasting with them enough. Lastly, I cannot say enough great things about Eleanore!! If you’re able to use The Local for their month of coordinating services, ask for her!! She is sooo sweet and calm. She went above and beyond for us to make sure we were happy. I got married at an outdoor venue and it was raining the morning of our wedding. I had to make the call at noon on whether or not I wanted to move to ceremony in the tent. Eleanore supported my decision to keep it outside and was so calm and encouraging. And thank goodness we kept it outside because the sun came out just in time for our wedding!! Eleanore was also able to use her catering team to help with any of our needs. If we asked her about something on our wedding she, she got it done immediately. She knew my exact vision and executed it perfectly. Could not recommend the local and Eleanore enough!!

WOW WOW WOW!! We cannot say enough good things about our experience with The Local. From day one they were attentive, paid attention to all the details, and helped us to navigate all things food, drink, linens, china, etc,. We secured our spot with The Local early on in our wedding planning journey and learned so much with them throughout the planning process. They helped us make decisions based on our wants and used their experience to help ensure that we got the looks and outcomes that we were hoping for! Our guests RAVED about our food and our mixed drinks(YUM!!)! We also opted for the signature cocktails during our cocktail hour and they did not disappoint! We have several friends getting married in the next year or two who have already secured their spots with The Local because of their experience with our wedding. We are so thankful for y’all and your team!!

We used The Local for both catering and day of planning for our November wedding at Mount Ida. I was so pleased with their service and would definitely recommend using them! The food was delicious and looked beautiful. I received many compliments from guests stating that the food was the best the ever had at a wedding! We had Kelly McCauley as our day of coordinator and I literally can not say enough good things about her. I am someone who has a very hard time delegating, but the second I met Kelly, I knew I was in good hands. She put me at ease immediately and took a huge weight off me, because I knew she had things handled. She has a tremendous amount of experience and brings a lot to the table in ensuring your day goes smoothly. Our day exceeded my expectations and there's no doubt in my mind that is all thanks to Kelly and her incredibly hard work!

Contracting The Local for our wedding was one of the best things that we did and I would recommend them to everyone. Kelly was the most amazing planner and we loved working with her!! She was so quick to respond to every phone call or email over every little question we had. She has so much experience and had great advice when we were trying to finalize the smallest details. She was also the sweetest and our whole wedding party raved about working with her as well! It was sooo helpful to have her as the point of contact for all of our vendors and it took a ton of stress off my husband and I leading up to the big day. Another huge benefit of The Local is that they provide everything you could need besides the coordination- rentals, food and alcohol. We came to Charlottesville for a day and planned all of the meetings back to back, and it was so much fun and so easy to do everything all at once! The food is INCREDIBLE- we had so many compliments from our guests that it was the best wedding food they'd ever had. We even had a few vegetarian guests that we were able to get additional entrees for with no extra charge! From the appetizers to the entrees to the sides, everything was phenomenal. We definitely recommend the truffle Mac and cheese :) They even packed up two boxes of leftovers for my husband and I to take to our hotel that night! Coordinating our alcohol through The Local was extremely painless as well and all of the bartenders and servers were great! We had two signature cocktails which were so easy to get set up, we just sent them the recipes and ingredients we wanted. The rentals were a super simple process as well and went well beyond just dishes and glassware! We were able to get wine barrels, a welcome sign, and some other decor through them that were absolutely stunning. The entire process of working with The Local was so personalized and I truly felt like they cared about making the day as special as possible for us, and they absolutely delivered. If we could give them more than 5 stars we would!!

The positive: The food was delicious and their staff was delightful and professional and did a great job. The negative: We contracted with the local and made our deposit for a 2020 wedding. The wedding was rescheduled for 2022 due to covid and they required us to sign a new contract (which I understood because prices had risen). Where I had the problem was with the fact that they refused to apply the $1000.00 deposit we’d made from the original contract towards the new contract and just kept it. They are the only vendor we dealt with that did anything like this. There are a lot of fabulous caterers in Charlottesville and I will definitely give one of them a try when planning my next daughter’s wedding next year.

We contracted the Local to cater our wedding of ~100 people, working with Kristin Sclater. As UVA grads, how could we not love the Local? Their catering team surpassed our expectations. They were very communicative all the way up to our wedding. On a separate note, planning a wedding during COVID came with uncertainty about what happens if government regulations would prevent us from having our wedding, and the Local staff talked us through how they've balanced staying financially afloat with providing a very fair and reassuring policy with how they've treated their clients. Legal language and all (my husband would argue, fairly protects their business from financial hemmorhage), after some time on the phone with their team, we were more than comfortable contracting them. To give an idea of what logistics they had to deal with on the wedding day - We had an indoor wedding space, where the ceremony space was curtained off from where they would store tables and chairs. Following the ceremony, they had an hour to flip the entire room and take the dividing curtains down, setting up tables, chairs, etc. We've heard horror stories of this going south for previous weddings, and we can't say for sure whether there were any hiccups, but if there were, we definitely did not know about them. We were completely hands off, and had absolutely zero worries! Their food was incredible - people raved about the passed shrimp hors d'oeuvres, the mac and cheese served with dinner; we personally loved the red wine sauce that paired with their steak. Our wedding planner worked with their catering team to set up to go boxes for our vendors who left early, and to set aside plates for ourselves to give us time to eat. Their bartenders were professional and attentive, especially as my husband went to fetch drinks for me (lol). We were able to provide our own beer and liquor (rather than using their alcohol package), and they were very easy to work with to sort out how that would work (ABC banquet license, what they would provide, what they needed from us, etc.). This could read as a very dry review, but long story short, we cannot recommend the Local enough. Their experience with several popular wedding venues in Charlottesville shows through. Thank you, Kristin and team!

The food was fantastic, everyone at The Local was a pleasure to work with, and we are especially glad we got to work with Helen as our day of coordinator! She helped us plan out and envision the wedding and made sure everything ran extremely smoothly so all we did was bounce around in a cloud of happiness. Her knowledge of all things wedding is encyclopedic and we feel so lucky to have gotten work with her and the rest of the team at The Local!

The food was okay (for wedding food), but we are only giving two stars because of an issue we had with not getting what we ordered. We ordered a vegetarian pasta dish as one of our three main entrees for the wedding. At our tasting we asked if the pasta could be served with penne noodles instead of fettuccine so that people did not have to eat messy long noodle pasta in wedding clothes - and so that I didn't have to eat messy pasta in a white wedding dress. The Local immediately agreed and this decision was reflected in our proposal and contract. When we got to the wedding, they instead served the pasta with fettuccine. When I asked for a spoon to try to twirl the pasta (and go with the flow), I was told I couldn't have a spoon because we didn't order spoons. Of course, this was a very frustrating answer because we also didn't order fettuccine. Then, when we emailed the restaurant after the wedding to tell them about this issue, we were told the chef's "vision" for the dish was long noodles, even though our contract reflected penne. As compensation for this issue, they only gave us $250, which was approximately 1% of our bill for catering and rentals and barely even covers the cost of dry cleaning the sauce out of my dress. Overall, we were really disappointed with both the fact that we were served a pasta we didn't order and more importantly, the way the restaurant handled it after the fact.

Highly recommend The Local for wedding catering! Their food was amazing, very easy to work with, competitive prices, and excellent service.

The Local and, specifically, Helen from the Local was an absolute pleasure to work with. Helen was always quick to respond, professional, and friendly. And, the food was incredible. Seriously -- the guests all LOVED it. I highly, HIGHLY recommend the truffled mushroom ragout. Everyone was freaking out about it haha. I also had a guest with a serious onion and garlic allergy and he went up to the buffet to see what he could eat and the staff immediately knew who he was. He said it is rare for him to have special food made for him that actually tastes good. Another thing that was awesome is they had full plates ready for me and my now husband when we sat down. The servers were also SO kind. They made sure to keep us fed while we ran around doing photos. There were only two snags that happened that I would just address if you plan on having a wedding on a hot day. The servers poured ice water at the tables 1.5 hours before the guests were going to be seated (in 80 degree weather) so when everyone sat down there was water all over the tables from the ice melting. The second thing was we requested plated salad and they served that about 45 minutes before guests sat down and it had bleu cheese so it was all luke warm when we went to eat (the salad was still delicious though). Other than that, we were totally happy and if we had to do it again, we would absolutely go with the Local.

The Local catered our wedding and the food was absolutely amazing. we received so many compliments and people even said it was the best wedding food they'd ever had! They even boxed up a bunch of leftovers for us to take home. My only problem was throughout Covid and the rescheduling process, we had some communication issues where they wanted to keep our deposit when they were not available to cater our first postponement date, which was not in the contract. Luckily, when we rescheduled again (and again after that!) they were available and we did not have that issue. They did charge us a $1,000 postponement fee which was unclear what it was for- hopefully they paid staffers who would have otherwise been working that day, but that was not disclosed to us. We would absolutely recommend the Local to cater your wedding, just make sure you understand what your contract says about rescheduling, deposits, and extra fees.

I could not be happier with The Local!! My husband and I booked The Local to cater our 15-guest anniversary dinner. With only a few weeks notice, Kelly got back to me quickly with a menu to choose our dishes to pick up for dinner. I was a little nervous because I wasn't going to have a chance to taste anything (due to my own last minute planning), but oh my god. As soon as I opened the boxes and placed the hors d'oeuvres on the counter, I knew I made the right choice! It was absolutely beautiful and my guests were so impressed, by not only the presentation, but the flavors. The vegetables & fruits were fresh, the dips were phenomenal, & our personal favorite was the baked brie. Dinner was pre-plated for us in hotboxes (we picked up our meals as our event was an hour away, so they couldn't drop off & serve) and both dishes were absolutely delicious, even after an hour drive. I would without a doubt hire them again in a heartbeat. Amazing food, friendly staff, and a super simple process all in all. They really saved the day!! Thanks guys!

We worked with Michelle to plan our wedding reception. She helped us with the menu and the setup, and made us feel quite comfortable with what we could expect for the evening. She was always ready to answer our questions or make minor adjustments to our requests for the event. Her staff did a lovely job preparing the space (in a very short amount of time!) with our decorations and the place looked absolutely beautiful. John worked with us to finalize this setup and for the evening of the event. He was so helpful and so kind throughout the night. Anything we asked for, he went out of his way to get an answer or make happen. The people who worked the event were attentive and kind. All in all, the Local made our event just such a pleasure. The food was amazing and the drinks were delicious. They were so respectful of allergies and our budget. They kept my mom (she was our ‘point person’) updated throughout the evening so we knew when we were getting close to our bar limit–which didn’t happen until the end of the night! Overall, they created a truly magical reception for us and we can thank them enough. Plus–our brunch the next morning was wonderful, as well!

You should absolutely hire The Local for your catering and Helen for your planner! Their food is incredible, your guests will rave about it (ours still do). They make everything so easy, especially for us and continuing changes throughout COVID. We can't recommend them enough. And HELEN! Do yourself a favor and hire her as your wedding coordinator. She is incredibly sweet, helpful and a source of calm confidence on your wedding day. She was there for us through every crazy step of our delayed COVID wedding celebration and we couldn't be more thankful for her. You will love her, and leave your wedding day gaining a friend.

The local was incredible to work with. We received so many compliments about how delicious the food was! I did not expect that I would eat much of my meal on the day of because of distractions but I ended up clearing my plate because it was too good to pass up. We also used Helen as our day-of coordinator and we cannot rave enough about her. I don't know how she does it but she is honestly a miracle worker! During all the wedding chaos she was a calm constant and never wavered once. She helped us create our dream wedding, kept everything running smoothly, and treated us like family the entire time.

Fantastic to work with!!!! Their food was delicious, my mom texted me a week after the wedding saying she couldn’t stop thinking about how good the food was. Helen was AMAZING!! I cannot thank her and her staff enough for their hard work and everything they did to bring our day together! Highly recommend booking the Local as a catering and coordinator.

The Local was stellar and I would hire them again and again. We have had countless compliments on the food at our wedding. From booking, to the two tastings we had, countless emails with Kelly and Helen, and finally to wedding day, they were stellar. They delivered quality service that kept the evening on time. They also clean up so well! We had a great time planning out our menu for our wedding with them as food was so important to us. Also had stellar bartenders! I'll be singing the highest praises for the Local to anyone getting married in and around the Charlottesville area. Thank you so much!

We loved the Local, the food was amazing and the catering staff were so lovely. They brought up appetizers to the ceremony location to make sure we got to eat during pictures and boxed up to go boxes from dinner! We got so many compliments on the food and the staff was above and beyond friendly.

The Local is a premier caterer in the Charlottesville wedding business, and it's not hard to see why.  We entertained the idea of looking at other caterers, but it was hard to do so seriously when The Local was available.  They are excellent at working with venues and other vendors and making everything go smoothly on the wedding day while providing delicious food.  We had a significant number of special requests for them, and they did it all without batting an eye.  We had an all-vegetarian buffet meal for our wedding and had guests with several types of dietary restrictions - vegan, gluten free, nut allergies, soy allergies, to name a few - and this was no problem for them to accommodate.  They made some dishes with oil instead of butter so that our vegan guests could eat them, and provided specially plated meals for guests with dietary restrictions.  We also served both alcoholic and non-alcoholic toasts and had a whole map of which tables needed how many of which kind of toasts, and they handled that as well with no issues.  We also tasked them with serving five different flavors of cake, including vegan and gluten-free cakes, and all of this was done without incident.  As soon as the meal service began, the staff went straight up to the buffet and got plates for us right away so we could enjoy our dinner.  The food was absolutely delicious - and not one of our guests commented to us about the lack of meat on the menu.  The Local also packed us up to-go boxes for the next day (or a midnight snack, whatever the case may be) and it was really lovely to enjoy the flavors of the night for lunch the next day.  The bartenders kept drinks in hand for our guests during dancing.  And every staff member we interacted with on the night was just as lovely as can be.  We highly recommend The Local and are so glad we went with them for the occasion.

The food and service at The Local is phenomenal. The dinner service was well executed and we got tons of compliments on how yummy the food was. Everyone was great to work with and really responsive on the catering team. We even got extra meals for the bride & groom to take home! And, if you're looking for a wedding coordinator, we can't recommend Emily enough! She helped us through postponing (due to Covid) and was a joy to work with. So helpful and so responsive!

Perfect Reception Venue! We highly recommend The Local as a wedding reception location. The Local is our favorite restaurant in Charlottesville so it was an easy decision to hold our reception here! The entire team was so accommodating and easy to work with! Michelle worked with us throughout the entire planning process and helped us with all the details and last minute changes. John and the rest of the team at The Local made sure every detail was accounted for during the reception and made it so easy on us! On top of a great team to work with, the food was amazing and we have gotten so many compliments from guests. Thanks to the entire team our reception was perfect and we would highly recommend anyone to work with The Local!

Happy that we choose the Local to cater my daughters wedding. The food was amazing with wonderful choices and quality. Helen the wedding planner coordinated every little detail so that the event went so smoothly ! She gave great advice on options and definitely listened to our wants and needs. They had many vegan / vegetarian options. Can’t say enough positive comments about this company and staff. Definitely a great choice !

We held our rehearsal dinner at The Local and cannot recommend it enough! They have several private rooms that can accommodate different group sizes, and a menu with many price point options. The food was delicious and plentiful and no one went away hungry! We're so thankful we were able to gather with our close friends and family in this favorite Charlottesville spot.

We highly recommend using The Local as your vendor for any event. We worked primarily with Kristen, and she did a phenomenal job with communication the entire process. The service was always friendly and fast along with yummy food!

We chose the Local Catering for our catering and day of coordinator services for our wedding in March 2021. The food was a hit and we received compliments regarding the food and also about our day of coordinator Helen all night. The day wouldn't have gone as smooth as it did without Helen there every step of the way. She is extremely organized, attentive, and flexible. I highly recommend Helen as a day of wedding coordinator and the Local Catering overall for their professionalism and awesome food! Thank you all so much for being a big part of our big day!

The Local is one of favorite restaurants in Charlottesville so it was our first tasting for my daughter and son-in-law's wedding reception. We got along so well with Emily Holter, that we hired her to also be our event planner. BEST DECISION!!!! Her expertise guided us through the crazy Covid planning! Communication was fantastic, her team is a well-oiled machine and the food was outstanding! ALL the guests LOVED the food and her attention to dietary restrictions was appreciated greatly by our GF, Vegetarian, Vegan and allergy affected guests! I cannot recommend Emily and The Local highly enough! The bride, groom, family and guests were SO happy! THANK YOU!

Food was great, awful experience otherwise.

The Local catered my wedding this past weekend (05/29/2021) and they went beyond and above our expectations. For being a destination wedding (we live in another state) they were extremely accommodating to fit our schedule when we happened to be in town for tastings, walk throughs or finalizing details. Our guests raved about the food, the caesar salad and Virginia chicken main dish in particular. The bartenders were friendly and extremely organized. Helen is amazing, not only was she great about communicating but she actually bustled my dress during the reception and made it so I could have a great time out on the dance floor. We're looking forward to coming back and enjoying dinner at the restaurant in the near future.

The food was perfect. The staff was so great at our wedding and super attentive. Helen is the absolute best coordinator ever and I would strongly recommend getting the day of coordination services - so worth the cost, and then some. We had such a good experience!!

This review is for Ashley Trone's wedding coordinating services and the entire catering team. Our wedding was on October 10, 2020. Planning a wedding during the pandemic was a challenge but Ashley was prepared each step of the way - from switching to buffet to plated dinners and switching to an outdoor plan for our reception. We had our wedding tasting outside at the Local on the patio with our 12 week old pup and then went to MS events with our pup in a carrier and she was never fazed. On our wedding day, there was a constant threat of rain during the day. Ashley communicated fantastically and understood our priorities for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The entire staff from the Local during our reception and cocktail hour were great - attentive and practicing safe social distancing/hand hygiene throughout the event! We got rave reviews about the beef tenderloin, scalloped potatoes and the crab cakes from a bunch of friends and family after our wedding. Working with the Local was easy, straightforward and every person we encountered along the wild ride of planning a wedding during a pandemic was kind and caring. Would highly recommend the Local for planning upcoming weddings and for any meal occasion in Cville. I've had a bunch of friends also use the Local for their weddings and have never heard a negative experience. Thank you so much Ashley and the Local team!

The people at the Local are so easy to deal with and willing to work with you on making your wedding food perfect! Ashley was our coordinator and she worked with us through rescheduled tastings to build the menu that would fit our guests the best. We received many compliments on the food, specifically on the salmon. We had an on site meeting with Ashley and our venue where we laid out the floor plan and decorations, but when it came to the day of there was some confusion between The Local and the venue in terms of dessert table set up. In the end it all worked out, but it could have been a little smoother. Our guest count was cut in half and Ashley and the Local were able to work with us to make sure the new guest count was well within our revised budget. We would highly recommend them for weddings, or just a meal. Ashley was great!

The folks at The Local are INCREDIBLE! Let may say that again in case you are still undecided...the staff, food, drinks, atmosphere, and experience at The Local are INCREDIBLE! When my husband and I needed to adapt our plans in light of COVID-19, Michelle and her team were incredibly kind, responsive, and flexible. We changed our plans one month out from hosting our rehearsal dinner at The Local to having a socially distant 50 person dinner after our wedding ceremony on 7/11/2020. They made what was a stressful time planning much easier for us. I felt comfortable asking a million and one questions and they had quick and accommodating answers for all of them. When it came to day of, they also set everything up and were incredibly warm to all of our guests. Our guests are STILL raving about the food and drinks as well as how well the venue navigated safety in light of the virus. Many have said that it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding and we could not agree more. Over a month out I have continued to hear from people who have shared how comfortable they felt in the space. The space itself is also worth major kudos as it on its own is already a beautiful space and allows couples to be creative with how much or how little they want to decorate the space.

The food was wonderful! Everyone's favorites were shrimp appetizer, the mac and cheese, and the short ribs! The staff was kind and so hardworking and everything worked so smoothly and seamlessly. We appreciated that they brought the wedding party appetizers during pictures. I would recommend the Local, they made our day so special!

Cannot express how helpful and friendly they are to work with. So happy we have chosen them to cater our special day!

Very willing to work with us on our needs and our specific requests, great value for wonderful food. In particular the guests have been raving about the shrimp appetizer and the fried chicken!