Ruth McKee and daughter, Tammy, on the patio of The Local Spot where they grill up local flavor.
3:45pm | Reporting by Dennis Dean |Ruth McKee, who opened Eggs, Etc. on Redondo Avenue in 1977, is continuing her family’s culinary tradition with the opening of The Local Spot, located at 6200 PCH, near the corner of Loynes Drive. Like all of McKee’s businesses, The Local Spot is a family establishment; she opened the location with her daughter, Tammy, and grandson Josh. Family and friends also man the registers, kitchen, and outdoor grill. After only a few months in business, the new spot has already garnered a slew of positive reviews on Yelp and other places around the web, and they’re about to add 5 more stars to their growing collection.
The restaurant inside is clean and simple, with counter-service and a laid-back feel. On the day we visited, it was a warm afternoon so we opted to sit outside on the patio near where Tammy’s best friend was working the grill. The feeling at The Local Spot definitely lives up to its name; sitting on the patio, sipping fresh fruit smoothies, it felt like a summer-afternoon backyard barbeque at a friend’s house.
The smoothies themselves warrant another trip to The Local Spot. Between the three members of our party, we had a frozen lemonade smoothie (perfectly sweetened with a refreshing, tart bite), a mixed berry smoothie, and at Tammy’s urging, a PB&J smoothie, which after stealing a sip from my dining companion, I’m almost certain I could live on for the rest of my life.
My girlfriend ordered the “Tammy’s Favorite” salad, a mix of fresh greens, dried berries, nuts, feta cheese, and grilled chicken served in a very generously sized bowl. All of the salads at The Local Spot can also be made as a wrap, indicated by a sign on the side the building inviting passers-by to “Wrap It or Toss It!”
I’m a vegetarian, so I ordered the burger with bleu cheese, veggie-style. The veggie patty was grilled with the same care they give to their carnivorous creations, served with lettuce and thick juicy tomato, and a generous scoop of bleu cheese crumbles that set the burger miles apart from your everyday, freezer-to-microwave veggie burger. The potato salad tasted fresh and delicious, the perfect accompaniment to the burger.
Thinking it might be construed as unfair to write a vegetarian-centric review of a joint that prides itself on its wide selection of burgers, I invited a meat-eating friend along. He also ordered the bleu cheese burger, which in its carnivorous incarnation, comes as a thick, juicy burger patty stuffed to overflowing with bleu cheese before being expertly grilled. Suffice to say, my omnivorous dining companion’s review was exceeding favorable, if slightly too colorful to reprint here.
The Local Spot delivers healthy, light, and tasty fare with a warm, friendly, family atmosphere that will keep you coming back to explore all corners of the menu.