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McDowell Local

4.2 (86 reviews)
ModerateAmerican

McDowell Local Photos

MCDOWELL LOCAL ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Trendy
Good for groups
Good for kids

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Poutine, Cuban, side salad

We went in a little later on a quiet Saturday night. Our waitress was wonderful and the food was great! Highly recommend the Cuban and the pork belly sandwich. Poutine was also amazing. A great little place that supports local.

Green Man Trickster (IPA)
Karen S.

This place was a nice surprise. Great service, food and beer! It doesn't look like much when you walk in, more like a diner, but the food is a step above and our server was great. I had the Local Burger, jalapenos, salsa, mayo and cheese. It was really juicy - I asked for medium well. It comes with a plateful of fries, which are hand cut, not frozen. Really good and not too salty. They have a variety of local micro brewed beer. We had some IPAs from Green Man and Boo Jum breweries. Some of the best beer we had on our trip.

North Shore Pizza
BitLeigh V.

As a foodie from a big city, we decided to come by here on the way to Sugar Mountain as they were rated pretty well. There was plenty of free street parking close by and we found a spot with ease. On a Friday night, expect some wait because this place was packed. We waited maybe 15-20 mins for a table for two. Bar had people, but plates were sitting there as they were not bussed yet, so we didn't want to move them. The place is so nicely decorated and I loved the interior. There was so much thought put into it with a school house-esque vibe with the chairs and decor. The "booth" seats are actually old pews from a church which were so neat. We knew exactly what we wanted to eat by the time we sat down. I ordered the Classic burger with pork rinds ($11) and my boyfriend ordered the North Shore Pizza ($13) and we split the Garlic Knots ($4). The Garlic Knots came out first and from first look they looked pretty toasty. Picked one up to eat and the bottoms were BURNT to a crisp. There was no denying it. It was not "hm a little char". It was "we left this in too long black burnt." Honestly it was insulting to be served blatantly burnt food and we picked it all off. Garlic Knots literally had no garlic flavor at all as the only telling sign was the garlic powder on top that was pretty charred as well. It was also on the drier side. Bread tasted like nothing and needed salt. Butter was on par and marinara sauce was also flavorless and I used it only to moisten the dryness of the knots. Classic Burger brought the meal up though. The pork rinds are SOO SOOO GOOD. The redeeming part of this meal or this place would have been a 1 star for me. The plate was overflowing with pork rinds that could feed 2 people easily. The seasoning was so good! The classic burger had nice toppings and I loved the pickles on it. I ordered my burger medium well, but it did come out pretty well done and dry. It happens. If the burger wasn't dried out, it would be pretty solid tbh. My boyfriend was pretty displeased with his North Shore Pizza. He could easily devour the entire thing but only had 2 slices. The pizza was overcooked with more browned bits than he would prefer. The slice was perfectly straight when held out and had no 'limp' to it like pizza should towards the tip. He liked the amount of meat on the pizza, but he wished there was more pineapple on it. I'm not as much of a pizza critic as he is, but I would have preferred Papa John'sZ All in all, meh. Maybe it was an off night for them, but having been served burnt food? I won't be back. I would order those pork rinds to-go asap if possible and only that.

Dining
Sarah T.

The restaurant is a sit down and order establishment which we like. The building inside is nice and clean. We ordered fish dip and it was way too salty, and we eat fish dip a lot, the server acted like we were crazy basically saying that everyone else likes it (in her way) Which was not the right thing to say. But the food we ordered was very good (except the fish dip of course). We did have to call our server down to get refills. So the food was good but that day the service was not. We were passing through so probably won't go back again.

Updated Menu - January 2021 (Side 1)
Kong L.

I needed to grab a quick bite to eat and decided to stop here, since it was one of the few places opened on a snow day. The space is huge and beautiful with natural light. I was given a menu, ordered and had to wait a good 20-25 minutes for my food. I didn't mind it since there were already many people dining in. The service was fantastic, very classy and kind. The burger was quite delicious. The patty was juicy. The poutine fries was good. It cost a dollar and a few cents to "poutine" your fries. Overall, a great place to dine if you are ever in the area.

Unbelievable awesome chips! $5.50 (.50 for the salsa)... might be the best I've ever had.
Alan D.

This place is out of control good... the portion sizes are enormous and the food is local grown fantastic... the hamburger may be the best I've ever eaten... and I've eaten a lot of great burgers... it's that good. The hand cut fries were perfect and plentiful (had to stuff myself because I can't stand throwing away delicious food). Even the salt they use here is good. That leads me into the salsa/ queso and chips... perfecto... or should I say delicioso! Might also be the best chips I've ever eaten lol. So good and the salting again was perfect. The app costs $5... .50 more to add salsa... the queso at a Mexican joint would cost $5 alone... unreal quality and bargain here. Homemade ranch is very good... wife got the enormous plate of chicken fingers and loved them. Wish I had this place where I lived.

Garlic knots
Vanessa F.

We were seated right away. Service and the food were great. The hamburger was my favorite thing but everything was very good.

Patty melt

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The food and service was really good. I would highly recommend. Atmosphere was great not too loud.

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Great service and really good food sourced locally. I had the pulled pork sandwich and fell in love. Get the Tater Tots! They are delicious!

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Ask the Community - McDowell Local

Bruce's Fabulous Foods - Sweet potato walnut cheesecake!!! Literally the best cheesecake I have ever had.

Bruce's Fabulous Foods

(184 reviews)

$$

Stopped on my way thru Marion NC for lunch on Main St. Good Yelp reviews brought me to Bruce's…read moreFabulous Foods. A small town lunch cafe with everything "fabulous" you would hope to find. To start with you a greeted by Barb who treats locals and new visitors like long time friends. Table service or a bar counter you can sit out. Barb explains the menu and their customers favorites (including The Reuben and their homemade Pimento Cheese) a choice of 1 side from the daily specials and a complimentary brownie or cookie for dessert. They do not have a fryer so all menu items are prepared fresh. I had a Reuben Sandwich and pasta salad. (The sides are large!) We chose to split the Reuben since we have early dinner reservations and each got a side. Even at 1/2 the sandwich and side it was very filling. The sandwich was hot and delicious. The pasta salad was also very good. The desserts today was Banana Cake and Hawaiian Cake. I got a slice to go. Go for the good food and warm hospitality!

I decided to have lunch out on my own today. It is a flex day so I wanted to try something new. I…read morefound Bruce's Fabulous Food on the map, looked up the menu and drove down. Since I was alone I sat at the bar. I can't say I enjoyed that decision. You get to watch them make the food but after a few minutes I felt like I was spending too much time watching. Also you have your back to the dinning area, which I don't love, and the servers come from behind you. The servers look like they work as a team, which is great. I spent time with the menu and decided on the Philly hoagie with no mushrooms (don't judge me, I just don't like them) and some tangy baked beans. The selection comes with a dessert or you can upgrade your dessert to one of their famous cheesecakes. I had no idea they were famous for cheesecake. The lady told me to look up Halloween Hangover Cheesecake on YouTube. Sure enough there is Bruce on a food contest show! The food was great. The bun of the hoagie was nice and soft. The meat of the sandwich was cooked well and not too greasy, so the sandwich held its shape and the bread did not get soppy (which I hate). The tangy beans had some kick to them. I did wish I could have gotten two smaller portioned sides so I could balance the beans. It was a good size portion, I only ate half. Had to save room for dessert. I did feel like I waited a long time for someone to notice I was done and ask me about dessert, but that is probably just me feeling self conscious. They were very nice. She explained the dessert, a cookie comes with the meal and she presented me with the day's cheesecake flavors and dessert of the day was banana cake. I upgraded to the oatmeal cookie cheesecake. It was good! It was a small piece compared to what you would get at a chain restaurant, I thought it was the perfect size for one. I had just been saying the other day that I wanted to find a place where the desserts were not sharing size and I found it! I will be going back. I would like to sit at a table next. Maybe bring a friend. Try the hummus of the day and I did see some vegetarian friendly options. Maybe another cheesecake!

McDowell Local - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

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