I wasn’t planning on leaving my place on Sunday, June 28. But around 9:30 p.m., still wearing my pajamas, I got in my car and drove to Coconut Grove because I couldn’t let Lokal close without saying goodbye.
Some restaurants anchor neighborhoods, and Lokal was one of them. I grew up in Coconut Grove, and I’ve watched the neighborhood transform from a quirky village filled with independently owned restaurants into one of Miami’s hottest real estate markets.
When Lokal opened on Commodore Plaza in 2011, when I was a freshman in college, it immediately felt like it belonged. It became the place where neighbors ran into each other, where dogs relaxed under patio tables, and where grabbing a burger was a gourmet experience (it was light-years ahead of today’s burger boom). And let me tell you, those burgers were delicious…