When Local Kitchens came to Lafayette, California, they seemed like they were trying to open as quickly as possible.
The micro food hall, which features food from a variety of different restaurants all under one roof, took over a spot formerly occupied by a cheesesteak shop on Mount Diablo, right by McDonald’s.
The speedy opening meant that they didn’t have much time to personalize the space for their new restaurant. Years after opening, they finally took the time to pause for a moment and make Local Kitchens Lafayette their own.
The Bay Area Telegraph visited right after the grand reopening, and the new place is looking great!
Firstly, the previous green and white color scheme has been replaced by a vibrant white and yellow look. It’s modern and quite striking. There are grand reopening signs outside and balloons by the front door.
Inside, the space has also been revamped. The ordering area is more inviting, with tablets for placing your order front and center, and there are big video screens advertising the latest restaurants featured at Local Kitchens.
We were excited to discover that New York’s “queen of falafel” has a new offering at the restaurant.
There’s also a nice wall with some fancy wainscoting that gives the interior a classy look, and big wooden frames featuring the various brands and food creators Local Kitchens is highlighting.
The biggest and most welcome new addition? Tons of seating!
Before, Local Kitchens was mostly about placing an online order and having food delivered to your house. Given that it opened during the pandemic, that made perfect sense.
Now, Local Kitchens is restyling the space to be a place where you can meet with friends and sit down for lunch. There are lots of nice tables inside the restaurant, as well as full tables with umbrellas out front.
Before, there were just a few dinky picnic tables—now this is a genuine place where you can sit down for lunch.
A great place, actually, because everyone can order something from a different restaurant. If you want the kids to have fries from The Melt while you get falafel, that’s totally doable.
Add to that the fact that Local Kitchens is now open late, with the restaurant closing at midnight some nights, and suddenly you’ve got one of the only late-night restaurants available in suburban Lamorinda.
We had a great time stopping by the grand reopening of Local Kitchens. We definitely encourage you to do the same.
If you can’t make it into the restaurant right away, you can always order through the Local Kitchens website and have any of the tasty items they’re featuring delivered to your door.
