The Local opened in Charlottesville this year as a restaurant specializing in the preparation of local foods -- serving Charlottesville's large and growing locavore population. It was difficult to get a reservation, but when we did we were looking forward to it. We were disappointed. The food, service, and ambience did not live up to the hype. This is not a Virginia Chez Panisse. The restaurant itself is small and charming in the "exposed bricks and beam" genre. The music was not offensive but was certainly not "background" music and in a small place with hard surfaces, it was a bit difficult to have a conversation. The food was straightforward and tasty and the portions very large, but unexceptional. The braised ribs were a bit dry and the gnocchi a bit oversalted, the salad was ordinary, but the parsnip soup was terrific -- as good as I've had anywhere, with the flash fried greens on top an imaginative and appropriate extra touch. The service was friendly but unprofessional -- as is characteristic of Charlottesville. The one real negative was that the waiters would sidle between the tables while delivering the dishes, so that as the tables next to us were being served the waiter's butt was hanging over our table. Not appetizing. Rearranging the angles of the tables and/or the spacing could solve this problem.