This ready-to-eat meal delivery service brings you yummy food from Bay Area restaurants, but has limited offerings.
Locale is a new-to-me meal delivery service operating in several areas in California. Their hook is that the meals come from well known restaurants in the area and that at $11 each, plus $5 delivery fee, they are more affordable than actually getting take out. They are priced, however, to compete with other similar services like CookUnity and Shef. They only deliver on Mondays, but you are able to order up to the Friday before, which gives you far more flexibility than the other services. I subscribed to Locale with a discount offer I found on Facebook and later got a discount for a second and third week.
Some of the meals are the same that what you can get at restaurants, but others seem to be particularly prepared for Locale and may be smaller than the restaurant offerings. That means that, depending on the meal, you may not be saving money by ordering from Locale vs picking them up yourself, particularly if you live in San Francisco where competition keeps restaurant prices more affordable – though you do save on tax, as the meals are delivered cold.
Locale’s website is sparse but it’s easy to use. You can only order one week in advance and you can decide how many meals you want to order each week. You can also pause the service quite easily.
Like the other services, meals come in an insulated bag, this one with cooling packs, and they will pick them up when they deliver your next order. They are very diligent about texting you with updates on delivery.
Each meal comes in a cardboard tray, sealed with a transparent plastic film. The meals are usually good for 5 to 6 days, which gives you some flexibility on when to eat them. Most can be microwaved, but some need more laborious heating.
You can’t really see how many restaurants Locale has available to you until you sign up, but I was disappointed both on how few there were for me in the East Bay – and how few dishes each restaurant offered. In all, they only had 29 restaurants available and several only offered 1 to 3 different dishes. Those who had more often presented different variations of the same dish (e.g. the same dish but offered with chicken or beef). They also have a very limited selection of vegetarian dishes – my vegetarian daughter could only find a couple she was interested in. All in all, Locale wouldn’t work as your weekly delivery service unless you always want to eat the same thing, or have very eclectic tastes and just like everything.
I subscribed with a discount for my first delivery, and then got texted further discounts when I paused. My meal reviews, however, assume that I’d paid full price for the meals (around $11.50 each). Note, I haven’t felt compelled to tip Locale delivery drivers as they are not offering a personalized service – drivers deliver to multiple people in a pre-set, optimized route – and because I don’t tip other similar delivery services but Locale seems to be pushing tipping, as are all employers who want to keep salaries low.
These are the restaurants I ordered from and the dishes I got. Those that I’d order again have a checkmark.
Asian Box – Burma Superstar – Burritos La Palma – Comal – Dumpling Time – El Farolito – HardKnox Cafe – Hawaiian Drive Inn – Koi Palace – LaLe – Mela Bistro – Noodle Belly – Peaches Patties – Perilla – Sumac – Tenderleaf – Trisara – Vik’s Chaat – Zareen’s
Asian Box, Bay Area
Asian Box is a small chain with seven restaurants in SF and Silicon Valley, including one at the airport, and one in LA. They specialize in “choose your ingredients” bowls (but in rectangular containers, thus called “boxes”), where you choose a base (e.g. rice or salad), a protein, toppers (e.g. peanuts or pickles) and a sauce. Boxes start at $14 and go up depending on your protein, they also have some “signature boxes” at varying prices. Locale offers 4 boxes from Asian box.
Chicken Curry Bowl with Potatoes and Jasmine Rice ✔
This dish was described as having comes rice, six-spice chicken, potatoes, carrots and yellow coconut curry and being topped with herbs, scallion oil, peanuts and shallots but instead of the “herbs and scallion oil” it came with a spicy red sauce which might have been the “fiery red curry”. The bowl was very good. The star of the show was the six-spice chicken, which did remind me of five-spice but also had a nice acidic flavor and tasted grilled. It was just very good. The yellow curry was a standard coconut curry, a bit on the spicy side and competent but not great. The portion give was just enough to moisten the chicken, rice and potato – so make sure to scrape it all off. The peanuts were chopped too finely to add much texture, but the occasional piece of shallot gave it a nice crunch. The portion made for a filling dinner. I’d certainly have it again. This same dish sells at the restaurant for $15.50
Burma Superstar, San Francisco
Burma Superstar opened its original location in San Francisco in the ’70’s and has since opened locations in Oakland, Alameda and other places in the Bay. They serve their own version of Burmese cuisine, with greater-than-usual influences of Thai, Chinese and other cuisines. They get fairly good reivews.
Mint Chicken with Coconut Rice and Steamed Broccoli ✔
I didn’t get this dish until I mixed the chicken with the coconut rice. The chicken itself is rather prosaic, it’s spicy, slightly sour and sweet with only a subtle minty flavor. The coconut rice, however, is delicious – not unlike the sweetened sticky rice you get when you order a “sticky rice with mango” dessert at a Thai restaurant. Together, the rice and chicken were very good. It was a good portion. It sells for $20.50 for takeout in SF and $25 at the Oakland and Alameda restaurants, so it’s a great deal.
Burritos La Palma, Southern California
La Palma is a small restaurant chain in Southern California which gained famed when the Michelin guide gave it its “Bibi Gourmand” designation in recognition of its Zacatecan style burritos, which seem to be tortillas rolled around meat and salsa, with no other additions. They’ve become famous enough to sell their burritos frozen through Goldbelly. Locale is now offering 4 different types of burritos.
2 Burritos de Birria and Refried Beans with Guajillo Pepper Salsa
I didn’t look carefully when I made this order, and I thought I’d be getting 3 birria and refried beans burritos. Instead I only got 2 burritos and a small pot of refried beans and another of salsa. My daughter was disappointed, she wanted the refried beans in the burrito – so she had to spoon them in every couple of bites. She liked them, but not enough to order again – particularly given that there are just two of them. She didn’t try the salsa.
3 Birria y Queso Burritos (no longer available)
Quesobirria tacos are all the rage in California these days, and I can see why this burrito version has become so popular. I loved the softness and elasticity of the tortilla after microwaving it. The filling was tasty, and the cheese worked well to mellow the strong flavors of the birria. My daughter also really liked them, so much so that we’ve ordered them three times already. The burritos are $5 each at the restaurants, so you were getting a small discount ordering through here (plus you don’t have to go to LA to get them).
Alas, they are no longer offering the three burrito meal. They are now only offering two burritos plus a small pot of refried beans (sea above), which makes it a much worse deal.
3 Tinga, Potato y Queso Burritos (no longer available)
We’ve ordered these twice and my daughter has liked them quite a bit, though not as much as the quesobirria ones. Alas, like with the quesobirria ones, Locale no longer offers three burritos, but only 2 plus a small pot of refried beans. So we won’t be ordering again.
Tikka Masala over Birria Burritos with Pulled Birria ✔
I’ve already complained about how Locale has changed their offerings of burritos from La Palma from three to two, and I wouldn’t have ordered them again except that this version, which included tikka masala sauce, caught my eyes. The reviews were pretty positive – and I’m a fan. Not necessarily of the combination, but of the tikka masala sauce. It’s just perfect. It tastes exactly how restaurant-quality tikka masala sauce should taste. This begs the question of where Locale is getting their tikka masala sauce – it didn’t taste at all like the one of Zareen, the only Indian restaurant they have in this area.
The birria burritos worked quite well with the tikka masala sauce mostly because they did not compete against it. They provided the substance of the dish, while the sauce provided the flavor. I would order it again, but then again, I’d probably order anything that came with that sauce again.
Comal, Oakland
Comal is a well known Mexican restaurant with locations in both Oakland and Berkeley. It’s a favorite place for events, and we’ve gone to a few there. I’ve very much enjoyed their tacos in the past. Locale offers 7 different meals from Comal, 3 bowls and 4 burritos.
Carnitas Burrito with Pinquito Beans, Rice and Salsa Verde ✔
My daughter enjoyed this burrito. The carnitas were flavorful and the whole combination worked well. It was a pretty substantial meal, which my daughter couldn’t finish. Burritos retail for $13.75 at Comal, but they didn’t list this particular one, so it might be a cheaper version than their normal semi-gourmet offerings.
Dumpling Time, Bay Area
Dumpling Time has five locations in the Bay Area. They specialize in Chinese dumplings. They only offer one or two dishes through Locale. The one we got is no longer available.
Dim Sum and Garlicky Green Beans with Wakame Seaweed Salad ✔
This dish consisted of one pork bao (aka pork bun), 2 shrimp & pork siu mai and 2 shrimp har gow served with green beans and sea weed salad. Unfortunately, it’s no longer being offered by Locale (nor is this combo in he menu at Dumpling Time). My husband really liked this offering and would have liked it again but it’s no longer available.
El Farolito, San Francisco
El Farolito is a run of the mill taqueria in San Francisco, best known (in Yelp, at least) for its cheap burritos. They offer three quesadillas through Locale.
Mission Style Chicken Quesadilla with Crema and Salsa
This was an overall good quesadilla. It had a nice taste and it was more flavorful than I expected. The portion was probably the right size for lunch. However, I wouldn’t order it again. The first issue was the heating. It requires that you take out a pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and then heat up the quesadilla for a minute on both sides. This gives you a crispy tortilla, but the heat doesn’t go through enough to melt the cheese. I fixed this by microwaving for an extra 30 seconds. I didn’t like, however, that I had to dirty a saucepan to heat this up. I do take responsibility for not reading the heating instructions before I ordered it, they were right there on the page. I also didn’t like that it came with a green sauce instead of guacamole. Price was, it was a tad cheaper than what I can get at my local taquería for a similar size quesadilla, but I can choose steak and get guacamole if I order it there, which I prefer.
Hard Knox Cafe, San Francisco
This is a soul food restaurant with two locations in San Francisco which seems to get mostly good reviews. Locale only offers this dish and mac & cheese from this restaurant.
Southern Style BBQ Pork Rib with Collard Greens and Mac and Cheese
This consisted of just one spare rib with BBQ sauce, mac & cheese and collard drinks. My daughter enjoyed both the rib and the mac & cheese, she felt they were very good – she didn’t try the greens. It was enough food for her, but she is a girl who can never finish any meal – it really should be two ribs to satisfy a normal appetite. She wouldn’t have it again, however, because most of the meal was the mac & cheese and it wasn’t good enough to be a whole meal. The dish is $21 at the restaurant, but it looks like they serve at least 3 ribs.
Hawaiian Drive Inn, Bay Area
Hawaiian Drive Inn seems to be a 5-location Hawaiian BBQ chain in the Bay Area, serving standard Hawaiian BBQ fare.
Hawaiian Chicken Katsu with Steamed Rice and Green Beans
This was a pretty average Hawaiian BBQ chicken katsu, and there is nothing wrong with that. The green beans, however, lacked all seasoning. The heating instructions also had us using the oven for the chicken and the microwave for the beans which is too much trouble – we just heated the whole thing (minus the sauce) in the microwave. The portion size was similar to the mini-meal size at my local Hawaiian joint which is $12, so this is not a great deal.
Koi Palace , Daily City
Koi Palace is a local chain of restaurant serving Hong Kong style cuisine and specializing in dim sum, Canton-style seafood, roast meats and wok-fired dishes.
They offer five dishes through Locale, in different combinations of pork buns, siu mai, dumplings and noodles.
Imperial Dim Sum Plate ✔
This consisted of two steamed BBQ pork buns and three pork Peking dumplings served with sweet potato glass noodles, mushrooms, and cabbage. The pork buns were pretty standard, nothing remarkable about them. My husband had the usual complaint that there was too much bun and not enough pork. He liked the Peking dumplings more. It was hard to tell what the filling was, but he enjoyed them. The noodles, however, were the star of the dish – though they felt quite heavy (not surprising given that they’re made of sweet potato). He’d have the whole dish again.
This dish is no longer available through Locale and they don’t have a similar combo on their online menu.
LaLe, San Francisco
Lale is a “family owned Mediterranean-Turkish tapas bar” which serves brunch every day.
Turkish Style French Toast with Maple Syrup and Whipped Cream
I love French Toast but this one was just OK. Don’t get me wrong, “just OK” French toast is pretty good, but it wasn’t as good as the one my husband makes for me (his secret is mascarpone cheese and sourdough bread). The portion of three large pieces of French toast was generous, and they came with butter, whipped cream and maple syrup. The French toast had some savory hints, though nothing I could identify. It’s supposed to have ricotta inside, but I didn’t see it – it could have melted, though. I wouldn’t order it again, but I did enjoy it. The dish sells for $15.5 at restaurant
Mela Bistro, Oakland
Mela Bistro prides itself on serving “Modern Ethiopian Food”. From its website, I can see that the restaurant forgoes the traditional art and trappings from many local Ethiopian restaurants and it has more sleek surroundings. The menu is short and filled with traditional items. That said, this is the one restaurant we are happy Locale introduced us to and the one we re-ordered from our second week.
Ethiopian Style Beef Tibs with Brown Rice and Green Split Peas ✔
This was a very good version of beef tibs. Flavor wise, it was pretty much on point for beef tibs but it felt less greasy than usual – quite an achievement for a dish cooked in ghee. It was medium spicy. It’s served with turmeric rice. This dish is $18 at the restaurant, so it’s actually quite a bargain to get it through Locale. The portion was enough for one meal without leftovers.
Ethiopian Beef Stir Fry with Spiced Turmeric Rice ✔
These seem to be just beef tibs, but served with turmeric rice instead of brown rice and split peas. Once again, they were very tasty, only a bit spicy, and less greasy that beef tibs usually are. Once again my husband was happy. It was a good sized portion. He thought the rice was fine, but would probably get it with the brown rice and peas next time for a somewhat healthier option.
Noodle Belly, Oakland
Noodle Belly was a Filipino restaurant in Fruitvale which opened during the pandemic and closed down a year later. They are now apparently doing pop ups and selling through Korner Kitchen, though it’s not clear exactly when or how. Locale has four of their dishes, consisting of a meat (chicken, shrimp or steak), garlic noodles and a veggie (green beans or broccolini).
Hoisin Chicken and Broccolini with Garlic Noodles ✔
The smell of the broccolini was a bit off putting but the whole dish was good, very tasty. My husband really wanted to avoid the carbs in the noodles, but they were so good he couldn’t resist them. He’d order this again.
While I couldn’t find a current price for this dish, it was selling for $20 in 2022-23, which makes it a very good deal now (but super expensive otherwise).
Peaches Patties, San Francisco
Peaches Patties is a Jamaican restaurant operating from the Ferry Building in San Francisco. The owner previously ran a catering business. It specializes in Jamaican patties, which is their version of empanadas. They get great reviews from these, but they are not available on Locale. They have a few other dishes, including two new ones that don’t appear on their menu. Locale has four dishes from this restaurant.
Jamaican Rustic Mushroom Patty with Fried Plantains and Mixed Veggies
I was glad to see that Peaches Patties actually added a patty to their dishes available though Locale. I love mushrooms and overall liked this mushroom patty. Like the name implies, it is pretty rustic. The pastry dough is thick, soft and somewhat flaky. The sort of dough you’d use for a pot pie. It was slightly peppery, slightly salty (more baking soda than salt flavor), but it grew on me. The mushrooms were a tad overcooked – perhaps my fault in reheating. They did have a good flavor.
I was less fond of the fried plantains, which were too starchy (they are plantains after all), and not soft enough for my taste. The sweetish taste just didn’t go with the savory of the pie – but they weren’t sweet enough to constitute a dessert.
I was also not thrilled that to reheat this dish I had to bake the patty for 10 minute in a 350F oven – turning the oven in the summer is a big no-no for me. Instead, I reheated it for 8 minutes at 320F in the air fryer. I’m not sure if that messed up the consistency of either the dough or the mushrooms – which were a tad rubbery. The vegetables and plantains require reheating in the microwave.
In all, I’m not sure I’d order this again. This dish sells for $16.50 at their location in the Ferry building, so it’s a good deal here.
Ginger Tamarind Chicken with Fried Plantains, Kidney Beans and Jasmine Rice
This dish was described as featuring “tender chicken infused with bold ginger and tangy tamarind, served alongside crispy fried plantains and fragrant jasmine rice.” I can’t say it was a success. The chicken was tender, but the thigh meat felt dry. I usually like sweet-savory flavors, but the sweetness here felt out place, it fought, rather than blended with, the spiciness and the smokiness. My favorite part were the pieces of the chicken that tasted charred, unfortunately there were few of them. I usually don’t mind soggy chicken skins, but I felt this one could be crispier. The plantains were definitely not crispy either and they needed more sweetness. I don’t know, this just didn’t do it for me and I wouldn’t order it again. While this dish is not on Peaches Patties current menu, a similar jerk chicken meal that also includes veggies sells for $20.
Perilla, San Francisco
Perilla is a casual Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco. It offers three dishes through Locale, each consisting of garlic noodles, broccoli and either pork, crab or five spice chicken. At the restaurant, these dishes are priced at $14.
Five Spice Chicken with Garlic Noodles and Broccoli ✔
This dish was pretty good, the boneless chicken was was sweet and savory with light soy sauce overtones, and the noodles were quite good, not too garlicky. My daughter, who had it, enjoyed it and would have it again. The portion was more than sufficient for dinner, though not quite enough to have much in the way of leftovers.
Sumac, San Francisco
Sumac describes itself as a “modern Mediterranean street food” restaurant and has locations in both LA and SF. They serve wraps, salads, rice bowls and hummus bowls with your choice of grilled chicken, meatballs, red lentil balls or felafel. Seven of these combinations are available at Locale.
Chicken Hummus Bowl with Roasted Veggies ✔
Both my husband and I loved this bowl of grilled chicken, roasted veggies and hummus. – so much that we had it a second time. The chicken was tender and well seasoned, and worked well both by itself or dipped in the hummus. It was a little weird to eat warm hummus, though. Next time I might scoop it out before reheating. My husband was actually surprised at how much he liked the veggies, but we both skipped the pickled beets. The restaurant version sells for $21, but it also comes with an arugula salad.
Smash Burger on a Brioche Bun with Caramelized Onions and Potato Salad
I should have known better than to order a burger to reheat later – but I hadn’t had a burger in a while and I was in the mood for one. Not this one, though. When fresh, it might be good – though with a thin patty cooked medium, I wouldn’t guarantee it. Reheated in the microwave it tasted like every other frozen, microwave burger out there – which is not good, not good at all.
The potato “salad” consisted of boiled potatoes with something acidic (lemon juice) and enormous amounts of dill. I found it inedible – and so did the dog.
I’d definitely not get this again.
Turkish Kofte Bowl with Basmati Rice and Chickpea Salad ✔
These are lamb and beef shoulder meatballs served with rice, chickpea salad and a labneh sauce. The same bowl sells for $18 at the restaurant. This was a good, filling and satisfying meal. The meatballs had that chewy texture of kibbeh – I think it’s achieved by over grinding the meat -, which I’m not super fond of, but they were well seasoned and very tasty. The buttered basmati rice reminded me just how nice buttered basmati rice is on its own. The chickpea salad was fresh and piquant, and I enjoyed it even though I’m not a fan of chickpeas. And the yogurt sauce was thick and refreshing. Everything was slightly spicy, however, But overall a very good meal that I’d have again.
Turkish Red Lentil Wrap with Tabouli and Herb Labneh Sauce
I got this for my vegetarian daughter and she found it edible but unexciting. It was a good portion, at least (the photo shows just half a wrap). She probably wouldn’t order it again. It sells for $16.50 at the restaurant.
Tenderleaf (Ghost Kitchen)
Tenderleaf is described as a “a beloved Bay Area gem, is a cozy, locally-owned restaurant” located in San Francisco. As far as I can tell, that is a lie. A google search failed to find any restaurant with that name anywhere in the Bay Area, much less a “beloved one”. Instead, it seems that Tenderleaf is a ghost kitchen operated by the owners of Locale. To me, this seems extremely deceitful. I don’t have a problem with ghost kitchens myself, but I do have a problem with dishonesty.
The address that Google has for Tenderleaf is in the San Leandro industrial area, and I’ll probably drive by and check it out some time.
Tenderleaf offers 9 dishes through Locale, the most of any restaurants.
Mom’s Meatballs in Marinara Sauce with Italian Sausage and Parmesan
This dish consisted of four medium-size meatballs and 2 sausages, topped with tomato sauce and a little Parmesan cheese. I warmed it in the microwave. There was definitely plenty of food. I liked the meatballs. They tasted very much like the meatballs you can get at your average pizzeria – I’m thinking of Porky’s Pizza Palace in particular. They had a good texture, they weren’t too soft and not too gritty, and a nice flavor. I would imagine that these are not “homemade”, but it’s not like I can get meatballs that taste like that at the supermarket. The sauce was pretty standard marinara, a little on the acidic side. A bit more cheese would have been better, but you can always add your own. I also liked the sausages, which were pretty dense, and smooth, and tasted primarily – but mildly – of fennel. Obviously this would have been better over some pasta, and next time I might just boil some myself.
Steak and Potatoes Plate with Rainbow Carrots and Chimichurri ✔
I was surprised at how good this steak was – often cooked steak doesn’t microwave well. Perhaps the key is to have it undercooked – this one was somewhere between rare and medium rare. It was flavorful, tender, free of fat and grizzle and the chimichurri sauce was bright and summery. All in all a winner.
The abundant potatoes were undercooked – they were fine but not as exciting as the meat. We’d probably order this again.
Trisara, San Francisco
Trisara is an affordable Indo-Nepalese restaurant that gets 5-stars on Yelp. Unfortunately Locale only offers three of their dishes, the momos below and two biryianis.
Nepalese Chicken Momos with Steamed Broccoli ✔
My husband thoroughly enjoyed these momos – Nepalese dumplings – which were served with a tasty tomato chutney. They were tasty and comforting. The broccoli was just steamed, and he would have preferred it with some seasoning. Still, he’d order this again. The portion of 8 momos sells for $14 at the restaurant, but here you only get 5 momos and the broccoli.
Vik’s Chaat, Berkeley
Vik’s Chaat is a very well known Berkeley Indian restaurant. It’s a casual eatery, meant for college students. It’s been there for decades and has always been very popular. I went there once, over a decade ago, and I don’t remember loving it, but I didn’t write a review. Locale offers 3 dishes from Vik’s Chaat.
Tandoori Chicken with Spiced Chickpeas and Basmati Rice
This dish consisted of a chicken leg – separated into thigh and drumstick – served with basmati rice and spiced chickpeas. I wasn’t super fond of it. It tasted like the sort of tandoori chicken you can make it at home, in your own over, with tandoori masala. The masala sauce, which was a bit spicy, clung to the chicken, which I don’t particularly like. I much prefer the tandoori chicken found at most restaurants where the chicken skin has been died and the flavor has been absorbed by the meat, rather than resting on a marinade outside. Still, it wasn’t bad, just not as good as the Americanized versions of tandoori chicken you usually get at restaurants. It did remind me of why I didn’t like Vik’s when I went. A similar tandoor chicken dish at the restaurant which is served with dal, instead of chickpeas, and with naan and raita, costs $18.
Zareen’s, Silicon Valley
Zareen’s, along with Burma Superstar, are the only restaurants Locale mentions on their Facebook ads and comments. This seems to be because they were listed in the 2020 Michelin guide. It’s an Indian/Pakistani restaurant with locations in Palo Alto, Redwood City and Mountain View. Locale offers 7 dishes from this restaurant, though two are tikka masalas and three spinach curries.
Chicken Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice
I was underwhelmed by this dish. It consisted of shredded chicken tikka in a masala curry and yellow rice. The chicken was tender and had a nice smoky flavor but was otherwise very underseasoned. The sauce lacked the complexity you look for in a tikka masala sauce. It wasn’t bad, but it was underdeveloped. The portion was adequate for a single meal. In all, I think I rather pay more at my local Indian restaurant but have a better curry and leftovers for a second meal. This curry is $16.25 at the Zareen’s restaurant, though I’m not sure if the portion is the same size.
Paneer Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice ✔
I got this for my vegetarian daughter but ended up eating it myself. I liked it more than the chicken tikka masala. The panner was spongy and slightly sweet and combined perfectly with the sauce and the rice. The sauce was pretty standard, but I think better than last time. The portion was substantial enough to leave me full. I’d get this again.
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