For another stop on my ‘local restaurants of Gwinnett County tour,’ I had Local Republic in mind. An easy 15 minutes from my parent’s house, the restaurant is located in quaint downtown Lawrenceville. Given a wonderful June day, we opted to eat outside (there is nothing particularly great to look at, mostly just cars passing by, but we wanted a small moment of Americana). Our server was prompt and suggested a beer (gose – that’s a thing?) for Hubs, while I opted for a classic Diet Coke.
For food, I decided to commit fully to being on vacation and ordered the Tuna Crudo (including avocado, pineapple, local sprouts w/infused habanero & basil oil) with a side of goats cheese and sage potatoes – don’t judge). Hubs went true Southern and opted for a fried green tomato sandwich (with bacon) and a side of collard greens. We ended up chatting to our server and learned he was Jordanian — always fun to find Arabic speakers where you least expect them and small town Georgia is definitely one of those places!
Our food was brought out super quickly, to the point that we finished the meal in 45 minutes (I think this is always appreciated during the lunch rush and as hungry as I was, I certainly didn’t mind). I enjoyed the crudo, but wanted a bit more acid and thought the dish could’ve used cilantro and a bit of sea salt of some variety to make it worth the $12.
While not as good as the 1910 Public House (which I think is worth traveling to), if I found myself looking to support a solid neighborhood venue, Local Republic would be on the list!
