New in the 'hood: The Local, a daylight diner, opens in Wash Park

Lori Midson

"In short, The Local is by locals, for locals," says Jeff Estey, who opened his Wash Park daylight diner yesterday at 2217 East Mississippi in the space formerly occupied by Dino's, which closed earlier this year due to non-payment of taxes.

Estey, who also owns Washington Park Grill and Max Gill & Grill, tinted the joint with a fresh coat of kiwi-colored paint, but left everything else, including the retro soda fountain and sparkly candy-apple red vinyl stools, in tact.

The menu, a neighborhood-friendly listage of breakfast burritos, waffles, pancakes, build-your-own breakfast tacos, sandwiches, salads, wraps, hot dogs and burgers, gets a sugar boost from the joint's housemade ice cream. And Estey is doing his part to ensure that he's sourcing as many products as he can from local purveyors and farmers. "Our coffee is locally roasted, our hot dogs are locally made, our hamburgers are a proprietary blend of local beef, our buns and breads are made locally and our ice cream is made in house," trumpets his menu.

The kitchen is open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., but ice cream scoopage carries on until 10 p.m. For more info, dial 303-425-6225.