Local Lime’s rustic tortilla soup was the instigator of this story. Someone said I should try it, which was one of the delicacies featured at the recent Youth Villages Soup Sunday at The Kent. I did. And I went back for another cup. And then I went back for another cup.
The soup is on the menu at the restaurant at 7605 West Farmington Boulevard in Saddle Creek in Germantown, Tennessee. According to the menu, rustic tortilla soup is Local Lime’s “signature rich chile broth with grilled chicken, topped with avocado, fried corn tortilla strips, jack cheese, and cilantro.”
I’d never been to Local Lime, so I set up an interview with one of the restaurant’s founders, Amber Brewer of the Yellow Rocket Concepts team, to learn more about the place and its food.
“There are only three locations of Local Lime that exist,” Brewer told me. “The first one we opened 15 years ago in West Little Rock. So, we’ve been around.” The next one was in Rogers, Arkansas, seven years ago. The one in Germantown is their third location. “We opened it two years ago and it’s gone wonderfully. So much so that we are going to be opening another location out of state.” They are planning one for Leawood, Kansas, and are opening one in Frontenac, Missouri, near St. Louis. “We don’t want to go too far out of the Southeast.”
So, what makes Local Lime different? “The idea with Local Lime was, man, we had a ton of Tex-Mex options around. Right? Little Rock also claims to have invented cheese dip.” But their group wanted to do something different. They wanted Baja-style Mexican food. “The type of Mexican food you get in California versus the type of Mexican food in Texas,” Brewer says.
Their chefs wanted to feature “a fresh, light, and bright spin on Mexican food. People were craving something lighter and more vibrant,” says Brewer. They were craving “queso” dip, “which is made differently with different cheese.”
They also were craving “more salsa verde instead of red tomato sauce.” And they wanted “more fresh salads” and “more chili sauces over fish instead of burritos.”
Local Lime uses “a lot of herbs and spices that are more vibrant.” People rave about their salsas, she says. “They are so standout and unique. There are six of them.” And, she adds, “People order our salsas more than guacamole. They’re very different. And you can’t get things that taste like them anywhere else.”
Chris McMillan, from Little Rock, is their executive chef. “We have multiple chefs that have contributed to this. He leads our executive chef team. He is the one who leads the entire effort to bring his menus to life. He makes sure everything is perfect.”
The interior of Local Lime, in Saddle Creek on the north side of Poplar, is very inviting. Brewer, the team’s chief creative officer, designs the Local Lime interiors. “What I was going for was an airy vibe that mimics the food, taking cues from the California coast and Mexican cafes.” She used a lot of cement blocks and tiles — “materials typically used in those locations.” She also used “a lot of slatted wood, which was meant to mimic outdoor pergolas or shutters.” And she used terracotta and adobe.
General manager Scarlett Stafford told me the salmon Vera Cruz skillet and the birria quesadilla plato were two popular items. I chose the salmon dish, which included grilled salmon with tomato, peppers, garlic, grilled onions, green olives, cebolitas (Mexican spring onions), capers, roasted lemons, grilled jalapeño, and cilantro. Served sizzling hot in a cast iron skillet, it was fantastic.
I also had my Soup Sunday favorite, the rustic tortilla soup, which was as delicious as it was at the event. And I got a lot more of it in a bigger bowl than in the little cups at the Youth Villages tasting.
A wedge of lime graced everything I ordered, including the delicious Key lime pie. All the cuisine at Local Lime is better with that “hint of citric acid right before you enjoy it,” Brewer says.
And it looks pretty, too.