Local Junction’s menu conjures up memories of favorite nearby eateries now gone. Its Green Jacket salad was a signature dish of the Green Jacket restaurant across from Augusta National. (The Green Jacket closed in the mid-1990s.) It is a bright way to begin a meal: Romaine and iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, grated Parmesan, and scallions in potent herbed vinaigrette, scattered with baked-brittle tiles of pita bread. Local Junction’s appetizer of garlic steak bites—grilled tenderloin pieces, big and numerous enough to quell a raging appetite—were a specialty of the revered West Side Bowery in the heart of Aiken. (West Side Bowery closed in 2013 after 32 years in business.)
Décor is nostalgic, too, focusing on sports: pictures and profiles of famous athletes who have been residents of Aiken, pennants of local teams, and odes to polo and other equine activities that have defined the town. Silks from Dogwood Stables, which raced Palace Malice, winner of The Belmont Stakes in 2013, are a prized display.
