the capital grille

great steak

first of all the appetizers were amazing the lobster bisque was delicious. the lobster mac and cheese was one of the best side dishes i’ve ever had and the stripsteakwas made exactly the way i wanted. the wine list will not disappoint and will compliment everything on the menu you will not be disappointed here.

an amazing place to dine, with a vast array of alcoholic beverages, and of course the beststeakin town. i've been here countless times and i haven't left once without a smile on my face.

there aresteakrestaurants and then there is the capital grill down in the plaza, kansas city. our party of ten had their private dining room, attended by, stephan, unquestionably one of the best waiters, i’ve come across in a long time, old school, just ask and he’ll make it happen. andrea, hostess extraordinaire. dry aged steaks, omg, i had the peppercorn with cognac cream sauce. the filets, with lobster, melted in your mouth and the lamb chops, yes i said lamb, was to die for with its loganberry compote. saturday nights always busy here, so we had to vacate our room, but we finished up out in the bar, with a couple of bottle of taittinger and a bowl full of sinfully delicious handmade chocolate truffles. executive chef matt livers and his team will make this a power lunch, romantic or celebratory dinner, an occasion to remember.

wow wow wow! this place is pricey but totally worth it. the mozzarella balsamic salad was incredible (they make the buffalo mozzarella in-house every day!). in terms of mains, theirsteakis one of the best we have ever had - cooked to perfection. we also had the snapper special and it was phenomenal, all the flavours were on point. service was really good too :) would love to come back but we are leaving houston tomorrow :( beautiful beautiful beautiful!

my favorite restaurant in the kansas city area!! the bone-in kona crustedsteakwith shallot butter melts in your mouth while the gourmet mashed potatoes are heaven! this is my idea of perfect comfort food! don't pass up the cre'me brule' !!

i do not eat in restaurants very often because more times than not
i am disappointed with the food.  and, it seems that the more upscale
restaurants are hyped, the worse they are, ruth's chris excepted.  i
am convinced by the reviews i read – reviews which entice me to sample an
occasional restaurant - that most people would not know exceptionally good
food if by accident it did manage to find its way into their mouths.

i had high hopes for the capital grille at biltmore fashion park,
what with its being touted on line by tripadvisor.com as the third best
restaurant of some 2,692 places to eat in phoenix.  yeah, really!

ambiance:  refined; dark wood paneling; subdued lighting;
moderate noise level – certainly nothing so offensive as the deafening roar
over at morton’s.

service: excellent.  but, i should define that. it was well
timed; i.e., i didn’t have to wait for anything for so long as to be annoyed;
and, the wait staff did not make a pest of itself by “over servicing.”

skipping appetizers, i went directly to soup; clam chowder to be
specific.  it was delightfully creamy and tasty.  the bread basket
contained five or so varieties.  the two i sampled were as good as the
clam chowder.

that is where the praise ends.

i chose a $50.00 entre: seared tenderloin with butter poached lobster tails, billed as “the ultimatesteakand seafood
experience.”

for a side dish, i chose roasted brussels sprouts with smoked
bacon. fortunately, they make no highbrow claims about it.

the waitress and i had a brief discussion regarding how capital
grille defines “medium” cooked beef vs. “medium rare.”  consequently, i
ordered mine medium rare.  the discussion was a waste of breath,
however, as the kitchen apparently will cook beef to its liking, not yours.
which, in my case was “well done.”  ugh!  i hate dry, chewy beef. i
mopped up some of the tasty butter sauce with each fork full, trying to make it
less dry in the mouth.

the two tenderloin pieces were an inch thick, each topped
with the pink tail meat of some sort crustacean.  make an ok sign
with your hand, and then separate your thumb and forefinger by an inch. 
the open circle formed by your thumb and forefinger will give you an
accurate representation of the diameter of both the beef and curled
crustaceans. the two beef islands were surrounded by a shallow ocean of butter
sauce.

upon ordering the brussels sprouts, i was advised that the side
dish menu was currently being revamped, so the brussels sprouts might not be
available.  as it turned out, they were – unfortunately!  each sprout
was cut in two.  no problem, that’s how i usually cook them so that they
are not overdone on the outside and raw in the center.  and, the bacon was
in quarter inch cubes, like mini dice, interspersed among the sprouts. 
the problem was that both were hard as rocks.

the tanqueray gin martini, bread and clam chowder were the best
parts of the meal, but they should not be the highlights of an $85.00
restaurant tab, just shy of $100, with gratuity."   while i in no way consider it
even "good" food, i'd have been better served with a can of bud, a
monster burger and basket of shrimp and frys at pete's fish and chips.

wonderful dinner!!. from the moment we walked in the service was superb. the hostess quickly seated we did have reservations due to being a party of 9. we were impressed that by the time we all literally sat in our seat we had wait staff ready with water and drink orders. the food was superb!! it was fresh served immediately. our appetizers were the calamari, lobster crab cakes and prosciutto wrapped around mozzarella pan seared to warm perfection. all of them were delicious, especially the sauce for the crab cakes which is freshly made. we all hadsteakserved one of their many ways and one had their roasted chicken which was a serving big enough for 2 people. mysteakin particular was their filet mignon with oscar sauce topped with lobster pieces. it was one of the best filet's i have ever had and the sauce was spectacular. we liked that the sides were served family style so we could share and try a few different ones which were great as well. desserts were off the charts as well. especially their homemade ice cream, which was vanilla-caramel with sea salt which i had with the expresso chocolate cake with fresh raspberries. the cheesecake was a wonderful surprise with a crusted sugar on top. the waiters we had were very knowledgeable and were spot on with their recommendations for our meal.

excellent experience. we actually tried capital grille during august's restaurant week.
the menu was fairly limited, but i was very pleased with the actual food.

the limited options on the restaurant week menu was really was the only downside in my opinion. the only appetizers available were a choice of two salads and clam chowder (which my fiance was displeased because he doesn't eat seafood or salads, and he couldn't substitute, so i ended up getting both appetizers). the only available desserts were a small fruit bowl, a fruit sorbet (which they were out of), and a small chocolate espresso cake.

appetizers:

the house salad and clam chowder were both fine. i wouldn't say either were particularly spectacular, but i was happy with them. we both ate probably too much bread, honestly, because that was actually quite good, and always arrived hot.

entrees:

i ordered the filet, which came with a butter sauce. my fiance didn't enjoy the sauce, but i thought it was quite a nice addition to the typical filet. the meat was exceptionally tender, and while they flame-broil their steaks, i requested as little char as possible, cooked medium. the order took a little longer than usual, i suppose, because the server informed us at one point that without char was a "longer cooking process," which was fine. there was really no char at all, which was amazing, and cooked perfectly. again, extremely flavorful, even without the butter sauce and bearnaise that i requested.

accompanying the meal were garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, and both were surprisingly flavorful and creamy.


dessert:

the fruit bowl was just a simple berry fruit bowl with a dollop of creme anglaise - nothing special. the chocolate espresso cake was a small simple slice of rich, dense, soft chocolate cake with a few berries. it was okay. it seemed more like something you would order with coffee at a nice cafe, rather than at a poshsteakrestaurant. perhaps the portions are larger when not on the restaurant week menu.

being rather disappointed with the available desserts, i ordered the coconut cream pie.
i have to say, it now ranks as one of (maybe the top) favorite restaurant desserts i've ever had. it's more like a coconut cream tart, rather than a slice of pie. it has real whipped cream (as in whipped heavy cream; not reddi whip or cool whip or any of that nonsense), toasted coconut, and was ample. easily a shared dessert... but it was so good, i probably could have finished it myself, if i didn't feel gluttonous enough. i made it last two more times though, so it was good. if you like coconut and cream pie of any kind, you have to order it. normally coconut cream pie falls a bit short to me, despite loving coconut and cream pies, but this... one of the best desserts i've ever had. the next day i gave my mom a sample, and she looks at me and says, "mmm! that pie is going to be in heaven!" so... it wasn't just my opinion. and i like coconut much more than she does.


we didn't take advantage of it, but the wine list was extremely extensive.

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short capital grille vs prime rib vs morton's comparison:

we actually took quite the advantage of restaurant week, both in baltimore and dc. between them, we tried this capital grille, the morton's in baltimore, and prime rib in baltimore. of the three, i feel the filet was best at capital grille. my fiance enjoyed morton's filet more, but i honestly think he was just soured by the butter sauce at capital grille. the quality of meat i feel was much better at capital grille, and cooked better. don't bother with filet at prime rib (i know, but i had to try), but the prime rib was quite delectable.


ambiance:

at capital grille, we had a booth which was very comfortable and large. the lighting was fairly dim or "romantic," and the spaces were somewhat compartmentalized. a lot of dark wood finishes. it wasn't notably loud, but also not terribly busy.

the ambiance was best a capital grille. it definitely had more of a "fine dining" feel and seemed to be run better (the cleanliness, design space, and upkeep of bathrooms matched in linear quality as well). this is followed by morton's (fine, but felt more like just a "nicer chain steakhouse" ... honestly i had expected more), and lastly prime rib (very cramped and sort of old-fashioned feeling).


service:

our waiter at capital grille was a middle-aged gentleman, very professional, and suitably kind. not terribly personal, but pleasant and helpful. he had a fairly thick accent. always helpful, and fairly attentive. it wasn't terribly busy; i believe we went on a sunday night, at 8:30pm.

the service was great at all restaurants; we had a very young waiter at morton's, who seemed... green. he was very polite and friendly, but really a good server that you might find at an outback. really, the morton's in baltimore (inner harbor) wasn't very... formal feeling at all. it felt like... maybe kona grill in levels of "fine dining."

our waiter at prime rib was an older gentleman, amazingly friendly, and extremely personable.

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overall, my favorite experience was capital grille. i felt that the filet and sides were both best at capital grille, and of course the coconut cream pie.

just what i expected. great service which i expected for the this restaurant. i had the sirloin. mouth watering seasoning and mysteakwas the perfect temperature. i also had the cream corn and bacon for my side. delicious! when traveling in phoenix i will definitely return for dinner.

lunch today. haven't been back in a while. i guess i need to stop trying to like this place. zero service! why would you assign a sever to a group of 3, us and a large group at same time. never saw him after taking order, never got bread, etc etc. yet still they remain arrogant. btw food was average. i'll just stick with plaza iii. i done.


-----30 nov, 2010-----

not worth it. we had slow service, had to ask for everything, had to sendsteakback, plus when it was right, no flavor. did not get anything reduced from bill as well. too over priced for this. i have eaten here for the last time. it seemed that each time the food became more average. and service was as if they were doing you a favor. this is after i used to think it was the beststeakplace in town! sad! i guess i'll stay with plaza iii.

stinks. terrible. after making reservations a week prior to dinner date...was ignored for at least 25 minutes after being the second couple through their doors. people on the street walking in got a table before i did. staff didn't even acknowledge us....till we were walking out. went directly across the street to zocalo's...was seated immediately, had a greatsteakand wonderful service by elijah our server. spent about $150 there at zocalo's. capital ought to really re-educated themselves on what customer service should be. i will never patronize this joint again. would rate 0 stars if possible.

had dinner here tonight with my husband. wonderful dining experience. service was attentive and very professional. we had oysters on the half shell, an enormous salad, sirloinsteakwith mashed potatoes and the filet mignon with king crab. we had a few whiskey sours, some wine and a martini. very hefty portions. at the end of the night the bill was 250.00 with the tip. take into account we are from canada and are used to paying the same amount for much smaller portions, so we thought it was great value for our money.

booo. it was always fun to get dressed up and travel to the capital grille for a fun night out. the decor is special, the drinks are masculine and the attitude is east coast. we love it. the last two times have been so dissappointing. the greeting was not friendly. there is a fine line between being professional upscale and over reaching. i expect this place to know the difference. the crowd was a bit different that i expect. i know the place can't control who dines here, but i think this suggests something has changed. the soup was awesome as always. wow. thesteakwas not properly cooked and the shrimp was luke warm. something was off. very off. i asked to see the manager but after waiting ten minutes we paid our tab and exited. i hope this was just a bad moment, but my intuition tells me it is something more. parking is valet or the downtown lots. travel in pairs as the downtown area is sketchy at night.

a great steakhouse. quality, consistency and attention to detail are just a few of the reasons that the capital grille is consistently ranked as one of dc's best steakhouses.

took in dinner a few nights ago with a group, and from the moment we arrived to the moment we left we were afforded the vip treatment by the staff.

for starters i enjoyed thesteaktartar with truffle deviled egg. the freshest beef tartar i've experienced with crisp diced onion paired with a decadent deviled egg with truffles, a unique combination and it just worked so well together.

i love dry-aged beef and for my main, i enjoyed a bone-in kona-crusted sirloin strip with shallot butter. this was a exceptional cut. roughly two inches thick, grilled to perfection. the kona-crusting gave it a unique flavor and the crusting added to the wonderful texture of the steak. the shallot butter was a nice accompanier. a side of sautéed spinach completed the main course.

enjoyed a wonderful creme brulee with fresh berries for desert, perfect cap for the evening.

the meal was exceptional, the service provide by lead server l.c. was superb and the decor and ambiance of the grille made for a memorable dining experience.

kona steak. by far the beststeaki've had in minnesota.