Grill 23 & Bar — Restaurant in Boston

I am leaving 5 stars because I don't want to negatively impact the business however I do feel it necessary to provide some feedback that would have otherwise led to a 1 star review. Please note this experience happened 1yr ago so things may have changed.

I will start by saying that Grill 23 was my go-to steakhouse in Boston for YEARS. Whenever I had an occasion, a company outing, or a recommendation I would emphatically say Grill 23. I felt they perfectly encapsulated the idea of a city steakhouse. You were going to go in be treated like royalty from the moment you walked in, served by people who were experts at their job, have an incredible meal, and leave with a memory that you would not soon forget. To add to this, I knew every time I went to grill 23 I was going to spend more than almost 95% of the other restaurants in town but it was honestly worth every penny.

This passed time we went this was not the case. I will list below the major issues that we experienced:

Hospitality:

This is the most disappointing portion of our meal as to me this was always what made Grill 23 standout. The hospitality was world class. I have eaten at Michelin stared restaurants that were not able to capture what Grill 23 had in my opinion. This time around was not the case.

The biggest issue was that our server was handling a table of 15+ people. We were clearly and notably an afterthought the entire evening. Drinks orders came late, it took way too long for him to greet us, way too much time had passed before he took our order. The entire evening he just felt rushed and completely out of sync.

My biggest note for this is we were not upset with our waiter but rather the management for giving this person another table. This persons entire night, week, and maybe month may have been made by that large table. Of course we were to be an after thought. We should have not been given a waiter who had that much responsibility.

Service:

It would appear that the quality of the restaurant had gone down in small but noticeable ways. They used to serve the most impressive platter of breads before the meal. It was honestly one of the things I looked forward to the most. This was replaced by a small serving of a couple sad dinner rolls. This set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Steak Tartare: This was always a stand out on the menu for me. In previous years this was served with toast points which was substantial enough to hold up to a big bite of tartare. This time it was served with chips which not only cracked easily but just overall felt cheaper than the toast points.

I will preface this feedback by say this could certainly just be personal preference and the chip could be the more popular choice but again for my party and me it just felt cheapened.

Steak: This was the icing on the cake for me. I ordered the Kobe Cap which was a +$100 steak. I ordered it medium rare. You have to imagine that if you are ordering a $100 steak there is going to be a lot of attention to detail. This steak had to be sent back 3 times. Two of the times the waiter was the one who encouraged that I send it back even after I said I would just eat it.

-Ultimately it was taken off the bill which was a saving grace, however, I would have much rather paid and eaten a well cooked steak. Before this evening I had felt Grill 23 did the best steaks in Boston. I cannot say that anymore.

Conclusion:

-This was a special occasion where my brothers and I were going out for a Christmas time meal together. We all lead busy lives and this was a meaningful night. We CHOSE Grill 23 for that evening based on my effusive praise.

Unfortunately, I cannot say we will ever go back again. There is just too much on the line for these types of evenings to worry about whether it is going to be a flop. It is really sad to say and I know it is harsh because I have been dozens of times before where it had been perfect but this experience was so bad I just cannot...

Update; 2nd visit. Just as good as the first, if not better. Trust the wait staff. Trust the somms. They know of what they speak. Food once again solid. Completely bullet proof experience whether you are a 1 top or a party of 14. These people know and understand hospitality very very well. Period. End of story.

I had a great experience at this iconic Boston steak house. You might think that after 40 years, G23 might be mailing it in. Nope. They are still bringing their A+ game.

G23 understands sincere hospitality, food, and wine, and I know that’s hard to believe with a place with so many tables. Tim understood the menu, the preparation, and the dishes really well and made some fine recommendations. Tori (sommelier) has an excellent working knowledge of the very deep wine list and did what a top drawer somm should do: guide her customers to a bottle that they will like and away from ones that they might not like without upselling or relying on a lot of condescension or meaningless, flowery language (mission accomplished!). She is one of the best somms I have ever met. Food: excellent. Things that are seemingly easy, but are really not so easy when it comes right down to it (like caviar service or sautéed spinach) were spot on the money. In fact, the caviar service was better than I’ve seen in some Michelin 3 star establishments. (NB: Caviar service is not just opening a tin of caviar and throwing it on a plate with some eggs, onions, capers, and crème fraiche). Along the lines of attention to little details, the salt and vinegar chips served with the tartare were excellent: not greasy, not too salty, not too vinegary. To Pastry Chef Valerie Nin: your creme brûlée is what you would find if you looked up creme brûlée in the dictionary. It is honestly one of the most refined examples of the dish I have ever had. Is CB simple? In concept yes, but in execution, CB is not simple at all. The milk and cookies were exceptional. You might think ‘Cookies and milk? Come on, I want some fancy schmancy dessert for my money.’ But these are perfect in their own whimsical way: warm and gooey and delish. Simple in concept? Yes. Executed perfectly? Yes. And finally, to the kitchen: I have no idea how many people are in the back of the house but given the number in the front, the number of seats, and the number of covers that they did on a Saturday night, the kitchen did an amazing job. There was at least one very large (20+) party that I could see and plenty of other butts in seats elsewhere, and yet the kitchen didn’t miss a beat with any my courses, even when I threw a few (unintentional) monkey wrenches into the works. Large parties (and my antics) can very often cause trouble for a kitchen, but not here, not in the middle of a very busy Saturday night service. This was a display of impressive cooking and impressive management.

Overall, this was a really memorable experience. You say you have a special occasion to celebrate? Bring it. Large groups? Bring it. Solo? Bring it. Kids?...

Dined at Grill23 to celebrate my wife's birthday but encountered the most unsatisfied fine dining experience.

Lets start with food...we ordered fois gras as our appetizer. The first one is cooked beautifully with bread on the bottom, topped a with nice chubby piece of foie gras with some green garnish. However there was a hair in the plate so we asked to have a replacement. 15mins later the manager served us with a basically raw duck liver to our table with absolutely 0 garnish and it is absolutely not attractive. It tasted like a piece of pure fat. It is inedible so we reported to the waiter again and ended up with returning it. Manager offered us a free fried calamari as compensation.

Then the steak... there is discussion on reddit calling grill 23 the goat steakhouse...i sincerely wish they are but they are not, not even close to a acceptable level. I ordered the "signature" 100 day dry aged ribeye at medium rare. The meat is so moist with no crust at all on the surface. it feels like it is not grilled but boiled in the water. Plus, it is not hot not even warm. The plate is cold and the meat is room temperature. It is basically between raw and rare, which is a couple degrees away from being edible. Also, the meat is either not dry aged or it only dry aged for a couple days. 1000%not 100 day dry aged as it is absolutely not tender even with such an undercooking condition. Taste-wise, salty very salty. i drunk 2 cups of water while eating. I rarely left food but i have to take almost the whole steak home since it is too bad and i cant eat. My wife's salmon was ok. no obvious flaws

For the atmosphere, this restaurant is insanely loud. We sit face to face and still hard to hear each other under normal volume. I made reservation a week ahead and notified the restaurant that this is for the birthday celebration and expected a good seat with nice view. But we ended up sitting in the middle of the crowd which was hands-down the loudest place in the room.

Anyway, we didn't enjoy birthday at all. It took us 2 whole hours to finish this dinner which most of the time we are just waiting for food and waiting for checks. there are more than enough waiters and chefs working but the efficiency is still horrible. I see food drop on the floor, the waiters were chitchatting, someone hit the other one for fun. Nothing close to a fine dining experience.

Last but not least - price. The steak is $90 which is more expensive than many fine dining restaurants in town and delivers less value. Btw they were $60 in 2022. That is a 50% price increase in less than 24 months...

I believe this restaurant might be the goat in the past but it is so poorly managed and overrated. I really...