The Capital Grille — Restaurant in Clayton

Capital Grille disappointed us immensely and didn't provide us with a special evening, so I doubt we will give them another try. In a nutshell, our server and the steaks were not good.

Problem 1, Our waiter --This most recent meal was for my partner's birthday and marked the fifth year in a row celebrating it at Capital. As usual, the table was ready upon our arrival, and it had been decorated with a few sequins and a birthday card. We appreciate this gesture every year. Unfortunately, we were given Hugh as our server and that became part of the night's problem. It was the first time having him as a waiter. He was inattentive, impersonal, and not up to par with the waiters we have had in the past. He never acknowledged my partner's birthday, immediately asked for our drinks, and seemed annoyed when I asked about wine. He then had to go get their iPad to show me the list quickly. He never even gave it to me. He pointed to a $65 and $23 glass. I decided on a $14 glass. So, I'm not sure if that annoyed him, but that's when I noticed he started paying ALOT of attention to a 6-top table nearby.. He returned with our drinks later and asked for our food order. There was no small talk, and he seemed in a rush. I asked him to please tell us the specials -- I was beginning to get annoyed by the prompting he seemingly needed. I told him we wanted to discuss the specials, so he walked away. He took a long time to come back. Once we ordered, he didn't return until we were finished eating. The manager came over four different times to check in on us. One of those times, he apologized for the delay in our food. The second time, he brought out our steaks. And paused and asked if we had a side. We did. He asked me what it was. We told him. He returned a bit later with it. Again, we were so surprised at how the night was going... meanwhile, there was our waiter laughing and standing at his 6-top table. After we ate what we could of our steaks, he returned asking about dessert. We shook our heads and never got the cheesecake with a candle. We left.

Problem 2, our steaks -- We always get steak at Capital Grille. And we were relieved we didn't spend $125 on the NY strip special because our dry-aged strip and bone-in ribeye were terrible. The ribeye came out cold and severely under-seasoned, and the strip was very undercooked but seasoned. Yes, we could have sent them back. But, we were already frustrated and didn't want to make matters worse.

So, as we walked away from the evening, we searched for the positives. The atmosphere and bread basket were superb. So were those who ensured our waters were never empty.

I promised my partner we would do a re-do for his birthday dinner someplace else in the near future. And we have scratched Capital Grille off our list of restaurants for...

My friend treated me to a generous pour wine experience and dinner at the Capital Grille for my birthday. It was "off the charts" wonderful. We shared the lobster and crab cakes appetizer which was so yummy. Then we each enjoyed a bowl of lobster bisque. It had huge chunks of lobster and was served with sherry we could add to enhance the flavor of the lobster. It was heavenly. The lobster was perfectly cooked and tender. We both chose dry aged KC strip Kona style for our entree. I like my steak very rare and they got this perfectly correct - crisp on the outside and red on the inside throughout. My friend ordered her steak medium rare and it was also spot on - crisp on the outside and pink throughout on the inside. The flavor of the steak could not have been more delightful. On the side we had lobster mac-n-cheese (yes, we love lobster -lol) and it was the best I've ever had. We also had creamed spinach which was amazing. They brought out a small cheesecake and flourless chocolate cake for my birthday dessert. Both were yummy! Our server, Tim, was very knowledgeable and helpful in our choices. He suggested wines in the list of seven (we tasted them all) that perfectly complimented each course. The night was a culinary delight! I hsvd been back several times and each time has been wonderful. I went to a Mother's Day Brunch where the food was heavenly. I've also had the lamb chops with mint gremoolata that were the best lamb chops I've ever had. The porcini-rubbed bone-in ribeye was tender and amazing. Their pan-fried calamari is delightfully crisp with the most tender calamari I have had. Their coconut cream pie is unique and fabulous. It is a round flaky tort type crust filled with coconut cream and with a coconut sugar cookie standing up in it. If you like coconut cream pie, you...

Updated review: I have been here multiple times and found this restaurant exceptional every other visit but I think that has run its course. My most recent visit was pretty poor and when a meal is over $100 per person I expect better.

The first misstep was with the Caesar salad. For a fine dining restaurant it really was plain and unexceptional. It was more of an Outback or Longhorn quality than I'd expect from a fine restaurant. The second misstep was with their ribeye that 2 people at the table ordered. They were ordered medium rare but came as well done and medium well. The reorders were still slightly overcooked at a medium but those were accepted. Also, the ribeyes were drastically under salted. I have rarely in my life needed to use a salt shaker on a steak in a steakhouse but both myself and the other person who ordered the ribeye found the need to do it. Third misstep was also under seasoning but for the wild mushrooms. They had a lot of butter on them but it must have been unsalted and they forgot to add salt because the dish desperately needed salt.

As a note, I found all of the cocktails I tried there to be not very interesting but they were at least executed well. Overall I found the cocktails were just not worth it as they just weren't impressive. I also wasn't very happy with the service. It wasn't necessarily bad but there was more of a pompous feeling than before. Finally, I do feel the restaurant has been doing some shrinkflation type things as things seemed smaller than before.

Looks like I need to find a new steakhouse.

Original review: 5 stars Great place. It is my favorite steakhouse in Clayton. Everything has been excellent every time...