Prime + Proper

Made reservations here with a couple friends to celebrate our first night out since becoming new parents. Our daughters are very close in age, and this was the first time we were able to snag the time to get out and have a nice dinner and a few drinks.

This is one of the nicer establishments in the city when it comes to atmosphere, and overall dining experience. Perhaps one of the best dining experiences in the city as far as service goes.

Located in the Capitol Park area of downtown, this place is situated amongst many places and things to do while you're in the area, and because of this there are plenty of parking options to make for a pretty easy in and out. They also offer a valet parking option that quite honestly might be the same price or cheaper than other parking options depending on the time that you're visiting, so just keep that in mind. Along that same line, this place is located in a very busy part of town, so make sure you plan accordingly so you can deal with the hustle and bustle that comes with the area.

When you first walk in, you're met with a clean, cool environment with a touch of a vintage yet modern elegance which creates a wonderful ambience for your time spent here.

The second thing you'll notice is that service here is top notch, and it really does play a large part in your overall dining experience. You're met with a friendly, courteous, professional, knowledgeable waitstaff that really knows how to put together a near perfect dining experience for their guests. I've yet to find a place here in the city that takes care of their guests as well as this place does. They even went as far as to add a little something special to our dining experience because we had mentioned that it was out first time being out since having kids.

If you've made it this far down in reading, you may be wondering to yourself why I only gave this place 4 out of 5 stars, and I am about to explain so no worries. The food (which is probably the main reason you are wanting to dine here) is incredibly good, so yes what you've heard is absolutely true. The menu here is expertly curated, and they really know how to put together a menu, and the presentation is also absolutely wonderful. They're known for their dry aged protein options which are dry aged and prepared in-house. You can actually venture downstairs toward the bathrooms and find the areas where all the dry aging magic happens. It's pretty neat to see and quite a nice touch to the experience overall.

While we're talking about bathrooms, I should mention that as you should expect the ones here are very nice. I always mention this because man, there is nothing worse than a beautiful establishment with a train wreck for a place to relieve yourself. But no worries here, these washrooms are top-notch.

My one and only issue with this wonderful establishment is the price of the steak. I think they over-value what they have. Sure the steak is cooked to perfection (and your standards) but by comparison to a myriad of other establishments (both in and out of Michigan) that specialize in high-end protein options, this place in my opinion would be on the higher end of the scale as far as price goes. I would never say that I felt like I didn't get what I paid for, but it just seems like what they are offering (especially in the meat department) is just simply overpriced. I understand market pricing for high end cuts of meat, and I understand dry aging (when it comes to added value), but what I can tell you is that I am almost certain that you can find a comparable, and potentially even better cut of meat for cheaper elsewhere.

When all is said and done, I would imagine that if you were worried about price you probably wouldn't be looking to eat here in the first place so you can literally just skip then entire part of this post where I rant about how the meat is overpriced. Let's just say that if you're looking for an upscale dinner in a fantastic environment and you're in the area, you should absolutely make reservations and eat here.

Thank me later.