The Capital Grille — Restaurant in Louisville

This was our first time dining at The Capital Grille, a chain featuring steak and sea food which originated in Providence, RI, and now has a footprint in Louisville, KY, which is where we dined.

The building is new. It is located in a mall parking lot with ample parking and easy access in and out.

Our server was Michael, a seasoned employee extremely knowledgeable of the industry and history of the establishment.

Food and beverage prices are comparable to high end steak houses, which generally speaking simply means overpriced, and entrees are served a la carte.

Appetizers are moderately priced and can certainly act as an entree for one who has a lighter appetite, or who is not a lover of munching on a hunk of meat. I did not order steak; however, I tasted the featured bone-in ribeye which was delicious. I just do not enjoy paying $75 for a piece of steak.

The salads are over priced and just “ok”. Nothing spectacular there at all. I prefer a side dish or appetizer over the salads.

Side dishes are similar to any other high end steak house. Each side easily feeds two or more. No baked potatoes on the menu.

My husband chose the seared tuna and said it was perfectly cooked and quite filling. The portion did look quite substantial.

I chose two different appetizers as my meal - a bowl of lobster bisque and a cold lump crab salad. The bisque did not skimp on lobster, offering an ounce and a half of substantial bite sized pieces. The lobster was not as tender as it should’ve been. The bisque was more savory than expected. I prefer the slight sweetness lobster usually offers, but none there. I’ve had better bisque. The crab salad was served cold and was generous with fresh lump crab meat but only one piece of bib lettuce. Lemon and a side of creamy horseradish sauce tied it together. Both dishes were tasty and reasonable in price. It would have been nice to have the same crab dish offered warm with drawn butter as an option.

Our server talked us into dessert - specifically, the coconut cream pie. He was correct in saying it would be the best we ever tasted. It was the star of the evening with plenty for two or more to enjoy.

I would have offered four stars instead of three if it weren’t for three major issues - I filtered too many crab and lobster shells in several bites of my food. The shells were substantial in size and I did not enjoy having to sift through each bite just to be sure I didn’t crack a tooth, not to mention having to spit them into my napkin in front of guests at the table. A restaurant of this caliber should have no shells hidden in the food.

Another issue was the fact that local bourbons were scarce or non existent among their selection. For instance, nothing offered from Brown-Forman. Kind of ridiculous since Louisville is home to some of the best bourbons on the market. Hopefully this is remedied before Derby.

Finally, although our server certainly stepped up to the plate, he was too slow in removing used dishes off the table. They lingered entirely too long after we were finished.

Plan to spend about $300 for two people, depending on alcohol consumption. We had...

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary there today. Our reservation was for 8pm and we arrived roughly 740pm. Which we were immediately seated.

We waited a little bit and placed our order for appetizers and main course. I received my appetizer first and I had to inquire why my husband hadn’t received his soup after some time. Which the manager immediately got it out to him and apologized.

Then we waited for our main course which seemed like forever and it left a lot to be desired. My salmon was overcooked and I sent it back. Again, the manager was very quick to respond and had it remade which was cooked perfectly but lacked flavor. My green beens was crunchy and undercooked and the nuts did not help either. My husband states his food lacked seasoning and was not worth the $196 we paid.

I wonder if our experience today was due to the workers preparing to go home as we witnessed them breaking down equipment and cleaning around the kitchen area. But that does not excuse the quality of food and lack of a fine dining experience.

We sat there for a period of time after we finally got our check to find someone to take our payment so we could leave. We were the last ones there sitting in the dining room.

I can say our very first dining experience was exceptional and the food was excellent. So today fell really short and we left disappointed. I’m sure that we could have complained, but my husband just said we will not return.

I think if we wanted sub par dining experience we could have went to a franchise restaurant and maybe received better food. Today was not fine dining. But the free dessert was the best thing. Just sad we pay good money and received poor quality service and...

We were really excited to try something new & support a new business as we eat out big toy, it’s one of our ways to connect before going gone to end the night. Saying that, we prefer to go to a nicer restaurant where we know we are spending too dollar which means, we are not just paying for food, but spectacular service and great ambiance!

Our visit last night was only nice ambiance!

We arrived, had to wait 15 minutes for our reservation, then, no one came to get our order for the bar after they said they’d be over there, then, we finally were taken to our booth, (were taken to wrong table) our waitress was nice however, took forever all night to get beverages and ice.

The calamari had no sauce, I had to tell them what items to bring us and I made my own sauce…..

1 small table and 1 large table was seated AFTER us and served their meals FIRST and then as upset as we were, we asked why, they said they had to cook rice, ok, why not tell us this and we’d changed my small side of rice?????

Food finally came out, rice was STILL not with it, his steak was black! Over cooked! Finally they brought my rice, it was NOT ginger rice, it was sugar and rice! ….????

The lobster Mac & cheese was like, not good at all! $1.00 rotini noodles and very little lobster pieces with some cheap bread panko on top….

This was not a $200 meal!

We were very unhappy, even made sure the waitresses knew and the young guy who asked how things were.

Very surprised no manager was ever over to apologize or anything

We normally tip VERY WELL, this would of been a $60 tip however we gave the bare minimum of 15%

It wasn’t crowded so can’t use that as an excuse, we think our waitress...