The Capital Grille — Restaurant in Newton

It's now a small chain of reliable high end restaurants serving top notch American standards. They've earnestly tried to update their menu, with a Tuna Tartare appetizer served with avocado & Sriracha sauce, and Mini Tenderloin Sliders and Lollipop Lamb Chops. You can order parmesan truffle fries instead of just plain fries. They've even added Lobster Mac & Cheese as a side. A side?? But their soup choices are still clam chowder or onion soup. Really? Salads are still Wedge or Caeser. OK, OK, they do offer specials off menu every night, and I had a beet salad special that was very good. But their vegetable sides are few and boring. I give them credit for what they do well:. if you are a steak person you won't do better at other steak houses. They serve all the standard steak cuts and 3 different preparations of beef tenderloin or filet mignon, all expertly prepared. I can ONLY order their petite filet because their other steaks are huge. Enough to feed an entire starving village in the 3rd world. Conspicuous consumption? Ouch. They serve a Lobster Roll for lunch for $27....but not on just any ol' roll. A brioche roll. It's an expensive restaurant, but ....OK. I don't begrudge the $$. I DO object paying so much for so little creativity. There is SO much brilliantly interesting food out there. Just not here. The bartender is more imaginative than the chef. Try their Grapefruit Fire & Ice: a couple of good tequilas with ancho chili liqueur and hot peppers. The wine list is wide ranging, but not distinguished. This restaurant is sophisticated, like top hats and pearls. It's a place to take your parents or grandparents to tell them you're taking that job in Brussels. It's a place to have dinner with your long ago ex-husband if you're both very civilized. It's a quiet place to discuss business deals, or reminisce about the old days when your favorite politician was in power, or when America was ascendant. It's comfort food for the wealthy, of a certain age. It's dark and beautifully furnished. The wait staff is totally professional; they even present you with their own individual business cards. When you're seated inside, sipping a Stoli Doli, their signature martini, it doesn't feel like 2018. It's another era. And sometimes that's just...

Tonight was an attempt at experiencing fine dining to feel some normalcy in eating out again. Making a reservation via their website for a Saturday night at 7:30pm was effortless. We entered and noticed many messages of safety and opportunities to use hand sanitizer. You can access the menu via QR code or with a paper menu, which I assume are disposed of after use. We were promptly seated in a booth. Every other booth, as well as the one next to us, was blocked off so you definitely had some distance from other diners. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the restaurant was actually busy. The servers all had their masks on and worked so hard throughout the meal, constantly checking in, refilling waters, and making sure we had what we needed.

The complimentary bread basket was pretty good, my favorite being the onion focaccia.Two entrees that were huge hits at our table include the PORCINI RUBBED BONE-IN RIBEYE w/ 15-YEAR AGED BALSAMIC and the BONE-IN KONA CRUSTED DRY AGED NY STRIP w/ SHALLOT BUTTER. Both steaks were cooked to the perfect medium rare. The balsamic accompanying the ribeye added the perfect amount of sweetness, while the crust on the NY strip was amazingly crisp. The bone on the NY strip was a slight hassle to eat as it's in an L shape so you have to really work hard working that steak knife in the corner to get all the meat out. For sides, we had the LOBSTER MAC N CHEESE, ROASTED WILD MUSHROOMS, and TRUFFLE PARMESAN FRIES. As others have stated the lobster mac n cheese is definitely more on the watery side rather than the gooey- clingy cheese one might be used to. There were 3 pieces of lobster within, overall a solid side dish. I wish the mushrooms had more flavor, but the side was pretty packed with a variety of mushrooms which I loved. The fries were perfectly fried and tasted great. Dinner was rounded out sharing a comped cheesecake with a brûlée topping and fresh berries. The sugar topping wasn't overbearing and added the perfect texture, the graham cracker crust was buttery, and the berries were super fresh.

Overall I was super impressed with how all the staff handled the difficulty of dining-out in a pandemic, as well as the quality of the food. Will surely be back to this location...

We have always enjoyed the Capital Grille but after the experience we had yesterday, I doubt we’ll be back. Our waitress made us feel that we were intruding on her time as it was after lunch/before dinner & the restaurant was virtually empty & her colleagues could be heard laughing & having a good time back of house. I ordered the aged NY strip steak, medium…it was served well done so I returned it. She told me to “cut it in the middle” to “make sure”. Yeah, ok, still well done. Shortly thereafter, the manager came by & apologized, offering me a free appetizer or cocktail but I declined as I already had eaten an appetizer & was saving my wine to enjoy with my steak. When my steak arrived, it was medium-rare but I could deal with that. After our plates were cleared, our waitress returned, stating, “My manager told me to give you a dessert on the house”, as she basically tossed the dessert menus on the table. Really? How about, “my manager would like to offer you a dessert, on the house.” I ordered my “free” dessert & my friend ordered a dessert, knowing he would be charged for his, but she looked at him as if to say, “You’re not getting a free dessert”! Check came, and not only did we tip for the “comped” items, she was given a 35% tip! She never returned to the table to say thank you. We eat out often & tip generously & our waitstaff always comes to us to thank us. I’m not looking for anyone to kiss my behind but a simple thank you is always appreciated. It’s not a wonder this girl is working the lunch hour & not the busy dinner crowd. I do, however, want to thank the manager, who was...