The Capital Grille — Restaurant in Scottsdale

This place is out of this world.

My husband and I recently dined here just as a date night and we couldn't have been more pleased. Everyone we dealt with was friendly and accommodating. We were able to get seated for dinner even without a reservation and we loved loved loved the evening ambience of the restaurant (I had only previously dined here for lunch with family). What a difference it makes at night, with the lighting; everything feels much more intimate. Our server was Kay and she was magnificent. Helpful and very knowledgeable, but not pushy about anything. She recommended the lamb chops to my husband (which he gladly chose) and answered every question we had and anticipated every need without being intrusive. No issues with her "disappearing" or ignoring us like at many restaurants today. She's half the reason the meal was such a success.

The other half of course is the food itself. I ordered the wedge salad (which was more like a half a head of lettuce as I was able to cut it into 2 wedges) and had them bring me out some balsamic to add to it. It was very good. My husband had the caesar salad which he enjoyed as well. We both enjoyed the variety of breads they served us ahead of time. For dinner, I opted for the 10oz filet (it was perfect) and my husband had the lamb chops (these were AMAZING). After trying a couple of bites of his, I was simply jealous. The fresh mint on those chops just made them that much more divine. We also shared an order of their truffle fries because I'd had them before and enjoyed them. My husband was also really pleased by the Blackberry Sidecar (he enjoys bourbon and loved the sweetness of this drink).

For dessert, we shared the fresh berries with vanilla crème Anglaise and OMG were these ever wonderful. Such a simple thing but a lovely light and refreshing way to end the meal. Last but not least we also had espresso and Kay brought us a strip of lemon rind each to cut the bitterness of the espresso. It was lovely. The hot towels at the end of the meal are simply an elegant touch that no one does, but thank God some people still appreciate fine things. The manager also came around to our table at the end of the meal to query our experience and thank us for coming.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I had such wonderful service like this (especially post-Covid), but I am truly thankful for the extremely high standards that the Capital Grille sets for itself and as an example to others. Having giant portraits of Barry Goldwater and Frank Lloyd Wright looking our way and the overall gentleman's club vibe of this restaurant (complete with the animals) just added to what was already a wonderful evening for us both. We can't wait to come...

When walking in the hostess was not smiling and seemed to be bothered by us. I asked for a table of three. We did not have reservations and she seemed annoyed & encouraged that I have them next time. I said, “ok what is the wait?” she proceeded to let me know it will be a 45 min wait inside or she can seat us outside in 5 min. I said we will take outside if you can provide shade. She seemed annoyed and said we can’t guarantee that but will see what we can do. As we walk outside there were umbrellas all over the place and over empty tables and no reservations to them. They put three women with no hats right in the sun with no shade. When we asked the waiter for an umbrella he seemed to accommodate nicely and was kind. I was surrounded by propane heaters and it was afternoon. I kept smelling propane and I had to say something. The waitress said that’s unusual and when she lifted the lid she noticed it was turned on and said oh yes I can smell it. But there were 4 others surrounding me. I still kept smelling propane. I complained again and told her I am tempted to get up and do the same as you did to the others knowing you are busy but she reassured me that they will do it. She got a manager. The manager acted like I was being a problem and said we never had this complaint. I felt as if he was gaslighting my experience. As soon as he lifted the others he noticed they were all turned on. Even the rest of my party started to notice as he lifted the lids. You could smell the propane. You would think he would have gone around to all of them but he seemed annoyed and did just the ones surrounding me but there were others across the patio. We all thought what a waste of propane to not turn them all off. We all got steak and mine was good but for the price I wasn’t impressed. My sister got the same steak but had a 15 year aged balsamic on hers and got extremely sick afterwards. We know it was the balsamic because we took home leftovers and her daughter had the steak with the 15 year balsamic she too got sick. I said to them it probably had mold spores or who knows how they store it for that long. Pretty disgusting if you ask me. My steak which was the same didn’t have that and I was fine. Overall for the fancy prices (we paid over $300) and this air of snooty quality they think they possess I wasn’t impressed. Waitress was nice to us but the rest blah. I will never go here again. I want to be treated kindly and with respect and I felt the moment we walked in we were judged and pushed to the side as not looking rich...

Upon entering this establishment, it began with a fake welcoming greeting from the hostess that invited us to a table for 2 for lunch (his exact words). The waiter Gregg came and dry welcomed us. I noticed the hostess had given us dinner menus at our arrival of about 10 minutes till 3pm on a Thursday. I asked the waiter about the menus he stated so informative that lunch ended at 230pm. I informed him that the website posted 4pm he then went on to tell me that google and yelp was incorrect as if I wasn’t familiar with the restaurants website (great try of intimidation). He then gave us a moment to review the menu. Upon his return he addressed that they used to have a bar menu that had certain hours. I then went directly to the website on my phone to show Gregg the posted hours then politely asked to speak with the Manager. The host returned with lunch menus stating lunch ends at 3pm (at this point who knows what time lunch ends?). Had I not said anything we would’ve been paying a higher price, I wonder why? I made no fuss about it stayed and tried to enjoy lunch. The waiter became so detached from our table to whereas, I had to get up to signal him for something we needed in a fine 5 star supposed to be establishment. He only checked back on us before we were concluding our lunch not after appetizers. I had mentioned ordering a drink while we we’re given time to review the menu and I was never asked about it again. Let me stress the fact that the whole restaurant had probably about 6 customers in it and that’s give or take. The food was mediocre nothing to brag about honestly just an upgraded white table cloth Applebee’s. I’ll stick to Mastro’s or Ruth’s Chris for a great mouthwatering flavorful steak as well as over the top customer service. When people go out to restaurants their going for a great atmosphere, exceptional customer service, great food/drinks and a delightful experience. This establishment lacked diversity and everything else. I will never return due to the service I received! By the way I never got that manager...