The Capital Grille — Restaurant in Seattle

Started off poorly when we arrived to find out they got rid of their valet. They told us we can park in the garage and it would be comped but they meant it would be $2 off.

We asked for a booth in the reservation and were seated at a table after walking past four empty booths. They stayed empty our whole stay so I am not sure why we were unable to sit there.

The drinks were good. We ordered a stoli solo which was fantastic, and an in fashion which was a sweet old fashioned and the black walnut bitters were so mild you could not even detect a trace of them. Good drinks nonetheless.

We ordered Dungeness crab cocktail and the crab and lobster crab cakes. The cocktail was fabulous. It takes a lot of skill and patience to open crab legs and get a full piece. The crab and lobster cakes were ok, my partner enjoyed them, but I thought it was too heavy on the lobster and didn’t allow the crab to be tasted hardly at all. They were very meat heavy though which was nice.

We asked about sauces or toppings they had. Specifically if they had Oscar style. They had an entire list of topping options that were not listed anywhere on their menu. I ordered a filet Oscar style and my partner a dry aged New York. When they brought them out, they placed mine and then had a full conversation without bringing out the sides or my partners dish. They had cut a small slice into the side of my steak to test the temperature which was upsetting to see, especially since the manager later told us that they had a broil head chef who was the only one who grilled the steaks. He should have been able to know the cook of a steak without having to cut into it. When they brought out my partners, it was covered in a Roquefort cheese and had a balsamic reduction. Which was really good, but my partner does not like blue cheese and did not order it that way. We had to sit awkwardly not eating while we waited for our waitress to come back or be in line of sight to flag down. She apologized and said it was her mistake and she rang in the wrong order and went back to fix it. The replacement steak she brought out was such a disappointment. It was medium rare but when you cut it, not a single drop of juice was to be seen. It was so dry it was difficult to chew. On top of that, there was no seasoning on the steak. Not even salt and pepper. We mentioned this also to the waitress and asked for them to be removed. Instead of removing them, she stood by our table and talked to us. The manager also ended up coming over and discussing her personal life with us. Telling us that this was her first service industry job and that her head chef and head broiler left a few years ago and went to carmine in Bellevue. She took the incorrect steaks off our ticket and we paid the $290 remaining and left after listening to her talk for more than 15 minutes.

While she was at our table, I excused myself to use the restroom which was even worse than our dining. The lightbulb had been taken out of the fixture and never replaced. The trash was left ajar with things dangling out of them, the toilet was leaking and there was murky water on the floor.

Overall a very disappointing service and I will not...

It was a phenomenal experience (Because of our amazing waiter Christopher Vagn Clarke) It was our first time coming out to dinner just my wife and I alone in over 3 years. We came to celebrate my 45th birthday (at least I remembered it was my birthday on the 21st 😢) Christopher was pleasure to converse with. He was very knowledgeable about the menu and flavors, which allowed us to narrow our decisions on the food experience we were wanting. He even offered to make the Calamari appetizer as a half portion so that I didn't miss out. We really went a bit crazy as we order the Burrata (he also had that split so we both can enjoy) Potatoes au gratin, Brussel sprouts, Her 10oz fillet mignon and my 20oz Ribeye steaks. All the appetizers and side dishes can easily be shared by 3 to 4 guests.

Appetizers... The Burrata was amazing, the Calamari was cooked perfectly (not overcooked at all) it was so soft and the breading was not to heavy. I loved the pickled peppers that it came with and the roasted half lemon was a great touch.

Main Course... Our Steaks were cooked perfectly to the temperature we had desired. The only thing was that we both thought that the Steaks were not seasoned enough. We only had table salt to add, so I requested a fancier salt (Lava, Himalayan or even Flakes) but all they had was what seemed to be coarse Kosher salt. We would have expected a variety of salts at a Steakhouse of this caliber, so that you can see the difference a salt can make with each bite. We did have sauces for our steaks (maybe that's why they were under seasoned) and those were very good (Bearnaise and Courvoisier Cream/Peppercorn). The potatoes au gratin had a great crust but the cheese sauce also lacked flavor (under seasoned and not cheesy, very bland). Our Brussels sprouts were on point, we both loved the pork belly bites that were within the dish.

Dessert... We were so stuffed and had so much leftover we had it packed but you know we can always enjoy some dessert if you twist our arms enough. Christopher had some great recommendations but my wife was throwing in the towel but I really wanted the cheesecake creme brulee with berries, and I knew my wife would love to experience the flour less chocolate espresso cake he had recommended as well. He didn't want us to miss out so he did mention to us that they do offer smaller portions as a gift to birthday guest like the family that celebrated there boys 13th next to us. That's when I let him know that i would be turning 45 the next day. Once again Christopher made our time out just that more memorable. Almost forgot to mention it. They were both crazy good choices. A must have, 100% don't leave without ordering them.

Thank you Christopher and thank you Capital Grille...

I found it hard to decide on the review score for the Grille. Having been to the one in Washington, we knew pretty much what to expect. There is a low light, clubby atmosphere, with a big space broken up into distinct areas to keep it cozy. It was not good to turn up on time and then have a 5 minute wait to be seated after checking in (not at the bar but in a foyer zone).

Then when we were seated by our energetic but maybe rather distracted wait person, he left again to find a drinks menu. This was slow arriving because it was mostly on iPad and needed a lot of explaining and leafing through. It is great to have this depth of choice, but sometimes you just want a glass of fizz and an unpretentious Cab Sav. He left the iPad with and there was another long wait until he returned. When he was back we made sure we got oysters on the way and drinks. They were slow coming; given the earlier waits the slowness destracted from the enjoyment of the place. Excellent oysters, though.

We made the mistake of not ordering everything else when they arrived. So there was another longish wait until we collared our wait person to put the order in. Then there was another long wait. One of the managers walked past and asked us how it was going and how we were enjoying things. We hadn't intended to complain, but truthfully we were finding it slow. She bustled off and food arrived very quickly after that (suggesting it might have been resting under lights somewhere).

The quality was good but not outstanding. The salmon was a bit overdone. The tower of raw tuna was a bit mushy. Great fries.

While we were waiting to get the check a complimentary dessert arrived (which was pretty good), and was nice recognition that things had not gone perfectly. Maybe we hit a busy Saturday night; but there is space for...