Capital Grille on St. Claire

I did a search first to see if this place has already been discussed. I found mention of it here and there but no real reviews. I don't know how long it has been open. The menu looks good and the room appears very nice. I walked past it and peered in while while heading to a docs appt. I know it is a chain, but a really upscale one. Has anyone had a dining experience there recently? I'd love to hear about it, cause I think I might want to go.

I highly recommend Capital Grille. The combination of dry-aged steaks, efficient service, excellant side dishes, and classy decor make this my favorite Chicago steakhouse. They have good menu choices in all categories. My favorite salads are the spinach salad and the classic iceberg wedge salad. Favorite side dishes include potatoes au gratin, lyonnaise potatoes, creamed spinach and fresh asparagus with hollandaise sauce. There are good choices among the steak and nonsteak offerings. My steak of choice is the sirloin which is not well described -- it's a New York strip steak. The ambiance is created by the wood panelling, unique light fixtures, and works of art. The prices are reasonable all things considered. You can't go wrong at this spot even if you've invited your CEO.

Enjoy!
Jesper

For lunch, the burger is quite good: ground up prime trimmings with sauteed onions and bacon mixed into the meat and cooked.

when the short rib special is on the menu... also good.

the fried calamari is done RI style... tossed with hot peppers!

I've had lunch here a couple of times (a great choice if your employer is springing for a business lunch)

The steak is some the best I've ever had (though I don't claim to be a steak expert), and the service is extremely gracious. I would recommend it without hesitation.

I worked here long ago (in the '90s) as a waiter, and still enjoy dining at CG. The steaks are outstanding, and the calamari with hot cherry peppers is addictive, as are the "Stoli Doli" cocktails (pineapple-infused vodka). Service and ambience are also top-notch, and some of the servers are still there from when it opened (April 1996).

Yes, it's a chain - this is the "high-end" chain from RARE Hospitality, based in Atlanta.

I have not been to the Gold Coast CG, but have dined at the one in Lombard. It was one of the priciest steakhouse experiences I have ever had, and we dine out at high-end steakhouses frequently. However, the kona-crusted, aged strip was one of the best steaks that I have ever had.

I have eaten at Capital Grille in a number of cities where they are located wirth wildly extreme varying degrees of quality. Fortunately, the Chicago outposts have always performed well. Oddly enough, the worst one at which I have ever eaten (grisly, tough, almost inedible steaks) was in Atlanta which is their home base. In comparison, i never see those wild swings in Morton's locations. I have seen them in Smith and Wollensky, which is great here, but extremely lacking in Manhattan.

Given the rebirth of the high end steakhouse in nearly every city now, you can usually find a better local option or other high end chains such as Morton's or S&W that have a better record of consistency from location to location.

I've eaten at both Chicago locations, although it's been a few years since I've been at the downtown one. What I like about CG is that they have more options in the 14-22 ounce range than the rest of the chain steakhouses. I am not a big filet fan, but I also don't want to pay for a 24oz strip steak either, so many times at other places I am stuck.

I think it is better than S&W, but not quite as good as either downtown Morton's.

If it was up to me I would skip Capital Grill, and go to one of the following top notch steakhouses for about the same price. Saloon Steakhouse, Joes Seafood, Prime Steaks, and Stone Crab, or Mortons. Any of the above are better than Capital Grill in my opinion. I cannot recommend David Burke's since I have yet to go, but I hear good things about them as well.

I am actually going to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steaks, and Stone Crab Saturday night for dinner, and I had my pick of any steakhouse in the city, David Burke's included. Why did I pick Joe's...? Fresh stone crab, and stone crab bisque. I cant resist fresh stone crab claws...

My first visit to David Burke's & the chance to indulge their much anticipated dry aged beef will have to wait for another day, or at least until stone crabs go out of season again..

jimswside wrote:I am actually going to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steaks, and Stone Crab Saturday night for dinner, and I had my pick of any steakhouse in the city, David Burke's included. Why did I pick Joe's...? Fresh stone crab, and stone crab bisque. I cant resist fresh stone crab claws...

My first visit to David Burke's & the chance to indulge their much anticipated dry aged beef will have to wait for another day, or at least until stone crabs go out of season again..

Well, Jim here's 2 things: choosing a steak house based on their seafood is to me like choosing a hot dog place based on their fries...not necessarily incorrect but off the main point, no? Second, I have been to DB's Primehouse and got the dry-aged ribeye, I think is was 30-40 day...it was quite delicious, but I feel that the ambience at CG is much warmer and definitely has more of a swank men's club feel to it. I felt that DB's dining room had more of a country club vibe, but darker.

Anyway, I think it's wonderful that we live in a city that supports so many good steak houses and provides a forum for debating them. Amen to that and happy holidays to all you meat lovers!

the in season, fresh stone crab is what made the deciding decision since all of the steaks I have had at Saloon, Morton's, & Joe's have been pretty equal across the board. Like I said I had my pick, and I went with one of my favorites. David Burke's is on my must try list, while Capital grill is on my do not return list, kind of like Gibsons.

Different strokes I guess.

I've been to the Capital Grille downtown twice and the one in Yorktown twice. At both outposts I have found their dry aged steaks to be among the best Chicago has to offer. The steaks(porterhouse once and strip the other 3 times) have a great flavor with a nice salty/beefy tang throughout. A great steak to me, retains its flavor during the chewing process. A steak that falls short usually has a nice initial flavor but by the time I swallow, the flavor has subsided. The dry aging process is much more likely to produce the deep, rich flavor that I love. I had my first dry aged steak here, and am an addict for life.

One thing in particular which recommends CG (at least the downtown location, which is the only outpost I've been to) is their graciousness when it comes to guests who ask to split things--salads, entrees, whatever. They don't bat an eye, they do the splitting, and I don't think they charge for it.

It's a nice customer accommodation.

There's one in Oakbrook Terrace area. How is it?

Yes, different strokes indeed. I do know that David Burke's dry-aging uses a salt-lined room, as opposed to CG's tile-lined room. I'm sure there is an advantage to the salt, but to me I agree with Jim in that most dry-aged steaks taste similar given that they're about the same age.

Made it to Capital Grille Sat. night in the midst of the swirling snow. Overall it was a good experience. We had some oysters and the calamari with the hot peppers. That is a great dish. The piquant peppers cut through the fried calamari and leave you with a zing. Great with beer. I had a salad on the specials list that was just OK, romaine, apples, some cheese and walnuts. DH had the clam chowder. He's had better. On to the entrees: DH had the porcini rubbed delmonico with aged balsamic. There was nothing but goodness on the plate. Bone in steak, earthy hint of porcini, perfectly cooked tender juicy steak, drizzle of syrupy balsamic. I had the filet with butter poached lobster. Maybe I wasn't listening very well to our server, but I was expecting a small lobster tail. I got some pieces of lobster, all tasty but a little disappointing. The filet was delicious, but not as overwhelmingly good as my husband's ribeye. The choices for wines by the glass were good. They had some good reasonably priced sparklings by the glass so that made me happy. For sides, we had the onion rings (I'm a sucker for onion rings at upscale places) and seasonal veggies. I thought it was a nice place but there are so many good places for steak that I don't know how soon I'll get back.
Oh and I wanted to say about Joe's. I've had their steak there and enjoyed it immensely (the different salts!!) but their seafood is so great that I rarely get steak when I go. I usually hope someone else at my table will get steak so I can have a bite, but it is all about the stone crab for me. And should I somehow be convinced to have stone crab for an app. and not for my entree, their fish choices are great too. They also sometimes have King Crab claws on the menu - which is somewhat unique.

I agree with above posters that say skip this place. there are much better steak houses in Chicago.

I have a dinner to attend Monday night in Lombard and the place that has been chosen is Capital Grille, I have never been wowed by Capital Grille on my previous visits, but am going in to the Lombard location with an open mind. My previous visits I had the porterhouse, and it was a good steak, just not on par with others I have had in the city.

With the above said I am thinking of trying a different item this time, I see a seared tenderloin with a buter poached lobster on the Chefs Suggestions Menu that I am curious about. Anyone had this dish, or opinions on the Lombard location vs the Chicago location? Price is no issue for entree rec's since this is a business dinner.

thanks.

I stand by my recommendation of the Kona-crusted dry-aged sirloin. My biggest gripe about Capital Grille was the price, which seems high, IMO, even relative to other overpriced high-end steakhouses. I prefer a dry-aged steak and was pretty satisfied with the quality of the food.

Ron A. wrote:I stand by my recommendation of the Kona-crusted dry-aged sirloin. My biggest gripe about Capital Grille was the price, which seems high, IMO, even relative to other overpriced high-end steakhouses. I prefer a dry-aged steak and was pretty satisfied with the quality of the food.

thanks, that seems to be a popular rec. however I really dislike coffee, even the smell of it.

I was thinking of possibly staying away from the steak(that will be tough) since I havent been blown away in the past, and just ordering the Grand Plateu appetizer(King Crab, Lobster,Shrimp Cocktail, oysters).

wino66 wrote:choosing a steak house based on their seafood is to me like choosing a hot dog place based on their fries...not necessarily incorrect but off the main point, no?

I don't see anything wrong with it! Especially since some of our steakhouses have some of the very best seafood dishes around. (Examples: the crab cakes and the coconut-lemongrass infused sauteed sea bass at Stoney River, the seared jumbo sea scallops and the lobster pot pie at Pete Miller's.) To use your analogy, if someone likes eating fries for dinner, why shouldn't they be able to go to the place that has the best fries?

(It's also worth noting that Joe's became famous for their stone crabs and key lime pie, more so than for their steaks.)

Lilya wrote:There's one in Oakbrook Terrace area. How is it?

You are referring to the Lombard location, for which there are comments in this topic.

jimswside wrote:

Ron A. wrote:I stand by my recommendation of the Kona-crusted dry-aged sirloin.

thanks, that seems to be a popular rec. however I really dislike coffee, even the smell of it.

I feel exactly the same way about coffee. However, I tried the coffee-cured filet ordered by a dining companion at Stoney River, and I liked it a lot! I probably wouldn't order it myself, but it's interesting to note that it gave a pleasant (and not overly coffee-ish) taste to the filet, even for this coffee hater.

Not too mention the other great things tha have been said....

If you're going for an occasion, they will make it very memerable for you...just mention it at the time of reservation.

If you love red wine as much as I (and my wife) do, you'll love the fact that they chill their wine to 58 degrees.

The Au Gratin Potatoes are also excellent!!!

John

Can anyone confirm that their ribeye steaks are actually wet-aged, rather than dry aged? I read this in the recent "Steak Issue" of either Chicago magazine or NOrth Shore magazine and was surprised to hear that.

With so many places to go for great beef in this town, Capital Grille would never make it onto my list of places to go for steak. But alas, I was given a gift certificate by a friend who could not use it so I visited last night.

A visit to Capital Grille is slightly depressing for those of you who like to cook and improvise. The menu, cocktail list & presentation make you think that everyone in the kitchen and at the bar is forced to follow strict corporate rules for each dish. I wouldn't be surprised if some elements are prepared in some corporate kitchen and shipped here. No, chef-driven does not come to mind here. Add in the fact that it was at best 50% full at 8pm on a Friday night. I see a lengthy management consultant's turnaround report coming soon.

But, to the food. An Asian kale salad with a peanut dressing tasted pretty good, though I prefer my kale slightly softened, particularly where there's enough texture already in the dish.

Sides were not the least bit good - roasted fingerling potatoes and soy glazed brussels sprouts with Nueske's bacon. Having made Kenji's crispy potatoes several times, I've come to be more demanding of roast potatoes everywhere. These were a total failure. Forget the fact that they weren't the least bit creamy inside, or the least bit crispy on the outside, there was some sweetness to the dish that was incredibly unpleasant. The sprouts were just as bad. The soy reduction was so sweet. But at least the bacon was edible.

On the plus side, my dry aged New York strip was cooked medium rare as requested and perfectly seasoned. It was a delicious piece of meat and this kept the visit from being a total failure.

Dessert: a cheesecake with a brulee crust and berries that my friend insisted upon. I wouldn't be shocked if it was shipped in from Capital's corporate kitchen headquarters, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it onto some airline's first class dessert menu. Perfectly edible, tasty enough though too sweet, and yet quite boring and sad at the same time.

I'll return to Capital Grille if given another gift certificate. Otherwise, the odds of me returning are closer to 1 in a 10,000.

BR wrote:Add in the fact that it was at best 50% full at 8pm on a Friday night. I see a lengthy management consultant's turnaround report coming soon.

I've been there for lunch several times, a daypart in which they do a vigorous business, thanks (in my semi-educated guess plus observation) to medical reps taking Northwestern Hospital doctors and administrators out for expense account lunches. That might be keeping them in business.

That said, I'm glad they're in business. Lunch may be better there than dinner, in that it's a simpler meal with slightly lower expectations. The meat is good, as you say. I've also enjoyed the salmon there--cooked on the rare side, and flavorful. Those main course elements are enough to build a satisfying lunch upon.