The Capital Grille Cincinnati

To celebrate a special work milestone, my husband wanted a great surf and turf meal and he'd never eaten at Capital Grille. We arrived early to have a cocktail in the bar, which is richly appointed and beautifully decorated for the holidays. It was packed, but service was professional and pleasant. It was clear the staff was hustling, turning bar tables quickly, and our server mentioned it was the busiest night of the year so far. We enjoyed a cocktail and then ordered a bottle of wine that was delicious and well-priced. We cleared the bar tab when our dining room table was ready and our wine was delivered to the table. Our server introduced himself and we suggested we'd be ready to order pretty quickly. My husband ordered the tenderloin and lobster tails. As a vegetarian, I knew there were very limited options for me, so I ordered the beet goat cheese salad with pistachios and ordered a shareable wild mushroom side. That's when things started going downhill. Thank goodness they bring a basket of warm breads because our meal took at least 30 minutes to arrive. The assistant servers were friendly, but our captain never came by again. My salad was very tasty, but the mushrooms and steak and lobster were lukewarm. It was obvious they'd been holding for a while, which should be unacceptable for a $65 entree. We finished our meal and would have had dessert and an after-dinner drink to complete our splurge, but couldn't get our captain's attention, so we decided we'd go elsewhere. Then we waited another 15 minutes for the check; I finally asked another captain to help us. When we paid, we did tell our captain that we were unhappy with the service and food and as we were leaving, a manager offered to refund our meal. We declined that, but we'll take our future celebrations elsewhere.

It was very disappointing for the price. The tuna tartar lacked much flavor. The mango sauce had an imitation flavor to it. And the filet mignon was mostly tough. This was a takeout or I would have sent it back. I probably won't be returning.

First, The Capital Grille 's Private Dining Coordinator Aaron Marshall did a fantastic job assisting me with scheduling our business lunch with the client. I kept emailing him about the changes in attendees due to unforeseen illnesses and business travel. He always replied, Sure, no problem. We can modify it as needed, or similarly. The server was perfect; he was attentive and effortless, and most importantly, he didn 't reach over people 's plates. Everyone was highly impressed with him. Top-notch. All of the food was cooked to perfection by the cooking staff, and if I am not mistaken, everyone ordered the bone-in dry-aged NY strip or the boneless prime ribeye. Also, everyone enjoyed the pies too. At first, nobody was willing to order dessert, but I spoke up and said, I will take one of your famous coconut cream pies to go, please. Suddenly, everyone spoke up, and all seven of us left with either the coconut cream pie or the cheesecake. Later in the evening, I received texts and emails about the delicious pies. I was unaware that our Cincinnati-based client had never been to The Capital Grille, and they kept saying, Well, we know where to bring our vendors for lunch or dinner. I almost forgot that one of our managers was ecstatic that the Capital Grille offered the 8 oz. Coca-Cola bottles. I believe he had four or five of them. So, thank you, Capital Grille, for knocking it out of the park for our business lunch.

Great experience. Food was delicious, service was outstanding. We were sat at a spacious table and the setting was very quiet and comfortable. Our server Kelli was amazing. She made great recommendations. I had the 14 0z Strip Steak au Polvre. Perfectly prepared and looked just like the owners pic on OpenTable and Yelp. Portion sizes of the sides were generous and everything was delicious. We were very impressed. Definitely a repeat offender.

Love it here fancy pants but not stuffy. Regular bar crowd, and people are friendly. They serve deep fried chips with drinks to make you thirsty so you will drink more! That's my story cause I was slurping them up here. Dining room is beautiful, as are the Christmas decorations this time of year. Menu is extensive and everything looks good. This is fine dining but not outrageous price wise like others in town (I'm looking at you Jeff). Valet parking is a nice touch. Come on in and see for yourself how nice this is. I'll be at the bar, as always.