The Capitol Grille

So after raving reviews from some very trust worth friends, I decided we must try The Capitol Grille (TCG) located at the lovely Conrad Hotel downtown for our Valentine's Celebration. I love the Conrad and the whole atmosphere it radiates but when I walked into TCG, I felt like I was stepping back in time. Take a look at the review below and let me know what you thought of your last visit to TCG! 


Atmosphere (***) I am not really one for the "good ole" boy feel of wood paneling and dead animals on the wall. Hints why TCG only got three stars. While I love the dark lighting and the bar was really beautiful, the rest of the place was seriously way over the top. We had a series of like 7 paintings of horses above our booth and then there was a giant moose head looking at me the whole dinner! 


Service (***) Ok, the bus person/water person was on top of his game. My water never went dry and that earned the service category two of the three stars. Yeah that tells you the server was not the greatest. Keep in mind I have been to many restaurants with excellent service and I worked in fine dinning so I know what it looks like and what it should be. I'm not sure if it is because we are young, but the only thing the server talked about was all the celebrities he has ever waited on. I love my celebrity gossip, but not here. He really didn't explain the menu and didn't take time to ask us anything about what we were looking for. I had to ask for recommendations 


Food (***) Here is the run down, on the good, the bad, and the ugly! 


The Good: Calamari (picture below)  was out of this world! Best calamari I have ever eaten and there wasn't even a sauce that helped it along! It was spicy and flavorful. The calamari was perfectly crunchy and not at all rubbery. Go to TCG bar and get a drink and the calamari...like now! The lobster bisque is another must have. The chunks of lobster had the best flavor and were very large and fresh. And of course the lobster mac & cheese (also pictured below) was AMAZING! 

Calamari 

Lobster Mac & Cheese

The bad: The ceasar salad was the same salad you could get at Panera Bread at 1/3 of the price. The fish entree, which my fiance got and was of course the special, was just ok. It was striped bass on a corn risotto. The risotto was mush and didn't have much flavor and the fish was pretty good although extremely large! 


The ugly: So this is where it all comes down to my most confusing moment of the night. I was told by a person who used to work at TCG that the Delmonico steak with the porcini rub and balsamic was the best thing on the menu. The server said "it will be the best steak you have ever had". BUT when it came out, my fiances direct quote was "you just got a bicycle seat for a meal!" It was way too big and the server never indicated that perhaps a petite person would be overwhelmed with this amount of meat. The steak wasn't that great, it was overcooked and was dry. The picture below was taken AFTER I was done with it! I have had better at less exclusive places, sorry to say. 

Dessert (?) I know right, gasp! I really wasn't enticed by anything on the dessert menu. We got Steak & Shake shakes instead! :) 


Overall (***)  PET PEEVE, I made reservations over three weeks in advance and noted that we were celebrating something, yet we were sat right, smack dab in front of the kitchen door. I asked for another booth, just down two from where we were supposed to sit, but that booth was reserved for "another party." If you could see my face, you would see sad face. I really wanted to like TCG but I must be honest and say it was mediocre and there are plenty of other steakhouses in Indy to enjoy. 

The Capitol Grille

40 W. Washington St

Indianapolis, IN 46204

317- 423-8790

www.thecapitolgrille.com