The Capital Grille

Awful. I'm visiting from Washington DC where I have often eaten (happily) at the Capital Grille. This one was a pale imitation.

Here's the good news: we had no trouble finding a table at 7pm. Also, it so happens that I like second-hand smoke (seriously), so I rather enjoyed being near the guys smoking cigars in the bar area.

The bad news: The restaurant is dark and with the A/C running full blast in October it was freezing. Our waitress made a valiant effort to be professional but she was consistently slow or inadvertently inattentive. Ten minutes to get a glass of wine. Ten minutes to get the check. Our dinner -- considering the premium price -- was disgraceful. Steaks were huge but tasteless, and my guest's request for medium rare was met with a piece of uncooked meat. The potatoes au gratin were undercooked and chewy, the au gratin sauce was thin and tasteless, and the chef covered them with something resembling shake-and-bake crumbs. The glass of wine I ordered was served with perhaps two (small) fingers of wine in a huge glass -- my only thought was to send the waitress back to put more in the glass. All that and a tab over $125 (for two people, with one glass of wine apiece, no desserts). Sorry, but whoever is running the kitchen needs some refresher training.

My advice: go to Plaza III.

A savory place to relax and enjoy a wonderful dinner. There is Kansas City History on the walls, which makes for interesting viewing and conversation. This is a fantastic place to dine with friends or clients when you want to enjoy conversation between courses and have a wonderful meal.

My family and I ate here the night after eating at the M & S Grille and the disappointment was palpable. With the exception of a very good steak, the side dishes were ho-hum, the salad was mediocre and the service was slightly ridiculous. We had more than one server and one did not know what the other was doing - therefore; very poor service overall. We asked to be seated in non-smoking and it always fascinates me when non-smoking is as close to the bar with no wall as you can possibly get. For my family this totally destroys the ambience of the restaurant and the flavor of the food. In comparison to the night before where our appetizer was fabulous, the steaks and seafood were without question some of the best, the salads were crisp and flavorful, the onion soup was to die for, the Cosmos were superb, the free dessert (not requested) was plate scraping wonderful and the service was outstanding - well, there is no comparison. My son had just turned 21 and our server at M & S was astute enough to note that and awarded us with this fabulous dessert to finish off our meal. It is little things like that in addition to the amazing food that gets people coming back - not for the snobbishness of saying we had eaten at The Capital Grille. We spent the weekend on the Plaza and of course I would not compare this to The California Pizza Kitchen or P.F. Chang's, but I feel it is a fair comparison to use the M & S Grille where the food is similar. I would not, nor would my two adult children or my brother ever recommend your establishment to anyone.

We visited in Sept. 2006 to celebrate our 5th anniversary. I made a reservation and requested the back room. I was really glad we did this because on a busy Friday night, we wouldn't have been able to hear each other talk elsewhere in the restaurant.

The food was okay, but not worth the prices. We ordered an appetizer but our otherwise attentive waiter forgot to bring it out.

They did bring me a single, long-stem, red rose to commemorate our special occasion, which I thought was a nice touch.

I really recommend splurging to get a Stoli, which is their pineapple-infused Martini that they shake right at the table for you.

The Capital Grille is out of this world! The food is off the charts, the service is outstanding. Hands down....THE BEST for LARGE GROUPS!!! Shannon and Liz book the private rooms with smooth style. My wife and I had our rehearsal dinner at The Capital Grille and it was a night to remember! The tables were decorated beautifully and without instruction from us..they just did it...very nice touch.