River North's Reliable National Steakhouse
The Capital Grille on St Clair is the Chicago flagship of the national chain. And one of the rooms that handles the city's expense-account demand at consistent restaurant-grade standards. The format is proper American steakhouse, executed with the discipline a national operation can sustain.
The cooking is steakhouse-classic without modernisation: dry-aged beef from named producers, fresh seafood, an unusually deep wine cellar, and the kind of polished tableside service the format demands.
What to Order
The dry-aged Delmonico. The Capital Grille signature, properly-rendered. Lobster bisque at the start; seafood tower for a celebration. The wine list is one of the deepest steakhouse cellars in the country.
The Format
The dining room is large, well-spaced, and acoustically calibrated for serious conversation. Private dining accommodates corporate parties; the bar handles a meeting that runs long.
Best Occasion: Close a Deal
The Capital Grille handles a Chicago deal dinner with the kind of practised confidence the format requires. The wine cellar, the polished service, the proper steakhouse register. Combine into the meeting that signals seriousness without theatrics.