Our friends at The Capital Grille invited us to try their new lunch “Plates” menu which, depending on location, offers guests a starter, entree and a side for $16-18. Additionally, it’s designed to get guests on their lunch hour in and out quickly. The newest additions to the menu are veal and prosciutto polpettes, a butternut squash bisque, and tricolored cauliflower.
Marie and I had visited the new Capital Grille in Dunwoody during their combination media event and evening training a couple of months ago. They certainly didn’t look, then, like a crew that was still training, but rather ticking along like veterans quite comfortable with their assignments. Nevertheless, I was curious to see how they handled the lunchtime rush as well as the usual intense interrogation to which we subject our hapless servers. (That’s a joke, of course.)
We arrived at 11.30 and were very pleased with the service and, especially, the food.
We each picked the field greens salad over either the bisque or the clam chowder. For entrees, Marie selected the mini tenderloin sliders, which were completely wonderful, and I had the excellent sea scallops, which are served with sweet and sour tomatoes over couscous. She had the cauliflower as her side, and I selected the fries, which were served with parmesan cheese and truffle oil and were completely magical. The cauliflower was just buttery enough to notice, perfectly seasoned, and kind of charming in its silly little array of orange, yellow, and purple.
Similar to their corporate cousins at Seasons 52, the Capital Grille is keeping an eye on rotating some of their “Plates” offerings depending on what is in season. The veal meatballs are the present entree special, but, as we do not eat veal, we tried the entrees that we did, and enjoyed them a lot. The current menu is scheduled to run through January 7, and the restaurant, formal and classy in the best way, is a terrific choice for a holiday dinner. We genuinely like this place a lot, even though it’s outside our normal stomping grounds. It’s proven to be a good place for a romantic lunch.
They even made good on their goal to get guests turned around during lunch quickly. We didn’t even notice the time, so relaxed and efficient was the service, and Marie clocked back in at work after being away for sixty minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Mind, she works within walking distance, but they’ll probably do you pretty well, too.
Other blog posts about Capital Grille:
Twin Cities Restaurant Blog (July 26 2011)
Amy on Food (July 29 2011)
The Food Baby (Jan. 22 2012)
Eating Orlando (Feb. 17 2012)
Atlanta Foodies (Sep. 25 2012)
Atlanta Restaurant Blog (Nov. 7 2012)
(Naturally, this was a media event and our meal was complementary. It’s our policy to always note when we’ve received our meal without charge. If you would like to invite us to your restaurant’s media events, please drop Grant a line at gmslegion@gmail.com .)
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Marie, Let's Eat! 