Capital Grille

Travel, Travel - Orlando 3 Minutes

Travel Edition – Orlando

Day 3

Magical dining month (or for us, week) continues with a reservation at The Capital Grille. This is a fine dining restaurant located in the heart of I Drive in Pointe Orlando on the corner of the plaza. I am not sure if they have a dress code but this is definitely one that you can and should dress up for. My wife and I started the day at the Florida Mall where she found a couple beautiful dresses and we were ready for an elegant evening dinner. The Capital Grille does not disappoint.

The plaza “Pointe Orlando” has valet service right in front of the Capital grille for $12 and is free if you are eating at one of the fine restaurants. They also have a large parking garage that charges reasonable prices by the hour. The valets are competent and are familiar with exotic cars (He did a visual inspection of the vehicle before getting in which means they take good care of your car).

The entrance to Capital Grille is small and understated and has some old world charm to it. The Hostess was warm and welcoming (some of these restaurants can come off as snobbish but this one did not) and immediately led us to our table. It is our anniversary week (and yes, we celebrate it for a week each year) and my wife had notated that on our Open Table reservation. They had a special table in the back room all set up and waiting for us in a quiet and romantic corner along with a card and tasteful decoration (It was a special surprise that really speaks to how some places do just a little extra to make it special and we really appreciated the gesture).

The décor reminds me of an upscale hunt club with dark red walls and pictures of animals but somehow feels cozy. I did see what looked like a large bronze eagle in the center of the main dining area and the chef’s behind glass and wearing Covid masks. There are clocks above the eagle representing time from around the world that remind me of grand central station. I appreciate any restaurant brave enough to show you the kitchen in action behind glass, it shows confidence that they are doing everything right and based on the meal I would say that is correct. I would say the atmosphere is a kind of relaxed elegance.

Our server (Ivy) was fun and witty while keeping it upscale (we really liked her and based on the positive attitudes of the whole staff I would guess they have a solid leadership team). She immediately made us laugh when she said that the one thing she knew she couldn’t have but was craving was wine (she was pregnant). She explained the differences between the magical dining menu and the normal menu. They do not cut any corners here, the same items on the regular menu were on the magical dining menu but at a reduced cost to benefit charity. We appreciated that they do not scale anything down for the specials and still offer to let you add on as you please. We ordered some nice sauvignon blanc and waters and away she went. They are great at giving you privacy at all the right moments but always being there when you want them.

The Capital Grille is known for their custom aged and butchered in house steaks (not many places do it in house and you can taste the difference) so my wife ordered the 8oz Filet Mignon and a field green salad for an appetizer and I ordered the bone in, dry aged New York strip 14oz and New England clam chowder for an appetizer. The Magical Dining menu comes with accompaniments for the table, tonight was Sam’s mashed potatoes and creamed spinach (and both were excellent). We added twin lobster tails (probably butter poached) with a wonderful sauce as an add on to the meal. The steaks were beautiful and perfectly (expertly) cooked as was the lobster. In fact I would give all the food here a perfect 10. The desserts are fresh made nightly so they are always changing to keep it fresh. Tonight we were served a decadent flourless chocolate cake and Creme Brulee cheesecake with a chocolate “Happy Anniversary” (very upscale) and a full regular Crème Brulee for me (I think Ivy had something to do with that as it as not on the Magical Dining menu). The desserts are incredible so save some room for these special treats, their pastry chef is amazing.

Overall the experience is world class and the food is amazing. Take advantage of the special pricing and enjoy this one. Kudos to this team!

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Published by datenightspalmbeach

My wife and I have always been an unlikely couple and I think that’s why it works so well. We met in Palm Beach, became best friends, and eventually fell in love. We moved away and followed my career path which eventually led us back to Palm Beach. We had our ups and downs over the years, mostly to do with me working too much and traveling for long periods of time. I made a career change to travel less and spend more quality time with my wife and was lucky enough to find an amazing company in Palm Beach that made all the executives do a personal goal each week and report on if they accomplished it. I chose “Date night with my wife” since my career change was to spend more time with her. This was the best thing that ever happened, it made me accountable at work to do something for my personal life. And so, began “Date night with my wife”. We quickly realized that there were several things that made a wonderful date night and strengthened our relationship. The first thig was making it special. To us that meant a date night car, good food and a great atmosphere. Sounds easy right? Well, it’s tougher than we thought. No matter what you consider good food there are plenty of options in Palm Beach County so we thought we would share our adventures in date night and rate the different places we go. My wife is a wonderful cook 6 days a week and apparently, I can be “a little picky” about our special night out. We are happy to share our experiences and hope you find a way to make it special for your family.

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