14 Delicious Dishes To Order From The Capital Grille, Ranked
There's nothing like a great steakhouse. Soft lighting, soaring wine lockers, cozy booths, white tablecloths — they all set the mood for a special night out. And the food? Well, if you're at The Capital Grille, you're in for a magnificent treat. With locations in more than two dozen states, this fine-dining restaurant chain serves some of the best steakhouse dishes we've ever had, along with unparalleled service and a top-notch ambiance. A popular spot for business lunches, after-work cocktails, and celebratory dinners, The Capital Grille has the refined atmosphere of a private, members-only club that's somehow also warm, unfussy, and entirely welcoming.
From dry-aged steaks and fresh seafood to epic sides like lobster mac-and-cheese, there are plenty of mouthwatering dishes to choose from here, even for those who aren't big beef-eaters. We know it can be overwhelming to decide what to have, so we've compiled our top Capital Grille dishes and ranked them from delicious to the absolute most delectable. Visit a Capital Grille near you soon to treat yourself to some (or all) of these incredible meals. Just remember to bring your wallet and show up hungry.
14. Wedge with Blue Cheese and Smoked Bacon
The wedge salad is one of the simplest salads out there. And you know what else it is? Delicious. While it doesn't have the best reputation (it is, after all, made with iceberg lettuce, the least-cool lettuce around) nor any impressive nutritional value, the wedge salad is here to stay. And with just one bite of The Capital Grille's version, you'll know precisely why the wedge salad has become a classic steakhouse staple.
The Capital Grille wedge salad features a crunchy, cold wedge of iceberg lettuce, gloriously blanketed with creamy, house-made blue cheese dressing with chunky bits of blue cheese and the perfect amount of tang. The salad is garnished with juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes and cubes of crisp applewood-smoked bacon.
We're constantly amazed at how a simple dish like a wedge salad can get us swooning. But yet, The Capital Grille's take on this steakhouse mainstay manages to light our fire every. Single. Time. This traditional steakhouse salad — full of rich flavor, cooling notes, and diverse textures — is the perfect way to start your meal at The Capital Grille.
13. Cold Shellfish Platter
If you're craving a delicious — and impressive — seafood starter, look no further. The Capital Grille's Cold Shellfish Platter is a towering feast of a dish. This eye-catching platter includes an assortment of chilled seafood from the raw bar, including a pound of steamed Maine lobster, jumbo shrimp cocktail, and oysters on the half-shell served on a bed of ice. The order comes with fresh lemons and three dipping sauces, including mignonette, a classic accouterment for freshly shucked oysters, zesty cocktail sauce, and aioli.
The tower starts at $70 and can feed two to four people. If you need to feed more than four, you can customize the platter size based on the number of people you want to serve. We recommend adding jumbo lump crab to your order, especially if it's crab season (October to January). The Cold Shellfish Platter at The Capital Grille is an extravagant, pricey spread that will make any occasion special. If you ask us, it's totally worth the splurge.
12. Filet Mignon
The Capital Grille Filet Mignon is a 10-ounce steak that's pure heaven. This prime cut of lean beef from the tenderloin is undeniably tender. It is prized for its melt-in-your-mouth texture, resulting from the tenderloin muscle bearing no weight and remaining relatively inactive.
The filet mignon is a boneless cut and can be cooked to your preferred temperature. If you want a pink strip in the center of your steak, ask for medium. You'll want to ask for medium-well if you prefer tender steak without red juices. Go for medium-rare if you desire a mostly pink, soft center and a red middle.
If you enjoy super flavorful steak and creamy sauces, we recommend ordering your filet mignon "au poivre." Steak au poivre is a classic French preparation that involves coating a steak — typically filet mignon — with coarsely ground peppercorns, then searing both sides in a hot pan to your desired doneness (you can also finish the steak in a hot oven). The pungent peppercorns form a lovely, crunchy crust on the steak, adding spicy flavor. After the steak has finished cooking, brandy and cream are added to the pan juices, then finished with butter for a rich, luxurious sauce served over the peppercorn-crusted filet.
11. Soy Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
If the idea of eating Brussels sprouts makes you tremble, we encourage you to order the Soy Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon on your next visit to The Capital Grille. A guest favorite, these roasted Brussels sprouts will erase any unpleasant memories of mushy, bitter blobs you may have been forced to eat as a child.
A highlight of this terrific side dish is the umami-packed soy glaze made with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, honey, chili garlic sauce, and lime juice. This flavorful glaze contributes delicious sweet and savory notes to the charred, caramelized Brussels sprouts. These boldly flavored veggies are finished with smoked bacon lardons and crunchy scallions for an irresistible taste.
The Capital Grille chefs utilize three cooking methods to make this stellar side — blanching, frying, and sautéing. Blanching par-cooks the sprouts, reducing the total cooking time. Frying in bacon fat blisters and crisps the sprouts' leaves, forcing the leaves to open up and separate. Finally, sautéing finishes cooking the sprouts and allows the soy glaze to coat the surface of the sprouts and flow between the blistered leaves.
10. Tuna Tartare with Avocado, Mango, and Sriracha
If you go to The Capital Grille for steak but also love seafood, order the tuna tartare appetizer. It features fresh, diced sushi-grade tuna dressed with soy sauce and sriracha, artfully layered with diced cucumber and avocado. Set over a sweet mango purèe, the gorgeous stack is topped with soy pearls and micro cilantro for garnish. Tender tuna, crisp cucumber, and creamy avocado flavored with salty soy and hot sauce perfectly combine to whet any appetite.
This chilled appetizer also comes with crisp crackers for scooping. Or, you could enjoy the tartare with one of five different types of bread in the complimentary bread basket. The generous (and beautiful) assortment includes freshly baked crisp lavash, pumpernickel-raisin bread, pan rustica with onion, and dinner rolls topped with sesame and poppy seeds.
If you're counting calories, you'll be glad to know that The Capital Grille's tuna tartare has the least calories and sodium of all the appetizers on the menu. With a whopping 16 grams of protein, minimal saturated fat content, and healthy omega-3 fatty acids, there are many good reasons to choose this dish.
9. Seared Citrus-Glazed Salmon with Marcona Almonds
The Capital Grille may be known for its fine steaks, but the seafood options more than hold their own. Our favorite seafood entrèe is the Seared Citrus-Glazed Salmon with Marcona Almonds served with haricot verts. An excellent choice for lunch or a light dinner, this bright and flavorful dish exceeds our expectations every time.
The Capital Grille chefs use a searing and glazing cooking technique that gives the fish a delightful texture on the outside and a succulent inside. The salmon fillet is first seared in a hot pan with clarified butter until golden brown and crisp. Then, the filet is brushed with a citrus glaze and finished in the oven.
The star of this dish is the citrus glaze made with freshly squeezed lemon juice, honey, star anise, black peppercorns, and lemon zest. As the salmon cooks in the oven, the glaze seeps into the flesh adding tremendous flavor and moisture while turning into a candy-like coating on the outside. Perfection!
8. Lobster and Crab Cakes
The Lobster and Crab Cakes appetizer is a must-have for any seafood lover. With this exquisite dish, the culinary geniuses at The Capital Grille have managed to turn ordinary crab cakes into extraordinary ones by adding chunks of fresh Maine lobster. These delicious shellfish cakes are pan-fried and crispy on the outside and lusciously soft and flaky on the inside. Our motto has always been, "why have just crab when you can have lobster, too"? This delectable appetizer lets us enjoy both in the most splendid way.
You'll get two delicious lobster and crab cakes per order served with charred, grilled lemon and house-made tartar sauce. A refreshing corn and onion salsa is served alongside the golden cakes, which are nearly all meat with generous (and visible) lumps of crab and lobster.
To prepare this dish, the kitchen mixes chunks of lobster and crab meat by hand with mustard, cayenne, Worcestershire, parsley, garlic, onion, and Old Bay seasoning. A small amount of mayonnaise, eggs, and Panko bread crumbs loosely bind the mixture together before it's portioned into cakes and cooked to order until perfectly browned and crisp.
7. Lobster Mac 'N' Cheese
The Lobster Mac 'N' Cheese at The Capital Grille is a house specialty side dish — and for good reason. This ethereal dish is heartwarming comfort food at its best. Outrageously cheesy, super creamy, and topped with a crunchy, buttery Panko-Parmesan topping, the Lobster Mac 'N' Cheese is to die for. It is considered a side, but we've been known to eat this mac 'n' cheese as a main dish because it's just so, so good.
Several things about this indulgent side make it special. To start, The Capital Grille uses campanelle pasta instead of the standard elbow macaroni. Campanelle pasta (also called gigli) is a uniquely shaped pasta resembling a conch shell with thin, fluted edges and a hollow center, perfect for capturing sauce. Next, the lobster. We're talking about an abundance of tender, poached lobster nestled between chewy pasta and cheesy sauce. The dish has plenty of lobster, ensuring a piece in every bite. Lastly, the cheese sauce. This mouthwatering creamy sauce has multiple kinds of cheese, including mascarpone, Havarti, and Grana Padano. The exact ratios of the cheese are kept secret by The Capital Grille staff, but that's okay. We go to eat.
6. Double Cut Lamb Rib Chops
If one cannot live by steak alone, choose lamb, a delicious red meat alternative to beef. The Capital Grille knows how to prepare lamb really, really well, and it's demonstrated spectacularly with their Double Cut Lamb Rib Chops entrèe. Cut from the top part of the back attached to the ribs, these rib chops are served elegantly on the bone and French trimmed, meaning the meat nearest the ends of the rib bone is scraped clean.
The chops are double cut, featuring two connected rib bones and a thick slab of meat. A double cut allows the lean lamb meat to stay moist during cooking, resulting in a mouthwatering, juicy texture. Each order comes with four double-cut chops seared to a perfect char on the outside and a gorgeous pink in the center.
Each rib chop is slathered with a zesty gremolata made with fresh mint, garlic, and olive oil and topped with a honey crust. The herby honey crust adds tremendous flavor to the lamb, while a rich jus, made from the cooking juices and flavored with shallots and white wine, balances out all the flavors. These chops are a simple and satisfying meal that never disappoints.
5. Lobster Bisque
Breaking into our top five is The Capital Grille's Lobster Bisque, an utterly rich and luxurious side. This smooth and creamy soup is considered a starter on The Capital Grille menu, but it can certainly be filling enough for a main. You'll absolutely love the richly flavored purèed cream base packed with succulent sautèed chunks of lobster. The best part? They don't skimp on the lobster meat.
As wonderful as the generous serving of crustacean meat is, it's the finishing touch that Capital Grille chefs add to this soup that elevates this dish to the skies: a drizzle of dry sack sherry. This medium-sweet sherry, well-known in Europe, is aged over six years and blended with young and mature wines, giving it nuanced flavors. Aromatic notes of toffee, caramel, and honey combine with intense flavors of nuts and dried fruits in this blended Sherry that adds incredible flavor and generous aromas to the lobster bisque.
Enjoy The Capital Grille's Lobster Bisque as a starter or a main. Either way, we know you'll love the complex flavors of this hearty soup so much you'll lick the bowl clean.
4. Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake
We're here to tell you that all Capital Grille desserts are heavenly, but our hands-down favorite is the Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake. This elegant cake is a cross between a brownie, cake, mousse, and truffle — sweet! All the desserts at The Capital Grille are made in-house with high-quality ingredients — and you can tell.
Presented on the plate as a dark, solid wedge, this cake is wonderfully dense and chocolatey with a distinctive coffee flavor that pairs beautifully with the chantilly cream and fresh raspberries used as a garnish. This dessert is simplicity at its best and as luscious as a chocolate dessert could be. Made with just five ingredients, this flourless cake is loved by all, even those who don't have to avoid gluten.
The cake is made with a batter of melted semi-sweet chocolate and butter mixed with freshly brewed decaf coffee, brown sugar, and eggs. The chocolate mixture is gently baked in a cake pan in a water bath until just set, then served garnished with cocoa powder. Needless to say, the Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake at The Capital Grille is the perfect elegant dessert for any celebration.
3. Seared Tenderloin with Butter Poached Lobster Tails
Surf and turf is a classic steakhouse dish, and The Capital Grille's version is one of the best we've ever had. Described as the ultimate steak and seafood experience, the Seared Tenderloin with Butter Poached Lobster Tails is magnificent. This surf and turf entrèe features perfectly seared tenderloin steak topped with succulent, poached lobster tails.
The tenderloin is one of the most tender cuts of beef. Cut from the loin of a cow, the tenderloin is a large, non-weight-bearing muscle that includes the filet mignon. While it is generally not as flavorful as other cuts of beef, the tenderloin is prized for its exceptional tenderness. When cooked properly, tenderloin is as easy to cut through as soft butter.
The lobster tails are prepared with a French technique known as butter poaching, which features beurre monte, an emulsification of butter and water. As the beurre monte warms in the pan and steams, the submerged lobster meat slowly cooks in the moist environment until soft and tender. While butter poaching won't save you any calories, it will treat you to tons of delicious flavor and juicy textures.
2. Pan-Fried Calamari with Hot Cherry Peppers
The Capital Grille's fried calamari is a must-order appetizer. It's a fried, salty, shareable snack that's impossible to stop nibbling on. So, do yourself a favor, and order the Pan-Fried Calamari with Hot Cherry Peppers on your next visit. This signature appetizer is one of the most popular dishes at The Capital Grille.
This fan-favorite dish features tender squid soaked in buttermilk, coated in cornmeal batter, and pan-fried to golden brown perfection. Sounds delicious, right? Well, here is how Capital Grille takes the dish up a notch: hot peppers. The fried squid is tossed with fiery hot peppers that add heat and massive flavor and turn an ordinary plate of fried calamari into something truly delicious and memorable.
Because the squid is pan-fried rather than deep-fried, it retains its delicateness and isn't grease-heavy or rubbery. The crispy cornmeal batter fries perfectly to an irresistible crunch that's impossible to stop eating. This delicious Capital Grille appetizer is generous enough for three to four people, so there's always plenty to go around.
1. Bone-In Ribeye Steak
Topping our list of the most delicious dishes at The Capital Grille is the Bone-In Ribeye Steak. This USDA prime steak boasts 80 grams of satisfying protein and is one of the menu's most popular main course items.
This house signature entrèe is a thick and juicy 22-ounce Delmonico steak, which is a large steak (typically up to two inches thick) taken from either the rib or short loin section of the cow. It is a superior, top-shelf meat, highly marbled with fat.
While the Delmonico can be ordered grilled, we highly recommend upgrading to the Porcini-Rubbed Bone-In Ribeye with aged balsamic vinegar. The secret "sauce" is actually a mushroom rub that's sweet, salty, spicy, and earthy. Dehydrated porcini mushrooms are ground to a fine dust, mixed with spices, and rubbed all over the steak. As the steak cooks, the rub turns into an extra-flavorful crust over the thick, juicy cut of beef. A drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar adds complexity, stirring your palette with wondrous nuances of umami.