For the first time in several years, I went to The Capital Grille for dinner. For those unfamiliar to The Capital Grille, it is an upscale restaurant chain with locations in major cities throughout the U.S. Our local location is in the heart of Uptown Charlotte at 201 North Tryon Street. If you are concerned with parking, they have valet service, so you just have to pull up in front of the restaurant on Tryon and they will park the car for you. If you do not wish to valet, there are many parking decks within a few blocks. Make sure you make reservations (704-348-1400).

The atmosphere at The Capital Grille is as nice as any restaurant in Charlotte. It gives me the feeling of a very upscale lodge but is quite beautiful in its architecture. Everything has a dark would finish that enables you to be comfortable and relaxed.

The service was exceptional - easily a 10. The waitress was extremely knowledgable about every ingredient of every dish and how it was prepared. She kept our drinks refilled well in advance of our actually needing them and was always around if we needed to ask a question or anything.

While I normally order a Filet when visiting these types of steakhouses, the waitress steered me toward the Porcini Rubbed Delmonico steak. I was so glad she did. This steak was just phenominal. It was dry aged (as all steaks at The Capital Grille are) and had was topped off with a light drizzling of premium 8-year aged balsamic. I was not sure what they topping on top was as I ate it, but upon reviewing the menu determined it to be the balsamic. This steak was perfect in about every way. It was also very large at 22oz. The broiling process created a thin crust of porcini mushroom that blended perfectly with the other flavors. As stated before, this steak was amazing.

I had two sides with my meal - Fresh Asparagus with Hollandaise and Roasted Seasonal Mushrooms. The asparagus was exceptional, but the mushrooms were simply outstanding. They consisted of a large portion of portabella, oyster, shiitake, crimini and button mushrooms that were slowly roasted with extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic butter. Like the steak, they were amazing. I am so glad that the waitress recommended them.

After eating all of this, I was quite full. Of course, I am a huge sucker for Creme Brulee and guess what? They had it. It too, was fantastic. Of course, does anyone make bad Creme Brulee? I have never found it.

All in all, The Capital Grille hit a grand slam on this visit. Everything about it was exceptionally great.

Before making your reservations to The Capital Grille, beware that the prices are not cheap. They are an upscale restaurant and charge accordingly ($$$$).

I was excited to see the new barbecue restaurant opening near my home- Jim ‘N Nick’s. It seems like the built it in no time once they broke ground. I visited it for the first time last week, with mixed reviews.

The atmosphere was extremely nice and it seemed much nicer from a design perspective than most barbecue restaurants. After looking the menu over, I noticed that they are actually a chain. Most of their 23 locations are in the Southeast - this is their first in North Carolina. It is located near the corner of South Tryon and Highway 160 - on an outparcel next to Harris Teeter.

The waitress did a very good job. Our drinks did not get empty and she seemed to be around when we needed her. It appeared they had ample waitstaff. Hopefully, this is not just due to the fact that they are new.

First, let me mention their tea. It was very light in color and very weak. Their menu made a big deal of the fact that it was their “Signature Slow Brewed Tea.” I sure hope this was a bad batch because it could be improved upon. It was drinkable though - unlike some places.

They bring you a basket of what the waitress called “Cheddar Biscuits.” These did not resemble anything I have ever known to be a biscuit. They were more like corn muffins with cheese. Regardless of what they called them, they were hot and fantastic. I could have eaten an entire meal just on the “Cheddar Biscuits.”

I was a bit disappointed when I saw the Barbecue being delivered to tables smothered in sauce. The thing that comes to mind is what are they hiding with the sauce. Good barbecue does not require sauce - altough it is sometimes a nice compliment. To use a quote I hear a lot on the Food Channel - “Sauce hides things.” I immediately told the waitress that I wanted my sauce on the side so that I could truly judge the quality of the barbecue.

The barbecue was good but still not the great barbecue that I have grown to enjoy over the years. I tried the sauce. The regular sauce was nothing to write home about. They had a Habenero Hot and Spicy Sauce on the table which was great. I may have to get me some of this to use at home. It was hot - and it was Spicy - although not as hot as habenero usually is. This was a good thing since they have the sauce sitting on the tables.

The baked beans were good, but kind of different than what I expected. They had some sort of pepper in them that made them spicier than normal.

The slaw was pathetic. It was basically cabbage salad. It was not grated at all. There were large chunks of cabbage sitting in a pool of white liquid in the bowl. I suggest they spend 30 second longer on each batch of slaw to grate it and blend it well.

On another note, there was no border between smoking and non-smoking. Given the numerous studies related to higher revenues in non-smoking restaurants, I am not sure why a new restaurant would even have a smoking section. When selecting your table, be sure to request to sit far away from smoking if you do not wish to be bothered by the stinch.

They have lots of items besides BBQ pork - including an assortment of sandwiches, burgers, salads, brisket, chicken, turkey, pork hot links, ribs, steaks and much more. The one thing I did notice on most all items is that their prices were about $2 to $5 higher on each item than your typical barbecue restaurant. For instance, a pulled pork Bar-B-Q plate was $13.50, and hand pulled pork Bar-B-Q sandwich was $8.50…..and so on.

As far as what I had, I rate them as follows (scake if 1-10):
(1) BBQ 6 of 10 (better than average - not great)
(2) “Cheddar Biscuits” - 9
(3) Baked Beans - 7
(4) Slaw - 0 (they didn’t even hit the scale on this one)
(5) Onion Rings 8 - my wife had these, they were exceptional
(6) Tea - 4
(7) Atmosphere - 8
(8) Service - 8

I finally went to Bonefish Grill for the first time and was very pleased. The Bonefish Grill is an upper end Seafood chain headquartered in Tampa, Florida. They have two Charlotte area locations - one in Pineville (Corner of Carmel Rd and Highway 51), and the other in Matthews (off Independence Blvd).

The atmosphere was exceptionally nice. There are few restaurants in the Pineville area that offer a sense of upscale ambiance like the Bonefish Grill. The service was also exceptional as the waiter was very attentive and was always on top of making sure that our dining needs were met.

The meal started with a basket of bread that was quite good. The one black mark from the service standpoint would be the removal of the bread when the meals are served. Many people eat bread throughout their meal - not just as an appetizer. They did bring the bread back upon request though.

I started with the Bang Bang Shrimp. As promised, they were tender and crispy and were covered in a delicious spicy sauce. The amount of shrimp that I received was way more than I expected and could have easily served as a lite lunch by themselves.

For my entree, I had the clilean sea bass. I was amazed at how well this fish was cooked. It was exceptionally tender and moist. The rich taste of the sea bass was complimented perfectly with the warm mango salsa that covered it. The exceptional salsa consisted of red onions, diced mango, red pepper, scallions and cilantro. This fish was complimented nicely with a mashed potatoes that mixed exceptionally well with the warm mango salsa.

For desert, I had my favorite again - Creme Brulee. Once again, I loved it. I am not sure if it is possible to get bad Creme Brulee. I will keep looking until I find some. The Creme Brulee at the Bonefish Grill was larger than several other restaurants - perhaps twice as large as some. While it still rates high in my book, I still believe that it is not quite as fantastic as a few other places - particularly, McCormick & Schmicks and the Palisades Country Club (the best I have ever had).

All in all, I really enjoyed my meal at the Bonefish Grill. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the Pineville area of the restaurant that is looking for a nicer restaurant to go to. Also of note, they do have Steaks, Pork Chops, chicken, and a variety of other dishes if you have a non-seafood eater along.

I went to lunch the other day with a group of collegues.  One of them choose Hawthorne’s because it is his favorite restaurant in the area.  I am always skeptical when someone tells me that a place has the best pizza in town - although, I rarely get “bad” pizza.   

As a group, we had an order of the garlic knots which were fantastic.  Soft, fresh and hot!  They were some of the best garlic knots I have ever had.

For my meal, I ordered a couple of slices with pepperoni and mushrooms.  It took longer than it should have to get them - quite a while actually.  Once they came out - they were outstanding.  It truly was some of the best pizza I have had in town.    It was similar to many of the other top NY Pizza places in town, but it wasn’t nearly as greasy as some of the others (not that I mind grease.)  

Their menu also boast a wide assortment of other items, from chicken wings and stromboli or calzones to pasta and sandwiches.  I can not wait to try some of the other menu items.  Also, their prices are fairly reasonable with a fairly large slice of NY Pizza starting at $1.75.  A 16-inch pie will run  you about $12-$15 depending upon toppings.