I Tried 5 Popular Steaks at Capital Grille & the Best Was Luscious and Oniony

There are two types of steakhouse chains in America: casual spots where you can get a decent-quality steak at a relatively affordable price, often including two sides, and upscale places where you pay twice as much money for half as much food.

The Capital Grille falls into the latter category. With its acclaimed wine list, wedge salad, and shrimp cocktail, this esteemed chain of 66 company-owned locations offers an air of sophistication that you simply won't find at more laid-back bastions of beef like Outback or Texas Roadhouse.

No cartoonish kangaroo- or armadillo-themed decor here. The walls are hung with real taxidermy and ornately framed artworks. Meanwhile, stylish chandeliers cast a warm glow over the restaurant's elegant mahogany paneling and brassy fixtures.

The menu, too, exudes refinement. Capital Grille pledges to use "only the finest, freshest ingredients," according to its website. And while it makes no specific claim about the exact grade levels of its steaks, each cut is purported to be hand-carved by in-house butchers, then dry-aged for 18 to 24 days in order to achieve "incomparable flavor and texture."

Whether you're celebrating a special occasion, entertaining business clients, or just wanting to enjoy a top-notch hunk of meat in a more peaceful setting than some raucous, neon-lit honky tonk, there's a white-clothed table with a cushy leather seat waiting for you at Capital Grille in nearly every major U.S. city from Boston to Seattle.

Of course, you'll pay handsomely for a meal of such reputed quality in a well-appointed dining room like this. Steaks on the regular dinner menu at my local Capital Grille in New York City's Financial District range from $65 to $87 apiece—and that's just the beef. Side dishes cost extra.

With such steep prices, choosing your entrée wisely is imperative. That's why I recently tried several steaks at the chain, so you'll know which ones are worth your investment. I ordered each steak medium rare and judged them individually based on taste and appearance with due consideration given to the price tag.

Here are five popular steaks at Capital Grille, ranked in descending order from my least favorite to the overall best.

Bone-in Dry Aged Strip

On the dinner menu, steaks are divided into two sections: "classic cuts," which include your basic filet, ribeye, and strip, and "chef recommends," which basically involve the same steaks, just dressed up with fancy sauces and toppings. Ordering one of the classic cuts is sort of like flying in economy class. You'll pay less money for the no-frills treatment, but you'll probably enjoy it less, too.

I've come to this conclusion after previously sampling the filet, Capital Grille's most affordable dinnertime cut, and following it up with this bone-in strip. At dinner, the 18-ounce cut costs $72 in New York, but you can also get a smaller 14-ounce version during lunch for just $41. I took my thrifty self for lunch.

The look: Plump and dewy. The strip stretched about six and a half inches long and a girthy inch and a half thick. A visibly charred bone ran along the backside and I spotted few faint grill marks up top. It appeared to be slathered in butter (its moist surface glinted in the light) and properly cooked to order, with a lush-looking reddish center and pink trim.

The taste: Juicy but very mild. This cut had a firm yet supple texture like a good mattress, but what I found most striking was its near total lack of flavor beyond a hint of smoke. There seemed to be little, if any, seasoning. My server did offer to add some fresh cracked pepper, which was thoughtful. What it really needed, though, was salt to help bring out the natural beefy taste. Even at the discounted lunch rate, you'd think the chef could afford to add a little sodium.

Some casual steakhouse chains are notoriously heavy-handed with seasoning. But after this drab strip and the equally bland filet that I tried during a previous taste test, it would seem that Capital Grille suffers from the opposite problem. That's why I decided to immediately pivot to the "chef recommends" portion of the menu from here on.

 Capital Grille vs. Ruth's Chris Steak House: 5 Major Differences

Sliced Filet Mignon w/Cipollini Onions

With the prior uninspiring filet in mind, I was curious to see if Capital Grille could do better with a more chef-driven version. The sliced filet is described as a "rich twist" on the classic, jazzed up with cipollini onions, wild mushrooms, and something called "fig essence." At dinner, this steak entrée is priced at $68, but as with the bone-in strip, you can get a smaller lunch portion for $50 during the daytime. So, of course, I returned one more time for the midday meal. 

The look: Artfully arranged with four amply sized steak slices, layered atop scattered mushroom pieces, bulbous onions, and a splash of jus. The meat seemed nicely charred on the outside and ruby red in the center.

The taste: Tender, sapid, and lightly sweet. This preparation was just as meltingly soft as my previous filet, but far more flavorful. While I enjoyed the cooked onions and 'shrooms, it was the honeyed flavor of the figgy jus that tied everything together, bringing out the best in a milder cut like the filet. A vast improvement from the basic dry version, though I liked a few other steaks even better.

 I Tried the Cheapest Steak at 4 Upscale Steakhouse Chains to Find the #1 Best

Dry Aged Strip Au Poivre

Capital Grille's version of a French classic aims to spice up the house's boneless dry-aged strip with a heavy dose of pepper and Courvoisier-laced cream. Available only at dinner, this steak cost me $72.

The look: A pepperpalooza! The sliced steak came buried under a thick pile of black and white peppercorns. The meat itself, meanwhile, didn't look like the usual plank-shaped strip. It seemed more rounded like a tenderloin. Whatever the specific cut, the beef arrived wading in a substantial puddle of biege-colored cream with stray peppercorns all around.

The taste: Pungent. If you dig in without first digging out from under that considerable peppercorn pile, you are making a mistake. The first bite will overpower your palate and may require you to devour a whole bread basket in order to regain form. A more careful approach will uncover some pretty succulent meat beneath and a rich velvety sauce that is plenty peppery enough on its own. Though this steak was still far from my favorite, at least it wasn't boring.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

 How to Make the Best Steak Sandwich, According to Chefs

Porcini Rubbed Bone-In Ribeye

It's hard to top a bone-in ribeye. No matter where I go—Outback, LongHorn, Texas Roadhouse—this primal-looking, prodigiously marbled cut always reigns supreme. And that's exactly what I expected from Capital Grille, too. The upscale chain describes it as "our signature steak." You can order a 22-ounce cut in the bare-bones classic style for $83. Or, dazzle it up with a rub made from ground porcini mushrooms, red chili flakes, and sugar, plus a drizzle of 15-year aged balsamic vinegar, priced at just $4 more. What can I say? At this point, I really wanted to be dazzled.

It's the highest priced steak on the entire menu—it should be extraordinary.

The look: Virtually blackened. The dark colors of the mushroom rub and balsamic combined to black-out whatever fleshy surface areas were left uncharred from the heat. Within its sooty exterior, the meat struck an enticing raspberry-like color.

The taste: Surprisingly polarizing. My dining companion and I had drastically different reactions to this specific preparation. "It was flavorless," my friend asserted. "I could barely taste the balsamic. I didn't even notice the crust." While the finely powdered porcini rub was certainly a subtle touch, to say the least, the steak itself seemed respectably lush and fatty to me. I also liked the gently sweet and sour kiss of balsamic, which added some complexity without being overpowering. But it's surely no hands-down winner. This steak couldn't quite live up to either the hype or its inflated price tag.

 7 Fastest-Growing Steakhouse Chains In America

Kona Crusted Bone-In Strip w/Shallot Butter

If there's one thing that I adore just as much as steak, it's coffee. So, naturally, a coffee-rubbed steak strikes me as an obvious hit, especially when you're talking about Kona coffee, the highly prized Hawaiian variety. Top it off with something as lavish-sounding as shallot butter, and this all-star lineup of an entrée feels like a no-brainer. At $73, it's still a very extravagant order, just not quite as overindulgent as the $87 ribeye.

The look: Hulking. The bone-in strip was close to two inches thick, making it the bulkiest cut of the whole bunch. The meat arrived pre-sliced off the bone with a nice java-colored crust and hot pink center, topped with translucent slivers of shallot in burnt orange that tumbled off into a matching pool of buttery sauce below.

The taste: Unforgettable. Off all five steaks I tried, this one was the clear frontrunner, but not solely because of the mouthwatering meat or the earthy coffee crust. It's the rich oniony flavor of the shallot butter that truly makes this dish. Even my discerning dining pal could not dispute its downright deliciousness. Every last forkful got dragged through that ambrosial compound butter, followed by whatever remained from the bread basket.

You could get a basic plain cut for less money, but that silky shallot-infused butter makes this luxurious strip well worth the upgrade.