Critic of: The Capital Grill (Brickell, Miami-Florida)

MRC Rating:
1. Location: Rating of 5
2. Taste and Quality: Rating of 5
3. Service: Rating of 5 (Waiter was phenomenal!)
4. Price: Rating $$$$
5. MRC MUST Visit: Rating 5

I decided to dine at Capital Grill on Brickell Avenue on 444 Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida 33131 on Sunday night with my wife and a few friends, boy what a treat!

There are very few restaurants I visit in Miami that actually leave me wanting to come back soon, the Capital Grill is one of those exceptions. If you’re visiting Downtown Miami or the Brickell area, this restaurant needs to be a must in your visiting map. Whether you are a tourist or a local, you will find its upscale, conservative wood paneling and attention to detail, to be one of the very best in fine dining experiences in Miami.

So I decided to invite a few friends we haven’t seen in quite a while to The Capital Grill on Sunday night. I felt lucky to have acquired an 8:15pm reservation because most of the time they are very busy, so I recommend to my readers that you get a reservation in advance if at all possible, if you can’t get a reservation, show up at the restaurant anyway and wait, it’s well worth it!

We arrived at the restaurant at 7:56pm and we were greeted by our host and we were immediately sat in our booth. Side Note: The host gets a big MRC 5 for attentiveness and efficiency!

As we sat down we were introduced to our waiter by the name of Anthony Q. He too gets an MRC 5 for service, he was on point, made great recommendations on the wine and entrees, seemed to be a seasoned vet in attending customers. For those interested in the Wine we ordered, we ordered: Domaine Chandon Pinot Meunier. This was an excellent bottle of Wine!

As we looked over the menu, Anthony Q. ran down a list of specials and kindly offered his recommendations. After hearing the fine list of items to choose from we decided to order appetizers. My friends wife and I decided to order the Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese, Ed decided to order the Shrimp Cocktails and my wife decided to order the Cesar Salad.

My Rating on Appetizers: A MRC 5!

The Wedge was phenomenally crisp with just the right hint of Blue Cheese dressing and bacon bits. The Shrimp Cocktail was also great and the Caesar salad was a Capital Grill signature Caesar, great start!

For our entrees, my friend Ed and I decided to order the Porter House (one of a kind premium beef), one was ordered medium rare and the other was ordered medium well. My wife decided on the Salmon and Ed’s Wife decided on the 2lb pound lobster. We also ordered a side of the LOBSTER Mac and Cheese (a must have) and Asparagus with Holland sauce.

After a few drinks of delicious wine, a few stories and a few laughs about my potential career in Security Enforcement (inside joke), we received our entrees, what a sweet surprise! Our Steaks were cooked just like we ordered (a first in a long time), my wife’s Salmon looked delectable and the Two pound lobster was OFF THE CHAIN! (Excuse the slang). The Mac and Cheese had huge lumps of Lobster, what a treat!

After about 45 minutes of munching and savoring our delicious food, we found it in our hearts to order desert, once again Anthony Q. hits it out of the ball park with his recommendations. Based on his guidance, we ordered the Cheese Cake (MRC 5) and the Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich, that’s was the Cherry on the Cake (no pun intended). Needless to say we left the restaurant feeling 5 pounds heavier but very, very satisfied with our meal and service, The Capital Grill gets the honor of receiving MRC 5’s all around.

I need to point out something very important, Fred Sutherland, the Manager at Capital Grill, visited our table twice to ensure the service was up to par, this too added to our dining experience. (Frank you run the Capital Grill like a pro, kudos to you and your staff, thanks for all the attention and care to our table.)

Thanks,

Emilio Yepez

PS. Fred, thanks for the free taste on the Caramel Ice Cream, good stuff!


For Great Tasting Wine: Visit the: www.thecorkandbottle.com

Critic of Barton G’s, Miami Beach, Florida PT Duex

MRC Rating:
1. Location: Rating of 3 (it can be quite a drive if your not staying on Miami Beach)
2. Taste and Quality: Rating of 4 (comparable with most fine dining)
3. Service: Rating of 4 (Waiter was phenomenal!)
4. Price: Rating $$$$ (quite expensive but just about there with other dining establishments)
5. MRC MUST Visit: Rating 4 (New updated look, tourist location, fun and novel)

Ok, I know that my recent review of Barton G's was somewhat negative however I must admit that they recently made some updates to the restaurant that I found refreshing, not to mention that my waiter was phenomenal! Therefore, in all fairness to Raymond, Stephan, the entire Barton G management staff and waiters, I ve decided to do something, I will not do again, update my critic and offer a more lively review of my overall experience at Barton G's.

I decided to give Barton G's another chance this past Saturday and invite my wife, her brother and his wife to dinner. My brother in law had mentioned to me various times that he was interested in dining at Barton G's, however because of my critic he decided not to go. My brother in law is an events coordinator specializing in media and fashion events. He's expressed to me in the past the he was a big admirer of Barton G's work and really wanted to experience the restaurant, therefore I thought it might be worth a try to take him there.

We arrived 30 minutes early on Saturday night and I was pleasantly surprised to hear from our hostess that we could be seated immediately, I thought that was a very nice gesture and it started off the night on the right foot! As I walked in the dining area, I noticed that there was a nice updated vibe to the place, I really couldnt put my finger on what was different but I am guessing it was the flowers and arrangements on the wall and near the bar area.

I've had the pleasure of dinning at some of the most exclusive dining establishments in the world and I am very good at picking up the difference between an experienced waiter and a waiter that doesnt know how to set the mood and offer a great dining experience. On Saturday, we got very lucky and had a great wait staff person attend our table. We were given options, time to order, recommendations, was'nt too forceful on the specials and added just the right bit of humor to our dinning experience.

More to comer later! ( I'am running late)









I just recently went to Barton G's on Saturday