Capital Grille   

In keeping with the extra "e" in its title, the Capital Grille is very much your father's steakhouse -- if your father is a member of the olde school that appreciates red leather banquettes, stained glass lamps and gold framed portraits of foxhunts. Though this clubby, dark-wooded atmosphere seems explicitly tailored for Bostonians, the Capital Grille is actually a national chain with outposts in sunny realms like Phoenix and Atlanta. Like Morton's, a chain with similar scope, the restaurant caters to traditional tastes with a menu of dry-aged steaks, simple seafood dishes and unadventurous desserts like key lime pie and creme brulee. Those capable of ordering beef after encountering the mini-abattoir in the entrance (a glassed-in exhibit of curing meats worthy of Damien Hirst) will be gratified by prime cuts ranging from porterhouse to Delmonico, while "surf" partisans can partake of sushi-grade tuna Mediterranean or fresh-grilled salmon (with a fricassee of white beans). The bar scene attracts a slightly older crowd than the see-and-be-seen bunch at nearby Sonsie, with buttoned-down banker types schmoozing manicured Junior Leaguers under the observant gaze of a mounted deer head. -- Julia Clinger