This place does not miss. I have been here many times for friends birthdays, anniversaries or family dinners and they are always extraordinary. The wait staff is professional, the drinks taste amazing (but are still strong), and the steak is some of the best I have ever had. The bread is always fresh that they bring to the table and the side are all very tasty. I highly recommend the tomahawk steak and a dirty martini from this place. A match made in heaven.
Steph W.
I want to preface with the waitstaff was wonderful and this rating is not a direct reflection of their service. We came for a work outing party of 10 with a reservation. The restaurant was immediately loud and echoey upon entering and throughout the entire place. If you have sensory sensitivities it will be a lot with the open kitchen adding to the noise. We ordered 3 apps, the calamari, the oysters, and the crab cakes. All of the appetizers were wonderful, and for someone that hates crab, those were the best crab cakes I've ever had. The calamari was good but nothing to write home about. I got the chicken and my fiance got the meatloaf. My chicken was seasoned so salty it was difficult to eat. It was also mostly dark meat, which for a $42 chicken dish is kind of disappointing. The stacked potato was overkill, and didn't add much value to the dish. Mashed potatoes would have better countered the saltiness of the chicken. The meatloaf was also unfortunately disappointing for $38. The meatloaf was so incredibly dense it and loaded with rosemary it almost tasted like a chewy pine tree. The chunks of carrots were a bit of an odd addition too. For the price paid for these dishes they need a lot of improvement. The asparagus still seemed to have the tough ends on it and tasted bland. The mashed potatoes were good and the mushrooms were okay. From what we heard from the others the steaks were good. Not much beyond that mentionable.
Benny J.
PRICE GOUGING TO THE MAX!! I can afford to eat out at high end restaurants and often do with friends, but give me a break. This place is just crazy expensive and not that good! My wife and I recently had dinner at Grill 23 ... $69 for average 10oz fillet that was boring taste and mushy; $30 for shrimp cocktail that tasted like sawdust; $17 for mashed potatoes with consistency of wall paper paste; $20 for mushrooms; $24 martinis; $14 bowl of ice cream; $14 cake; $7 for steak sauce...and they get you for anything extra you ask for. The check for 2 people was $300+ with no wine!!! Service is good but ambience loud. There are much better steak restaurants in Boston for a lot less money and much better quality. Look elsewhere!
Mark William B.
Easter Brunch...Eh So had Easter brunch as a party of 6 today. Just too many flaws to over look but I will focus on two things. First, the food just wasn't really hot. My mother's French toast was actually cold, not even warm. Honestly inexcusable. Seccond was my "Steak & Eggs" as described on the menu it is a " 8oz bavette, soft scramble, red flannel hash". No for those not from New England "red flannel hash" is a very specific thing. First a hash is traditionally AND by definition chopped potatoes, corn beef and onions. Now sure there are variations of hash, especially at a high end restaurant, but the tenant of hash should be in this category. Secondly, what makes a hash a "red flannel hash" is the addition of red beets. It colors and dyes the whole dish thus giving it the look of a red flannel shirt or red flannel tablecloth. What Grill 23 served was neither hash nor was it more importantly red flannel. If they hadn't called it red flannel I maybe would have chalked it up to culinary interpretation, but you cannot here. There were no beets. These are simply roasted potatoes with onions, red peppers and chucks of what I am convinced is Black Forest pastrami. To me it would be like telling someone they were getting Chicken Parmigiana and serving them Chicken Milanese. It's adjacent but very different. Additionally, the menu read "Steak & EggS" (I am capitalizing the "S" in eggs to call out that it was plural. While the menu called for "soft scramble" three in my party, including myself asked for "poached" as they had eggs Benedict on the menu so the kitchen was clearly poaching eggs. All three, including myself asked for the "red flannel hash" "on a side plate" because it can be an acquired taste and didn't not want to eat if we didn't like. What arrived was the "hash" (again just roasted potatoes, onion, peppers and pastrami) with a SINGLE poached egg on-top. If you say eggS especially on an egg dish, that means more than one. It should not have been put on the hash which was requested to be on the side AND the poach, while maybe correct or slightly overdone when initially done, clearly sat too long in the kitchen (remember I said the food wasn't hot at beginning of post) and the yoke had solidified not to the point of a hard build egg but closer to like a custard with no ooze. And with the egg being cold and the hash not being what it should have been and also being cold it was just a very unpleasant experience. The steak was hot and delicious, as their steaks always are. Others at the table had issues with their meals. 2 things were forgotten. There was legitimately no broth in the French onion soup as whatever bread they use as the crouton sucked it all up like a sponge basically rendering it a solid dish and not a soup. Of the 6 Mel's the only thing that was hot were the 3 steaks on the Steak and Eggs. Even the roasted chicken was just warm, although it was very tasty. I guess give this is Grill 23 and an epic steakhouse in Boston, if you are going to do a brunch menu for a holiday such as Easter, a holiday where a huge component is sharing a meal with family, your u have to be able to nail not just the experience, but you got to be able to nail the Brunch components and sadly this was more than a miss. I know this is a long post for me to complain about temperature, the definition of hash and what liberty can be taken about it and the plurality of eggs, but for the price one pays an expectation is there and the results fell significantly short.
Frank Taylor
Fine dining at it's
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Andreas G.
Awesome and classy steakhouse at the heart of boston. Pricy but worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shernita Smiles
The service was great, my waiter went through the menu so we could find the best meal with my eating restrictions.Dietary restrictions: Chief was willing to cater to my dairy restrictions.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Peter Lockart
Excellent clean food. Perfectly cooked meat. Exactly what I was looking for. Celiac friendly. Waiter was a professional and knowledgeable about what they served.Dietary restrictions: Can do gluten free. I am very sensitive did not get sick. Filet Mignon and baked potato without cheese sauce.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chris S
Beginning to end, it was a great experience. Our waiter, Troy, was excellent. The food was a pinnacle experience as well. Everything was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa Y.
Best of Boston, but not Boston's Best! We made reservations for Dine Out Boston and were excited to come here since many people raved about the steaks, ambiance, and overall experience. But to my dismay, we were a bit disappointed. We didn't love the menu for Dine Out Boston so we decided to order off their regular menu. I ordered the Wedge Salad and my husband had their onion soup. They were both good, not great. Then for entrees, we split the Dry Aged Prime Strip with Asparagus and Baked Potato and ordered a bottle of wine from the Sommelier. We also had a few of their sauces (truffle butter and steak sauce). The steak was not warm and did not melt in your mouth like other steaks. Our server was fairly new but I expected much more from him. For instance, our apps did not come to the table together and I had to ask another server for the soup. Our wine did not get to the table until after our food so that was disappointing. We also ordered bread pudding for dessert since it was recommended and a few minutes later a creme brulee came to our table so they sent that back and gave us the right dessert and also took it off our bill, which I was happy about. Sometimes restaurants are so busy during Dine Out Boston that they can't keep up with service or food etc. I would like to give this restaurant another shot for another time and hope for the best!
My wife and I always dine upstairs at the bar where the bartenders and service are top notch, especially Adam. You can't go wrong here!
Deena QK
Food and service are
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Vera Tsiuzhankina
The food is very averaged, clam chowder was tasteless, lobster tale tastes more when I buy it in a supermarket, stake was just okey. It so better to spend your money
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
Andrew R. (Govermint)
The waygu steak tacos and tomahawk steak were both super delicious. Unfortunately, the mash potatoes and creamed spinach were not that good, but their famous coconut cake does not disappoint.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Famous Coconut Cake, American Kobe Steak Tartare
James Lanter
Great meal. Everything was top of class. The A5 was to die for. Highly recommend this spot but be prepared to spend some money. You get what you pay for!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Famous Coconut Cake, Raw Oysters
This place does not miss. I have been here many times for friends birthdays, anniversaries or family dinners and they are always extraordinary. The wait staff is professional, the drinks taste amazing (but are still strong), and the steak is some of the best I have ever had. The bread is always fresh that they bring to the table and the side are all very tasty. I highly recommend the tomahawk steak and a dirty martini from this place. A match made in heaven.
I want to preface with the waitstaff was wonderful and this rating is not a direct reflection of their service. We came for a work outing party of 10 with a reservation. The restaurant was immediately loud and echoey upon entering and throughout the entire place. If you have sensory sensitivities it will be a lot with the open kitchen adding to the noise. We ordered 3 apps, the calamari, the oysters, and the crab cakes. All of the appetizers were wonderful, and for someone that hates crab, those were the best crab cakes I've ever had. The calamari was good but nothing to write home about. I got the chicken and my fiance got the meatloaf. My chicken was seasoned so salty it was difficult to eat. It was also mostly dark meat, which for a $42 chicken dish is kind of disappointing. The stacked potato was overkill, and didn't add much value to the dish. Mashed potatoes would have better countered the saltiness of the chicken. The meatloaf was also unfortunately disappointing for $38. The meatloaf was so incredibly dense it and loaded with rosemary it almost tasted like a chewy pine tree. The chunks of carrots were a bit of an odd addition too. For the price paid for these dishes they need a lot of improvement. The asparagus still seemed to have the tough ends on it and tasted bland. The mashed potatoes were good and the mushrooms were okay. From what we heard from the others the steaks were good. Not much beyond that mentionable.
PRICE GOUGING TO THE MAX!! I can afford to eat out at high end restaurants and often do with friends, but give me a break. This place is just crazy expensive and not that good! My wife and I recently had dinner at Grill 23 ... $69 for average 10oz fillet that was boring taste and mushy; $30 for shrimp cocktail that tasted like sawdust; $17 for mashed potatoes with consistency of wall paper paste; $20 for mushrooms; $24 martinis; $14 bowl of ice cream; $14 cake; $7 for steak sauce...and they get you for anything extra you ask for. The check for 2 people was $300+ with no wine!!! Service is good but ambience loud. There are much better steak restaurants in Boston for a lot less money and much better quality. Look elsewhere!
Easter Brunch...Eh So had Easter brunch as a party of 6 today. Just too many flaws to over look but I will focus on two things. First, the food just wasn't really hot. My mother's French toast was actually cold, not even warm. Honestly inexcusable. Seccond was my "Steak & Eggs" as described on the menu it is a " 8oz bavette, soft scramble, red flannel hash". No for those not from New England "red flannel hash" is a very specific thing. First a hash is traditionally AND by definition chopped potatoes, corn beef and onions. Now sure there are variations of hash, especially at a high end restaurant, but the tenant of hash should be in this category. Secondly, what makes a hash a "red flannel hash" is the addition of red beets. It colors and dyes the whole dish thus giving it the look of a red flannel shirt or red flannel tablecloth. What Grill 23 served was neither hash nor was it more importantly red flannel. If they hadn't called it red flannel I maybe would have chalked it up to culinary interpretation, but you cannot here. There were no beets. These are simply roasted potatoes with onions, red peppers and chucks of what I am convinced is Black Forest pastrami. To me it would be like telling someone they were getting Chicken Parmigiana and serving them Chicken Milanese. It's adjacent but very different. Additionally, the menu read "Steak & EggS" (I am capitalizing the "S" in eggs to call out that it was plural. While the menu called for "soft scramble" three in my party, including myself asked for "poached" as they had eggs Benedict on the menu so the kitchen was clearly poaching eggs. All three, including myself asked for the "red flannel hash" "on a side plate" because it can be an acquired taste and didn't not want to eat if we didn't like. What arrived was the "hash" (again just roasted potatoes, onion, peppers and pastrami) with a SINGLE poached egg on-top. If you say eggS especially on an egg dish, that means more than one. It should not have been put on the hash which was requested to be on the side AND the poach, while maybe correct or slightly overdone when initially done, clearly sat too long in the kitchen (remember I said the food wasn't hot at beginning of post) and the yoke had solidified not to the point of a hard build egg but closer to like a custard with no ooze. And with the egg being cold and the hash not being what it should have been and also being cold it was just a very unpleasant experience. The steak was hot and delicious, as their steaks always are. Others at the table had issues with their meals. 2 things were forgotten. There was legitimately no broth in the French onion soup as whatever bread they use as the crouton sucked it all up like a sponge basically rendering it a solid dish and not a soup. Of the 6 Mel's the only thing that was hot were the 3 steaks on the Steak and Eggs. Even the roasted chicken was just warm, although it was very tasty. I guess give this is Grill 23 and an epic steakhouse in Boston, if you are going to do a brunch menu for a holiday such as Easter, a holiday where a huge component is sharing a meal with family, your u have to be able to nail not just the experience, but you got to be able to nail the Brunch components and sadly this was more than a miss. I know this is a long post for me to complain about temperature, the definition of hash and what liberty can be taken about it and the plurality of eggs, but for the price one pays an expectation is there and the results fell significantly short.
Fine dining at it's
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Awesome and classy steakhouse at the heart of boston. Pricy but worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The service was great, my waiter went through the menu so we could find the best meal with my eating restrictions.Dietary restrictions: Chief was willing to cater to my dairy restrictions.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent clean food. Perfectly cooked meat. Exactly what I was looking for. Celiac friendly. Waiter was a professional and knowledgeable about what they served.Dietary restrictions: Can do gluten free. I am very sensitive did not get sick. Filet Mignon and baked potato without cheese sauce.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beginning to end, it was a great experience. Our waiter, Troy, was excellent. The food was a pinnacle experience as well. Everything was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best of Boston, but not Boston's Best! We made reservations for Dine Out Boston and were excited to come here since many people raved about the steaks, ambiance, and overall experience. But to my dismay, we were a bit disappointed. We didn't love the menu for Dine Out Boston so we decided to order off their regular menu. I ordered the Wedge Salad and my husband had their onion soup. They were both good, not great. Then for entrees, we split the Dry Aged Prime Strip with Asparagus and Baked Potato and ordered a bottle of wine from the Sommelier. We also had a few of their sauces (truffle butter and steak sauce). The steak was not warm and did not melt in your mouth like other steaks. Our server was fairly new but I expected much more from him. For instance, our apps did not come to the table together and I had to ask another server for the soup. Our wine did not get to the table until after our food so that was disappointing. We also ordered bread pudding for dessert since it was recommended and a few minutes later a creme brulee came to our table so they sent that back and gave us the right dessert and also took it off our bill, which I was happy about. Sometimes restaurants are so busy during Dine Out Boston that they can't keep up with service or food etc. I would like to give this restaurant another shot for another time and hope for the best!
Restaurantji Recommends
My wife and I always dine upstairs at the bar where the bartenders and service are top notch, especially Adam. You can't go wrong here!
Food and service are
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food is very averaged, clam chowder was tasteless, lobster tale tastes more when I buy it in a supermarket, stake was just okey. It so better to spend your money
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
The waygu steak tacos and tomahawk steak were both super delicious. Unfortunately, the mash potatoes and creamed spinach were not that good, but their famous coconut cake does not disappoint.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Famous Coconut Cake, American Kobe Steak Tartare
Great meal. Everything was top of class. The A5 was to die for. Highly recommend this spot but be prepared to spend some money. You get what you pay for!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Famous Coconut Cake, Raw Oysters