Grill 23 & Bar

Reviews 4

RA

Rated by Hanna

Maybe Ive just had bad luck with this place, but Ive come here on 2 separate occasions and both times Ive been completely unimpressed especially with such a steep price! Perhaps its because we had prix-fixe menus for both times (first was through Dine Out Boston, second was for a private dining work event). The overall service was acceptable but still nothing notable and with the Dine Out Boston visit they did seem noticeably disinterested in us compared to the full priced patrons. Ill give an overview of each disappointment in detail. DINE OUT BOSTON One of my friends joined me for dinner after work. In retrospect I should have chosen a different location to do the restaurant week promotion for $38/person for a 3 course meal with a set menu of 3 options or so. (There are so many other options around Back Bay!) The bread was tasty enough to whet our appetites. My friend chose a seafood medley dish and I dont know what I was thinking with their meat loaf specialty. My entree was dry and nothing special especially if they served this stuff regularly. For dessert I ordered the Orange-Almond Cake and my friend ordered the Brownie Sunday. Both were good, but yet again nothing special. PRIVATE DINING As part of team building my team coordinated a lavish cocktails & dinner event. I overheard a quote that the private dining was around $90/person for a 3 course meal. First step with the cocktail was a disaster as my drink had sugar on the rim and it was simultaneously melting and dripping uncomfortably down my hand so I had to set it down. We had a few more options this time from the menu so I ordered the crab cakes since I didnt want to fill up early on. Some of my co-workers ordered calamari and the plate was huge! Definitely enough to share with everyone. The most disappointing part was the filet minion. I ordered it cooked medium. What I received was lukewarm and incredibly bloody. I have only sent a dish back on one other occasion (because the order was completely wrong) but I just could not choke down the extremely rare slab of meat. They were able to replace it but I had already ate a couple bites of the inferior filet minion. Then for dessert I culminated with another cold dish, the creme brûlée. I suppose many restaurants serve it cold but I prefer it warm/hot fresh from torching the sugar on top. It would take a great effort to get me to come back here when there are so many other great options!

AM

Amos Pires

Im not even sure where to start with this review. Even a week later Im still trying to take it all in. Yes, it is totally worth it, yes it is upscale and yes you have to plan months a head in order to experience a meal at Grill 23 & Bar.Calling it a meal doesnt really do it justice. it is more an experience, a little bit of art, a bit of a demonstration of skill and creativity, a bit expanding your horizons, a bit of discovery and always done with style and a high level of service. All your senses will come into play while enjoying your time at the Grill 23 & Bar. Not really worth giving a dish by dish accounting, as Im sure I cant really give it a full accounting with words alone. How can you describe the smell of the shrimp & scallops, and veal loin chop, Never mind how it tastes! Or the over the top, Just know things are not always what they seem, that you will explore textures and temperatures with familiar and new things. That the smells, the sights and the taste meld with textures of what you have in knew ways. Try to go with an open mind and dont think of it as a meal but just an artful expression of the chefs creativity and their knowledge of the ingredients and our senses. Also facilitating to watch the later seating as see their expressions as they start to experience what you just had. Does that sound pretensions? maybe, but if you are not open to new and interesting experiences, go somewhere else. If a meal is just about filling your belly, go somewhere else. But If you want three bites of lots of amazing and different things done in a perfect way, then start planing your trip to Boston MA and start trying to get reservations. This moves way up on my list of amazing and transcendental meals Ive enjoyed in my life. The food itself was outstandingly good, imaginative dishes, beautifully presented. Every course was perfect, but stand outs for me were the shrimp & scallops, ( best Ive ever had), I thank all staffs and Peter Baker General Manager/Jay Murray, Executive Chef. Reviewed by:Amancio(Amos) Pires

JE

Jennifer P

Our dining experience at Grill 23 was awful. Let me say that when we arrived they told us our table would be ready in "a few minutes"….well 40 mins. later we were still not seated. Once the hostess finally came to get us we were sat at the worst table in the restaurant. It was literally in the middle of the floor, almost as if they just put it there because they were overbooked. We complained since this was the most un-intimate table we had ever sat at. They moved us and we saw them take the table away as to not offend any more patrons. My husband ordered the sirloin (100 day aged at $67) it was fatty and undercooked 2x. He asked for "medium plus" and it came out rare. He sent it back, by the time he had gotten his meal I was done with mine. The second time his steak came out it wasnt much better but he was hesitant to send it back again. They gave us free tater tots…embarrassing. I had the rib eye which was just ok compared to other restaurants with similar price points. They do not even offer a bone in and it was thin..absolutely not anything compared to what you would get at Del Friscos or Moo. When Del Friscos had messed up our order they comped the whole entire bill for the inconvenience (including alcohol). This place should be ashamed to give you "free tater tots" and should be held to a much higher standard. I would not recommend nor ever go back. I will also be letting all my friends who frequent these restaurants know of this horrible experience. If you are spending 300-400 plus on dining you should not be disappointed in the slightest. Most restaurants would do anything to make it right.

AN

Andrew Williamson

Disappointed and disgusted to say the least. I visited Grill 23 last night to enjoy a nice dinner with my wife before leaving Boston to return home to Tennessee. I ordered the Aged Ribeye 18 oz and my wife ordered the twin filet mignon 8 oz. When the food was brought to the table, my wifes filet was dry and flavorless. My ribeye was over prepared and charred on the outside. We waited to speak to our server or a manager regarding the food, yet all we ever got were refills on our water by someone else. Figured we might as well stomach it so we could eat dinner. BIG MISTAKE! About midnight, the food literally made me so sick, I spent half of my last night in Boston looking at it again wishing I had never went there in the first place. And to top it all off, when I came into the restaurant, I told my wife I felt underdressed. Was in jeans, a polo, and a RedSox hat. Theres was a gentleman sitting at the bar with a hat, yet I was the only person asked by the manager to remove my hat in the restaurant. Worst $100+ dinner I have ever had! Wish I could just get my money back and pretend it never happened. Loved Boston, hated Grill 23. Will not return next time I visit. Oh yeah, this building is also not handicap accessible or baby friendly. Had a child in a stroller and had to carry the stroller up stairs to get in. Good luck getting in there to eat if you are in a wheelchair.