City Grill Birthday Lunch

From top left: Tangerine Bavarian with caramel sauce, Three Layer Coconut cake with Lemon Filling and Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Tupelo honey ice cream.

Yesterday my office lunched at City Grill (downtown in the Hurt Building) to celebrate our managing partner's birthday. In addition to wonderful ambiance, City Grill has a special nostalgia for my firm since our office was formerly in the Hurt Building. Our skilled waiter, Bobby, took great care of us including offering a free dessert for the birthday girl. When we arrived it was moderately busy, mostly with suited-up business types. By the time we left we were the only people in the place. I like the tree-motif mural that covers the walls and the bar has a cozy area good for happy hour.

The food was decent, not great. The special soup of the day: spiced, creamed carrot, which came perfectly seasoned, was a delicious standout. The beef tenderloin served with the tenderloin wedge salad came cooked to perfection and the accompanying blue cheese provided a welcome bite to go along with the meat. The lobster and shrimp chowder was disappointing, more chunky than flavorful. The duck lettuce wraps, an interesting combination of shredded duck, fresh pineapple and plums, tasted too sweet to be an entree and the fruit flavors overpowered the duck. I could have easily been eating chicken or some other protein. The french fries served with the cheeseburger came nicely browned and seasoned; the burger was fine but not anything special.

Dessert was a mixed bag as well. The chocolate lava cake proved to be the best of the bunch, tasty yet typical. The Tupelo honey ice cream had a nice creamy taste, but the honey flavor did not come through as much as I expected. Coconut cake with lemon filling was stored too cold, rendering the cake a bit dry, although the lemon filling was sweet and delicious. The tangerine bavarian, fluffy and not overly sweet, seemed to be doused in sugar syrup rather than the "rich caramel sauce" described on the menu. When tasted against the other two, it couldn't hold its own, despite its unique components. The accompanying biscotti was a nice addition.

Overall, this is a nice special occasion restaurant with tremendous service. I would like to try the dinner selections before I render a definitive opinion on the food.

Bar area.



Classic, classy ambience - don't mind Jim on his phone!



Marcia, Ruth and Toni enjoy lunch.



Wonderful carrot soup, left, and lobster and shrimp chowder, right.



Duck lettuce wraps with wontons.



Bucatini pasta with shrimp and broccolini - could have used more shrimp & broccolini and less pasta!



Cheeseburger with french fries.



Grilled tenderloin wedge salad - very tasty meat.



Organic baby greens salad with Pecorino dolce.