It's not normally like me to eat at a steak house, or a chain at that, and it's certainly not like me to give a chain steakhouse a 5 star rating. But I definitely tip my cap to Cap Grille. It's obvious why Consumer Reports rated it the #1 chain in the country. Sure it's expensive, but the quality of the service and food is superb. I had met someone there for a "business" lunch so we were both wearing black slacks - immediately after being seated the host handed us black napkins so that we wouldn't get any white fuzz on our slacks. (Brilliant!) The waiter was very friendly and described all of the options for us in great detail. We started with the calamari which was outstanding - it blew me away that seafood could be so good in the desert (it had probably come in on the same flight I did from Boston)! We both had 10oz sirloin steaks encrusted in ground decaf Kona coffee with a butter sauce. Exquisite. The waiter and bus boys were very attentive the whole meal.
I didn't find cap grille to be pretentious at all. I mean, all of the patrons wearing suits and it cost us $60pp incl tax and tip for an app, an entree, and a drink. So if that is pretentious (and people seem to think that is what makes a place pretentious) then fine. But I didn't find anyone to be super snotty or rude - the service was impeccable.
I would definitely go back here or to any other location, but only for an extra special occasion or if I can claim it as a business expense and get reimbursed!