Also part of a huge restaurant group (Darden, which own Red Lobser, Olive Garden, and others), CG manages to feel incredibly personal as well as appropriately masculine—gleaming wood, plush leather booths—without coming off as the least bit cookie-cutter. More like subtle and stylish, as when you are discreetly offered a black or white cloth napkin and given a hot towel after devouring some of the freshest shrimp ever dipped in horseradish-spiked cocktail sauce. Even the lemon wedges come wrapped in gauze.

Lest this all sound a bit fussy, the 18-ounce bone-in Kona-crusted dry-aged sirloin exudes minerality under a perfect char, and the rich lobster mac is not for sissies. Nor is the signature martini, Stoli Doli (Stolichnaya vodka infused with fresh pineapple and served straight up), for that matter.

Perfect for: Grownups who dine, not eat