J Gilbert’s Wood Fired Steaks and Seafood

Had reservations through open table for 8 pm and waited an hour past our reservation to be seated. I may still be waiting had I not asked 5 times when our table would be ready. When asked to see the manager a glassy eyed clueless manager showed up only to have to wait for 20 more minutes.
Trust me, the food and ambiance is not worth an our plus wait beyond our reservation
I’ve been there many times and sat in the bar for dinner. Spent a lot of money and glad now I only sat in the bar
To ask this group of managers to think beyond the most elementary level is a challenge
Walk across the street for dinner

Went to dinner for restaurant week. Quite frankly I wasn’t impressed. I was expecting to be wowed, so to speak. I wanted to leave wanting more. Needless to say I wished I chose another restaurant. I friend of mine went to Barcelona and after hearing his experience I was left feeling envious. Reservations were made and we still had a substancial wait upon arriving. As for the food, our portion sizes were small and some of the sides were cold. Being busy shouldn’t be an excuse. The one bright side to our experience was our waiter Jackson. He was very attentive and knowledgable. This will probably be the last time I spend over a hundred dollars on a lack luster meal at J Gilberts.

Perfect meal our server Patrick was excellent.

We went for restaurant week and were both pleased with the selection on the prix fixe menu. I had the filet (rare) and it was delicious. The asparagus was a bit over cooked but had that wonderful wood fired flavor, so I still enjoyed it. The crème brûlée was awesome, and I’m not usually a dessert person!
My vodka martini was just right, and I was very happy with the wine list. The ambiance was perfect for our date night without being too pretentious. And our server, Marcus, was attentive and friendly. Restaurant week brought us in, but we’ll definitely be back for the full menu!

Didn’t like. Horrible sauce on a perfectly done Filet. No asking me for a 2^nd glass of wine. I mean I get refills at any old restaurant usually. Call me a complainer but if my tab is over $ 100 I expect better.

Great steaks but service is slipping. Our table ordered a bottle of Chardonnay that arrived at our table nearly freezing. We informed our server who responded that he would leave it on the table to warm up.
We ordered a different bottle of wine from the bar that was drinkable.
After our salads were finished, our server took the used forks and placed them back on the table for us to use again. That was was disgusting and not what I would expect from a restaurant of this caliber. We had to request that he replace the used utensils.
My dinner guests were from out of town and I had promised them a great experience. I won’t be so quick to recommend j. Gilbert. I’ll lower their expectations. Steaks A+ Service C.

Large groups beware — We were a group of 11 with a couple of reserved hi tops in the bar celebrating 2 birthdays after watching a movie at Marcus. We arrived around 4:30pm, shortly after they opened. Happy Hour was in full swing and my group was famished. It took a while to fully get my drink order in. There were bar menus at the table and my waiter brought me the wine menu but it was a good 10+ minutes before he came back. I made sure to order my food at the same time. My girlfriend’s order was totally forgotten, which he later placed and comped. We were there past 7pm (the end of happy hour) and with all of the celebrating it was needless to say we were at a high energy level. Couples and small groups were dining in the bar and kept looking at us like we crazy because they could hear our laughter. The wait staff seemed impatient as well. Mind you my tab was $ 40 alone and we were in the bar, not the main dining area… I got the feeling we were a bit too casual and boisterous for them.
Aside from the reaction to the group, the food was very tasty and presented well. The portions were just the right size and the happy hour specials were perfectly priced. I had the half priced wine bottle (any bottle under $ 100), the pretzel coated onion rings, Classic Sliders with sweet potato fries and the Montego Chips. They offered a desert each for our birthdays.
I would definitely come back again but will be cautious about the size of my party.

I’ve been here 4x with friends and family and always had a great time. Very good atmosphere and great service as well as great food. I love the bar. I definitely will be going back to eat again

I had the valentines menu with my girlfriend here in 2014, it was delicious but I didn’t review it. I went again tonight and hit up their happy hour. I received exceptional foods and drink at a very reasonable price.
burrata and bresaola: the bresaola was nice and chewy but not dry or hard like jerky, also not to salty but not lacking in flavor. The burrata was was very fresh, nice and creamy. Preserved pear and fennel jam were great, the arugula salad was fresh and the grilled bread was nicely toasted, imparted with a smokey wood grilled flavor. 6 dollars, a steal.
Petite filet: 13 bucks for a four ounce filet with Yukon smashed potatoes. To put that into perspective a 6 filet with two sides is $ 33. I really felt like I was robbing them now. There was a tad more char (it was NOT burnt) on the steak that I care for but it was a perfect med rare and full of beefy flavor goodness. The potatoes were a touch on the gummy side but still very good and at this price point the meal was ridiculously good
The service: friendly and professional, drinks were strong but not zombifying and also fairly priced

Although the food and atmosphere was pleasant my overall experience changed when the billed was provided. Much to my surprise adding a piece of grilled salmon to the baby greens salad changed the price from $ 8 to $ 29. I understand and expect a higher priced salad when adding salmon or any other protein item but it certainly was not worth $ 29.

Awesome food fired steaks! I haven’t try their seafood (besides oysters) yet just because I can’t take my mind away from their perfect grilled steaks when we go there. Pricy but worth it.

Well the first thing that I wasn’t too impressed with was making a reservation three hours in advance only to be there 10 minutes before our reservation and 15 minutes later we were waiting. It was a party of six but we ended up sitting by the bar in a booth. A little crampy but I guess it’ll suffice. So with that said, our waiter was charming, witty and very nice. He served us without ever leaving us with any questions. He suggested wonderful items for all of us to try and was very knowledgeable about the menu. That’s a very good thing to know what to offer and what would be suitable for our taste pallets. I ordered the top sirloin medium rare with mashed potatoes mad wild mushroom sautéed. Hot, juicy and delicious indeed. Patrick was his name and I recommend that he gets recognized for his service and hard work. We enjoyed him and the food. The good food and atmosphere made up for the late reservation situation. I’ll return and hopefully when j make a reservation that I won’t be held up

YUM! We came here for Thanksgiving and it was definitely worth the long wait. They offered a great Thanksgiving menu, but honestly I came for the steak. We ordered a shrimp appetizer (I can’t remember the name), but it was SO good! Large pieces of shrimp (with the tail attached) and a delicious sauce with tomato and basil. Tip: dip the fresh bread in the sauce. I ordered the filet and scallop combo and I would definitely recommend it. The filet was cooked perfectly and the scallops were seasoned perfectly. It also comes with two sides, which I got mashed potatoes and green beans. It’s pretty pricey, but totally worth it for a splurge! The food definitely gets 5 stars, but I gave it an overall 4 stars because of the service. Unfortunately the hosts were not very kind. It could have been that they had a long Thanksgiving, but they were very short and not accommodating.

This place lived up to its expectation. The food was prepared to perfection. By far the best crab bisque I have had in a long time. The steak was cooked perfectly.

Took my fiancé’ here for her birthday, and it was a wonderful time! This place definitely counts as a good «Date Night» spot (contrary to some of the reviews on here). The décor and atmosphere are relaxed and artsy. The lighting is low, but at most tables, there is a little lamp present, as well as a lit candle the server brings to your table if you’re celebrating a special occasion.
The food was DELICIOUS! The wood-​fired steaks have great flavor; the charring from the cooking process gives the steak added texture and flavor, which I enjoyed. Any steak option is a slam-​dunk (we had the Filet Mignon and Top Sirloin). The Shrimp Durango appetizer was delicious-​the broth is so good, it should be it’s own soup! Also, make sure you dip your bread into that broth as it gives extra flavor (speaking of the bread, the spiced-​butter they bring with it is delicious). We also enjoyed the Lobster Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Yukon Mashed Potatoes and Poblano Au Gratin Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus, which were all tasty and filling as sides.
I would definitely recommend this spot for a celebration spot, date nite, or if you have a taste for a really good steak. I’ll be back again!
PRO TIP: If you sign up for their email club, they send specials on a semi-​regular basis, the best of which is a $ 25 off a $ 75 or more purchase, which helps to stomach some of the higher-​priced options on the menu.

One of the best meals I have ever enjoyed. Everything was cooked to perfection and the service was wonderful. The wedge salad is the best. He blue cheese dressing was amazing. I selected salmon as my entrée and it was served with mashed potatoes and green beans with pecans. Crème brûlée was my dessert served with raspberries and a pirouette. I look forward to returning to Columbus and dining here again!

What’s not to love?!? The wood fired filet, scallops, blue cheese chips, crab bisque, sourdough bread, Moscow mule, the coffee, the service, the ambiance… they’ve perfected ALL of it. I don’t know what else to say other than thank you J. Gilbert’s for a wonderful date night.

This was the Restaurant Week Saturday dinner of choice this time around (more of a «well, none of the $ 35 menus really stands out, let’s give this one a try). The ambiance in the restaurant is really lovely, and we were fortunate to be seated in a quiet area of the dining room.
I ordered the crab bisque, sea scallops, and chocolate velvet cake. The bisque was presented in a unique way — a small scoop of crabmeat in the soup plate, and the bisque poured from a small pitcher over the meat. The sea scallops were good, and were served with a creamy lobster risotto, but with no vegetable side. I really wish there had been a vegetable to contrast to the richness of the risotto. The chocolate cake was excellent, but needed vanilla ice cream to help cut through the richness (a berry flavored ice cream was served with it). I was also a little sad when they took away the sourdough (half a loaf was left) and didn’t offer to box it up (I saw a lot of half-​eaten loaves being taken away… what a waste!).
The food wasn’t bad by any measure, but I wasn’t blown away by any of it – and I would expect any restaurant participating in the Restaurant Week promotion would want to showcase their best dishes in order to encourage return visits. Looking at other reviews, maybe I should have gotten the maple roasted salmon instead. No complaints about the service, even though they had several large parties and seemed to be keeping busy.

I’ve been a big fan of J Gilbert’s for quite some time, but hadn’t been back in a little while because I’ve been avoiding the area around J Gilbert’s due to the traffic mess from the I-​270/​US-​23 interchange construction. Regardless, Columbus Restaurant Week back in January enticed me to dine here again.
From the outside, the building looks like a random office building… but the interior of this restaurant has an intimate and comfortable atmosphere. I prefer restaurant interiors to be more brightly lit (J Gilbert’s is pretty dark), but that’s a personal preference.
The service here has been consistently solid, and I honestly can’t think of a bad example of the service here.
In terms of food, their meat and seafood are mostly wood fire grilled. This gives their steaks a delicious smokey flavor to it. I believe this is probably the one thing that really sets J. Gilbert’s apart from the other prime steakhouses in town. A steak purist might argue that the smoke flavor masks the pure concentrated beef flavor from aged steak… but I think most of us don’t care enough about that, and would prefer the wood fired flavor. Plus J Gilberts does a better job of seasoning their steaks than every other steakhouse in town with probably the exception of Ruth Chris. Their sides are also consistently delicious.
With that said, we’re talking about a prime steakhouse here, so they are pretty pricy. You should expect to spend at least $ 50/​person when you dine here. But on the other hand, they don’t nickle and dime you like other prime steakhouses do! Your steak actually comes with 2 sides, compared to other steakhouses where you need to spend another $ 10~$ 20 per side dish. They also offer prix-​fixe 3 course meals all the time as well, not just during restaurant week.
Looking strictly at how tasty the steaks are, I would say J. Gilbert’s is tied with Smith & Wollensky and slightly behind Ruth Chris. But when you look at the cost differential, J. Gilbert’s I might argue is the best steakhouse in Columbus.
While it may sound silly to talk about budget when you’re comparing something so inherently expensive and luxurious as prime steakhouses, I think price still matters to most of us! With that said, J. Gilbert’s is highly recommended in my books.

I really like this location. Much better ambiance and service than the one McLean, VA. Food was very good although I noticed that the the quality of cooking was better on Friday night. Wonder if there is a different chef then as opposed to other weekdays? Bartenders do a great job here.