I was a little surprised when Food Fight, Inc. decided to close Ocean Grill to create a new restaurant, but the successor, DLUX, has been a pleasant addition to the already burger-heavy Capitol Square.
Its unique premise is the upscale atmosphere. You can have a fancy burger before seeing a show, and come back afterward for a martini. More on that in a sec.
All burgers are $8. On one visit, I ordered the Farmhouse burger, topped with Monterrey jack, fried green tomato, bacon and baby greens. I really enjoyed the crispy tomato along with the juicy burger. The tomato jam that accompanies the burger was clever, but I prefer salty over sweet and thus didn’t use much of it.
I loved the Carnegie burger on a subsequent visit. The corned beef and sauerkraut were fortunately not overpowering, though I would have liked a little bit more of the Russian dressing. On future visits, I have my eyes on the Sunrise (topped with a fried egg and shoestring potatoes) and the Backyard BBQ (topped with coleslaw and BBQ sauce).
The French onion dip with house-made chips ($4) had huge chunks of onion in it, and after a few bites the onion became overwhelming. I probably should have ordered one of the other sides, like the blue cheese and bacon fries ($2/$5) or the sweet potato fries with sriracha mayo ($2/$5).
I tried several of the 12 specialty cocktails on the menu, and my favorite was the whiskey smash ($7), consisting of Buffalo Trace bourbon, lemon, Turbinado syrup, mint and seltzer.
On a Friday night one week and a Saturday night on a different week, I noticed the crowd consisted of mostly young professionals as well as college students. But all of them were dressed up, to follow the vibe of the venue. Neither night was packed, but for a restaurant, it was a decent showing.
DLUX is open for lunch, dinner and late-night every day and brunch on the weekend.
