Mesa Grill recently?

[LemonLauren]

HI everyone, I thank you for all your response to my previous Healthy Foodie Day posts. The opportunity has arisen for my fiance and I to join some friends at Mesa grill on the Saturday of our visit - should we join them? Is it worth it? Or are our foodie/experience dollars worth spent elsewhere, even if alone? We see these friends all the time here in TO, so we wouldn't miss the friend part of it, neccessarily. From what I can tell, you NYC-CHers are just "meh" about MEsa Grill. So do we do it?
Thanks!

[kim e]

Mesa Grill is totally "meh." So are all of Bobby Flay's restaurants, IMO. It's not gross and it's not super expensive, either, so it might be worth it just to join your friends for a fun night out?

[KTinNYC]

The problem with Mesa Grill is that the style of cooking is now just so common. It has been aped by chains like Appleby's and TGIF's and to be honest I'd be willing to bet the product isn't that different. Take out as many of the spices out of your spice rack as possible and add a touch of honey, voila. chicken a la Flay. Plus, the room is dated and fraying.

[LemonLauren]

i wish i could steer them to somewhere more awesome that we can't get back here...sigh...

[Stuartmc910]

Have to disagree. They make killer Margaritas, the service is polite and professional, my wife and I eat there quite often and havn't had a bad meal, ever. We've been to Bar Americain once and that was also good. Only complaint, too noisy, so we stick with Mesa.

[currymouth]

I will have to agree with KTinNYC, I took my wife on a date there in the late 90's and obviously Mesa Grill was not only New, Exciting, and Cutting Edge but Bobby Flay was the "MAN" in those days. Now after taking friends there last summer, It all has a rather Worn, outdated, and Pathetic feel about it. The service and dishes were competent and still a decent deal, but for us it was like visiting "Steak and Brew'" because we had some great times, too many pitchers of Miller High Life, and one too many tokes of Washington Square skunk weed and then realizing you can't turn back the hands of time. I think Rosa Mexicana, and Topolobampo are still current because they successfully added their slant on a classic cuisine and not try to reinvent it. It is still worth a visit if you are not burdened with memories of Manhattan in the 90's and have not visited your local Appleby's in the past 10 years.