Culinary trends may come and go, but one restaurant format that never goes out of style, at least in New York, is the steakhouse. Peter Luger, Sparks, and the Post House continue to do big business even with the recent openings of BLT Steak, Wolfgang’s, and V. And now the year’s most interesting new steakhouse has arrived: the Capital Grille. The reason this arrival is interesting, or maybe just perplexing, is that the Grille is a chain – there are 18 other Capital Grilles scattered around the country. Why open a branch in New York, a famously anti-chain town that’s already overflowing with topnotch steakhouses? Why would any self-respecting New Yorker go to the Grille when all those other steakhouses I just mentioned (and many more) are available?

The answer, you might think, is that the Grille is catering primarily to business travelers and tourists. And I might have thought so too, except that I’ve recently had occasion to eat at the New York outposts of two other chain steakhouses – Ruth’s Chris and Morton’s – and the crowds at both places were unmistakably comprised of New Yorkers.

Surprising? Well, maybe. It’s true that a chain restaurant, whether Wendy’s or Morton’s, delivers more of a corporate philosophy than a restaurateur’s concept or a chef’s vision, but that’s not such a bad thing when the corporate philosophy centers on top-grade beef and solicitous service. Chains don’t offer much in terms of surprises – that’s the whole point – but nobody goes to a steakhouse to be surprised, anyway. And chains are blissfully free of the cult of celebrity, snooty service, and reservation hassles surrounding so much of the city’s restaurant scene.

And here’s the kicker: The steaks I had at Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris were every bit as good as the ones I’ve had at Sparks and the Post House (okay, maybe not quite as good as Peter Luger). Add it all up and the only rationale for avoiding these restaurants is cultural snobbery. New Yorkers take their snobbery seriously, of course. But they take their steak even more seriously.

So I wasn’t that surprised to find the Capital Grille filled with a loud, smart, sophisticated crowd – New York to the core. There are two main rooms, the first of which is pretty much steakhouse-by-the-numbers: dark paneling, statues of eagles and horses, massive oil paintings of historical figures. The other room is more modernist, full of angled tubular steel and a glass ceiling that makes the space feel like a greenhouse. The service is a little longer on the “Hi, my name is Jeff” factor than I’d like, but questions are answered informatively and with enough intelligence to make it clear that nobody’s sticking exclusively to the script in the corporate training manual.

But enough about that – you want to hear about the steaks. All of the Capital Grille’s beef is USDA prime, and most of the steaks, but not all, are dry aged (your server will give you the breakdown).This raised a yellow flag for me, as I’m usually a stickler for dry-aging, but the most flavorful steak of the bunch turns out to be the non-aged Delmonico ($34), a supremely juicy 22-ounce bone-in rib eye that positively explodes with complex, mineral-driven flavor. This is the best restaurant steak I’ve eaten this year.

Close behind are the 24-ounce dry-aged porterhouse ($37) and the 20-ounce dry-aged sirloin ($36). If you want to venture outside the realm of beef, a quartet of double-rib lamb chops ($33) is perfectly charred on the outside, pink and pungent inside. And the T-bone veal chop ($33) is a beautiful piece of meat, but ask them to hold the accompanying Roquefort butter sauce, which overpowers the veal’s mild flavor.

Steakhouse appetizers are largely a matter of ritual. Seriously, who needs a starter when the main course is going to be a massive hunk of cow? The Grille dutifully trots out most of the time-honored standards, including an unremarkable shrimp cocktail ($15), so-so crabcakes studded with a few hunks of lobster ($15), and a huge wedge of iceberg lettuce topped with bleu cheese ($7). Don’t bother.

Lurking amidst these boilerplate offerings, however, is an excellent platter of pan-fried calamari tossed with vinegar-brined hot cherry pepper rings ($12). It’s a great combination: The calamari is gorgeously tender, the peppers add a strong kick of spiciness, and the vinegar provides a perfectly acidic counterpunch to the seafood (just as a squeeze of lemon normally would). No matter how big a steak you’re getting, this appetizer is worth ordering to share around the table.

Sides are generally de rigueur. Of the five kinds of potatoes, the best are the creamy au gratin ($9) and the hearty Lyonnaise ($7). Steakhouse purists will want the creamed spinach ($6), but you’re better off with fresh asparagus ($9). There’s a daily vegetable special ($7), but on both of my visits it was corn niblets with crumbled bacon and a cream sauce – tasty, but not exactly the light, refreshing element that veggies usually provide.

Neither steakhouses nor chain restaurants are usually known for their desserts. Still, I had hopes for the flourless chocolate espresso cake ($7), mainly because Ruth’s Chris serves something similar that’s very good. Unfortunately, the Grille’s version was surprisingly bland. A better cocoa-driven option is the chocolate hazelnut cake ($9), a four-layer bomb of buttercream and ganache. Also worthwhile is the Key lime pie ($7.25), which is topped with a green crust of crumbled pistachios, a clever touch that adds both crunch and color.

Ultimately, the Grille is good enough to render the chain issues moot – it’s simply the latest testament to New York’s insatiable appetite for beef. You can bet it won’t be the last.