The Capital Grille plans to expand to Dedham, continuing a trend of restaurants looking beyond city limits to the suburbs for new locations.

 
The restaurant is expected to take over space from P.F. Chang’s at Legacy Place, an outdoor shopping mall that features numerous restaurants and retail stores.

 
Suburban shopping malls have done especially well since the pandemic. Legacy Place saw 640,800 visits in June, whereas the Prudential Center had 603,400 visits, according to data from Pacer.ai.

 
The Capital Grille, which is scheduled to open its doors on August 11, is known for its dry-aged steaks and features a 350-bottle wine list. The opening of The Capital Grille is expected to create 90 new jobs in the Dedham area, according to a release.

 
Another high-end steakhouse, Smith and Wollensky, opened a new location in June in the suburb of Burlington. Kim Lapine, chief marketing officer of Smith and Wollensky’s parent company, PPX Hospitality, said the restaurant was motivated by an influx of business at its locations in the suburbs.

 
Work-from-home impact

 
She attributed this growth in part to hybrid work-from-home schedules, in which workers head into their city offices less often and spend more of their time in the suburbs.

 
Earlier this year, restaurant owners sat down for a roundtable discussion with the Business Journal. One said she has also experienced an increase at her businesses in the suburbs.

 
“My suburban restaurants are way busier than my city restaurant. My city restaurant opened in November of 2019 and it was open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Now, I can’t open for lunch. But my restaurant in Concord, I can open for lunch easily,” Kristin Canty, owner of Woods Hill Table, Adelita, Woods Hill Pier 4 and the Farm at Woods Hill, said.

 
The Capital Grille consists of over 9,000 square feet of space, and plans to be open seven days a week. The dining room is scheduled to be open daily for dinner, with hours Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m., Friday from 3 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., as well as lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 
By Jenny Hellwig
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