Stoney River

The Scene
With plenty of stacked flagstone, leather, polished wood and hunting pictures, Stoney River looks and feels like an upscale lodge. Deep, comfortable booths surround a lounge pit with a large, inviting fireplace. On a busy night, the lounge or the expansive bar are popular destinations for the local gentry. Service is friendly and solid but suffers when there's a full house.

The Food
The obvious draw is steak, and the cuts are uniformly well prepared. New York strip is perfectly grilled and flavorful. Surf and turf features a fried lobster tail and a very tender, nicely charred filet. For starters, skip an insipid, overly chilled Caesar salad and order the crab cake instead. Plenty of fresh-tasting lump crab--and no filler--is served with a caper lemon sauce. Savory onion mashed potatoes, cinnamon-kissed mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach--ordered a la carte--are worth a splurge; unimaginative cheesecake isn't.