Wellington Grille Knows Wining and Dining
If you’re looking for a way to impress that special someone, you can’t go wrong with dinner at the Wellington Grille. The restaurant was voted Best Place for a Romantic Dinner in the Best of Dayton People’s Choice Awards.
“Many people have given us diamond rings and asked us to hide them in a dessert,” says Mary Miller, who owns the Wellington Grille with her brother, Raymond Jean. “We have high-back booths, so there’s privacy, and our guests always say it’s nice to be able to have a conversation in a restaurant that isn’t noisy.”
It’s not hard to see why the eatery has earned quite a following since it opened in 1998. Miller and Jean have plenty of experience in the restaurant business - their family also owns The Barnsider restaurant in North Dayton, where they’ve been offering artfully prepared cuisine and friendly service since 1975. They named the Wellington Grille after Wellington Street, the site of their childhood home, because it reminds them of the road they have traveled.
In addition to its romantic atmosphere, Wellington Grille enjoys a reputation for fabulous food.
“Our signature item is roasted duckling with Swedish lingonberry sauce, served with wild rice and asparagus,” Miller says. “Our crab cakes are also very good – we make them ourselves, so they don’t have that factory-made taste. We’re also famous for our roasted prime rib of beef on Friday and Saturday evenings, and people love our pecan-crusted chicken.”
A popular appetizer at the Wellington Grille is the escargot in rich garlic butter. There are also eggplant fries dusted with powdered sugar, gourmet sandwiches, salads, steaks, seafood and an extensive wine list. The restaurant’s menu changes twice a year to reflect the flavors of the season.
“Our regulars tell us they love our food, but they also say they’re very at ease here,” Miller says. “They know everybody because we don’t have much turnover. They say it’s like being with family, and it’s nice to hear that.”
