Paul Martin's American Grill

Paul Fleming has a habit of founding restaurants and leaving his name on them — he's the F in P.F. Chang's and the Fleming of Fleming's, which sits a short walk from here. Paul Martin's is his American-grill idea: seasonal sourcing, familiar dishes executed carefully, and about two-thirds of the ceremony of a steakhouse at a friendlier check.

That positioning is exactly its use case. When Fleming's feels like too much occasion and Yard House feels like too much television, this is the middle path — a proper sit-down dinner on the Mainstreet row without anyone reaching for a jacket.

It's the quietest of Victoria Gardens' anchor restaurants, and for a certain kind of dinner — parents in town, second date, deal not quite closed — quiet is the feature, not the flaw.