The Grove is on the Discovery Green, a 12-acre park and recreation area in the heart of downtown. The view is beautiful, and so’s the interior of soaring ceilings, walls of plate glass, and an innovative, elemental design that stimulates conversation. This has helped keep it a viable destination despite having lost the attention of the city’s gourmands. There have been noticeable efforts to rein in the once-ambitious kitchen and just play it safe—the signature move of the Schiller Del Grande Group, which rules The Grove with a bland fist.

Nevertheless, there’s a mass appeal here that begins with refreshing and fun cocktails and sexy setting. You might still find a few interesting wines left over from the time when the selection was noteworthy—but the list’s new direction matches that of the kitchen. The pre-theater crowd will be charmed by deviled farm-eggs with chorizo that isn’t spicy enough to disrupt the evening. A daily changing Gulf fish cooked in parchment is reliably moist, as is local rotisserie chicken, but platings are uninspired and rarely change. Filling a menu with words describing the provenance of its bounty only thrills a diner so much; the flavors we once experienced here, particularly those that took the biggest risks, have been dampened somewhat. Still, if you’re downtown and like a scene, you won’t be disappointed.