The Original Coopers Alehouse — Restaurant in Adelaide

Still trying to figure out what I paid for. The logo? The rent? Definitely not the food.

Stopped in for a casual solo feed and a drink. Kept it simple, just a beer, some dumplings, and a chicken parmi. What could possibly go wrong?

$73, that’s what. $73 for a new benchmark in a disappointment.

Let’s start with the good: The bar staff were great: friendly, conversational, made me feel welcome. That’s one star. The second star goes to the building for holding itself together.

Now, the food. After ordering, I wasn’t told anything. No wait time, no heads-up, just a silent hope that someone, somewhere, was doing something with a chicken breast and some dumplings.

Time passed. Beers were sipped. Time passed (again).

20 minutes later, I went up to ask what was happening, and like magic, the dumplings appeared. 35 minutes after that, my parmi arrived, which leads me to believe that it had either been forgotten entirely or they were waiting for divine intervention to cook it.

Now, for $39, you expect the parmi to at least try. You want sauce with personality, a crumb that crunches, something resembling flavor. Instead, I got a flat, joyless slab, dumped next to the saddest pile of salad I’ve ever seen. No dressing. No seasoning. Not even olive oil. Just wilted leaves and dry grated carrot. Sort of resembled the top layer of my green bin the day before it goes out.

The dumplings? Fine. Nothing more, nothing less.

I’ve had worse meals but not at this price point, and certainly not after waiting nearly an hour. This wasn’t lunch. It was a $73 reminder that sometimes, it’s better to just go home and eat cereal.

Would I come back? Maybe for a drink. But I’d eat beforehand and completely reject any hopes of a...

I hate to leave bad review, but this just left me feeling awful, I understand its busy and lots or running around to do, but I never in my years of service have i forgotten about a custormer yes I was a table for 1 but still. I have Worked, managed and run pubs and restaurants for over 15 years and never have I felt so forgotten about! I would have easliy spent over $80 on my own here ( tomaote and rosemary Focaccia, mahi mahi, desser and wine! I have friends who love the food here and seeing the menu with Mahi mahi got me excited ( its so hard to find this fish is SA) Its a pitty the service didn't happen and I didn't get to order, im not one one to make a fuss, I just leave and go elsewhere

I Waited a few mins to get a table, was seat in a corner next to the toilets, had a glasses placed in front of me and said they would get me water and its all table service, waited over 10 mins, never got water. Or even asked if I wanted to order Waitress who seated me, cleared plates from the tablet next to me, walked away and cleared other tables, I was not noticed at all! I then walked out, told another watieress i been waiting to be severed for over 10 mins, she ask to take my order and I didn't want to be there anymore I also saw the waitress reaction when she saw me and she had forgotten me and was just an oops look on her face.

I walked out after that and spent over $70 at the Indian place next door, they were lovely.. took my order, offered me free food and went home with take away, there food was great and service...

Sad to say this business appears to be suffering from a lack of staff, plus poorly trained current staff. We are regulars here, and had a less than stellar experience last night. The staff were not plugged in or focused, and normally they are excellent. We were here with an interstate guest. We were somewhat embarrassed to have recommended this restaurant. Luckily the food was good still, however several of our guests realised there would be no dessert available as the kitchen closed at 9pm. There were several diners still finishing their mains just before 9pm, and no staff warned of the impending kitchen closure. This would normally be a 5 star rating, so am very sad to rate it so low. Staff who are serving tables need to know that eye contact, repeatedly, means we need assistance. Staff need to learn to indicate, I am busy, but have noticed your need for service and will get back to you. Staff need to quickly walk around and let any tables still eating mains to preorder their desserts. We know another table wanted desserts too, and were told the kitchen had closed. We estimate a loss to your business of at least $100 from our table, plus future losses, as we recommend local restaurants to friends and relatives in this area, frequently. Plus the losses from at least one other table too. Overall, it was a sad end to the weekend for an interstate visitor and even worse for us, as we would normally consider your business to be a highly reliable one for our CBD needs. ...