Cheesecake Bistro by Copeland's — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

Amazing cheesecake, for some ridiculous reason I associated The Cheesecake Factory and Cheesecake bistro in Baton Rouge as one in the same, definitely not the case. The flavor in the desserts and all the food here is phenomenal unlike it’s competitors, if you want desserts, food, or apparently even drinks elevated beyond the typical restaurant this is the place.

We’ve tried a lot they have to offer now, and it gets better with each visit.

Ask for Caleb or Jonathan when you go and tell them Caleb D. sent you, their incredible. Super detail oriented, both go above and beyond to provide you with incredible service and make you feel at home. While it’s rare to find people that care enough about their customers to ensure that every part of their visit is an exceptional one from start to finish, its apparently not a lost art of the trade. While waiting for our food throughout multiple visits we’ve noticed that they both took the same level of care with all of their customers they serve, a sense of inclusion is felt throughout all of the guest we observed that they were responsible for throughout several visits, they were eager to talk to them about each and every dish they would bring from the kitchen which in my opinion is a genius way to covertly advertise the dish’s the restaurant has to offer, I run into very few servers that accomplish this without even trying so it’s worth noting. Communication is over preached and under practiced so often in todays culture as the key to success in everything you do, these servers have mastered it.

I’ve read the bad reviews that have been left here and honestly I don’t get it, maybe I had a completely different experience the past several times we’ve been. I’ve met the manager, (one of the nicer gentlemen in life that I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting) spoken with the majority of the hostess, Hannah, what up! I’ve looked for servers that were not up to par, (they all seemed great), I looked for unhappy guest, (none to be found) I looked for dishes coming out the kitchen that looked bad, (ALL LOOKED AMAZING!).

We’ve tried about 85% of the desserts, their all slamming, the strawberry ice cream waffles are insanely good, the cheesecakes are all crazy good.I’ve tried many different variations of the combinations of cheesecakes they have to offer at other places, this is the top 1% for sure. Cheesecake Factory doesn’t even come close. On the turtle cheesecake they lace it with chunks of praline. The chefs creation cheesecake combos are the apex of cheesecakes.

I swore we’d be back in my first review, we’ve been back many times since, and all I can say is we haven’t conquered the entire menu yet so we’re still going back for more and will continue to go back even after completing it. Normally you peak out after the first visit to a restaurant then it kinda just stays the same, it’s gotten even better the deeper we explore their menu here at the cheesecake bistro.

So what I’ve learned through my visits; this is an important one so pay attention, if your a coffee person or just somewhat like it, pair a coffee with a dessert, you’ll thank me later.

What I’ve learned is that here at the Cheesecake Bistro in Baton Rouge the apps are never just regular apps, the entrees are never just entrees and the desserts are far beyond what you could possibly imagine. Whether it be the bayou broccoli that is so much more than the name gives lead to the imagination, or the blackened chicken Alfredo pizza pasta bowl that quite literally is a pizza at the base with chicken pasta as the topping, or the vast labyrinth of desserts that have to throw at you that are somehow all unique.

What I’m saying is, you never quite know what to expect when ordering but you can always expect to be surprised in the best of ways. This restaurant is a pleasant surprise in a world full of restaurants that only seek to make food just good enough to take your money, it’s refreshing to find a place that simply wants to give you the best experience and food they possibly can. Thank you Copeland’s...

We went to Copelands Cheesecake Bistro for my birthday, on Friday April 29th. We arrived and went to the host stand. There were 4 employees there talking. Three behind the stand, and one leaning on the stand from the front, back (or behind) to us. We stood there for a moment thinking someone would acknowledge us. They did not. I made eye contact with the 3 facing us, they just as quickly looked away. While standing there for a very long time without a single word said to us, I looked around the restaurant. It was only half full at prime time on a Friday night. Yet there were 15+ people seated in the lobby waiting for a table. That would be forgivable with the issues I know restaurants are having finding help, if the folks that were there, actually tried. We stood for a longer time. Finally the female on the front side and the male on the back side walked off. The two females left, still did not acknowledge us. But my wife finally just asked how long to wait for two. They said 15-20 minutes. We said ok, we will go to the bar and get a few drinks while we wait. That was the beginning of horrible service number two.  Seated at the bar were 6 women that did not appear to be all together, but in pairs. There was only 1 seat left, so my wife and I both, could not sit. So I just stood at the chair to order. The male bartender was talking to all of the female pairs like he was on a date night, not working. He also only made one drink, for a restaurant table, during this whole time. He also never once acknowledged us. He went to the far end of the bar for a while, I stood wondering whether to go to the other end to get his attention, or just wait where I was. My wife was tired, so she said she was going to go sit in the lobby, just bring the drinks when I get them. The bartender walked past me again, to talk to the ladies on the other side of me. I asked if we could get a drink. He said, quoting "there used to be two of us" and turned and went into the kitchen. I thought....OK, strange response, but.... maybe he had to pick up a food order for the group he was just talking to?? He did not return to the bar for quite a while. So I decided to go sit in the lobby myself. I kept an eye on the kitchen door, to head back over to the bar when he returned. When he finally came back out of the kitchen, he did not have any food. So I am not sure what that was all about. But that was enough. I told my wife this was not what I had in mind for my birthday. If we ever get a table it's probably just going to be more ignoring. Let's go to Olive Garden. We got in the car. Navigated Friday rush hour traffic to get to the interstate. Drove to the next exit. Navigated more traffic on the other side and made it to Olive Garden. We were acknowledged immediately. They were on a wait. The much larger restaurant was nearly completely full. But in 5 minutes they called us for a table. We sat. Our server came immediately over. We ordered drinks. The server returned with the drinks a few minutes later. She took our food order. Then I got the text from Copelands that our table was ready. WOW! This is like deja vu all over again. The original Copelands on Essen was our all time favorite restaurant. We went often. It was a bustling place, with great service, and even better food. But then something happened, and all that started going down hill. Every visit was worse than the time before. The last time we went before it closed, there were only five tables with dinners, on a weekend night, in a restaurant that was previously always full.  And it took us nearly 2 hours to get food that was not great. No wonder it closed. As the original Copelands was going downhill, I tried to voice my concerns in a review like this, in hopes someone would step in and return it to its glory. But I got no follow up. And the trajectory never changed. I fear the bistro location is on the same path. If changes are not made, my prediction is that this location will also not remain...

I was left very displeased and on the fence about visiting again. I have never felt as if I were a massive inconvenience to the wait staff and the manager on duty. I ordered the lunch special, Shrimp Scampi. This of course was not my first time ordering this, and I am aware that the lunch portion is smaller than the traditional dinner portion. When I made it to my car I checked the food and the portion size was very small. The 3 shrimp were nice in size as usual, however, the pasta portion is what was appalling. Then I checked the brownie I chose for dessert and it was literally the size of a finger sandwich. It was the crust of the brownie and maybe a bite of actual brownie. I returned to the counter and asked if this was the actual size because I've had this meal before. The young lady at the counter was very polite and did explain to me that the food is weighed so it should be correct. She asked me to hold a moment while she spoke with the manager on duty. As she walked away from the counter she said "Ava" and the person responded "No, I'm not doing anything for you." The young lady expressed that it wasn't something for her but for me, a customer. Ava, then looked and rolled her eyes, and the young lady said stop she's right behind me. Ava mouthed something and instead of coming over to greet me and speak with me in regard to my concern she sat there still giggling and talking to the other two young ladies she was huddled with at the bar and simply stated they weigh it so that's the right size. It was a very unpleasant and unprofessional interaction (well lack thereof) on Ava's behalf. She gave off that she didn't care about providing a pleasant experience for me or cared about doing her job and providing quality customer service. I understand I didn't spend a large amount, and maybe it was a bother for Ava to help me instead of sitting there at the bar, on her phone, laughing with her fellow coworkers(which one has a faux mustache drawn on). The young lady at the counter was very helpful throughout but Ava left a very bad impression with me. She didn't look at the food, she didn't get up to acknowledge me, nor did she at least pretend to at least appease me and go to the kitchen to possibly weigh the food to see if it was in fact the correct portion size. I wasn't trying to return the food, I just wanted to be certain the portion size was accurate. I hope the rest of the management staff shows a little more compassion and professionalism when dealing with patrons. I also, hope if I ever decide to visit again and need something I will not have to...