Copper Door — Restaurant in Bedford

So....the Copper Door.... When this place opened in 2011 there was all sorts of hub-bub. Bedford now had a trendy new place. Hour and a half wait times, expensive drinks. Well, after a decade, it still has that draw. My wife, her friend and I went there recently (we had to reserve a table days in advance) as we were given a gift certificate to the joint and we wanted to use it up. Trendy? Heck yeah. Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover, even a Bentley were dominating the parking lot. So, that's already setting the stage and this was a Tuesday! Upon entering, the place was noisy and the bar was packed with your typical professionals and socialites for an after work cocktail. The staff was buzzing around and they were very polite and attentive. Since we had a reservation, we didn't have to wait long to be seated, a good thing. Once seated, we were waited on quickly and got our drink order in. Our waitress was polite and attentive. She brought out some very yummy bread to start (she forgot to bring some more when asked). We decided on some appetizers, the crab dip with naan bread and the stuffed mushroom. Both of those were excellent. The portobello mushroom was huge and fully stuffed, cooked perfectly and the dip was delicious, bread warm and tasty. Then onto the entrees: I had the Seafood Casserole, my wife had the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf and our friend had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. The Casserole didn't hit the mark. The fish portion, haddock, was cooked correctly, the white wine sauce was good with the cherry tomatoes and spinach, but the scallops and the shrimp were overcooked, tough and chewy. My wife's Meatloaf was quite good and the portion huge, worthy of a take-home box. Our friend's Chicken was not so good. Overcooked, the batter coating looked almost the color of dark mahogany, hard and crunchy, instead of a lighter, maybe tan color and tender crispy. The Chicken was bone dry, as expected with overcooking. The asparagus as a side was perfectly cooked though, as was my Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes. So far, only one out of three hit the mark. Onto dessert. Since we were not looking for a full-on dessert, we opted for the Sampler and we all had a few bites. Summer Berry Chocolate cake, Salted Caramel Creme Brulee, and Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake were all excellent and hit the spot without feeling too full after a meal. Kudos to the Pastry Chef. We did have some drinks, nothing to write home about and not really effecting this review. So, I can only give it 3 stars based on what we experienced. A few highlights, but I go out for the food and only a 33% success rate is dismal for a place with a reputation such as theirs. I felt the Chef missed the mark on that Casserole in a huge way and overcooked Fried Chicken is totally unacceptable. KFC could have done better. I could have done better at home on both dishes. The place seems like it's full of people with money that don't mind spending $35 on a mediocre Casserole. Sorry, I'll take my money somewhere else. Copper Door? Meh. Been...

Preface: please excuse this as it will be long!

I didn’t really take any photos as I was honestly just trying to take in the atmosphere and focus on my partner across the table. We all know iPhone quality in low light so don’t think my one photo does any justice to the detail and craftsmanship that went into the meals below.

This was our first time at The Copper Door and my partner and I agreed it will not be our last.

We were greeted by our server Emily who was not only knowledgeable of the menu down to having the specials memorized, but so down to earth and easy to talk to. I feel bad how much I talked to her but she could’ve honestly sat at our table and ate with us if she weren’t working!

Then one of the tallest men I’ve ever seen in my 5’3 career brought us our appetizers, of which Emily informed me that was their manager. She had nothing but good things to say about him and we talked about him for a few minutes. Nate: congratulations on being the face and forefront of such a wonderful restaurant, it’s a great accomplishment and even though I don’t know you, as someone in the restaurant field for 8+ years I’m so proud for you!

Moving on! Our drinks and food came quickly but not too quick where we couldn’t enjoy each others company in between. Everything was exceptional, from the crap dip and bruschetta to the craft cocktails, to our actual entrees. My partner ordered the crunchy tuna bowl and after going to and from the same two options for about 25 minutes I picked the ravioli and short rib. I am so happy I did! The portions were very large and after the appetizers I couldn’t finish!

Nate walked over to our table and after hearing the things I told Emily regarding him and how impressed we were, he comped our entire meal. He even said we could get dessert on the house but I was way too full and unwilling to take advantage of someone’s kindness (although I truly appreciate it! Really!) I probably could’ve cried right there :’)

Nate and Emily; not to get emotional but I’m a millennial so kindness means a lot. I have had the worst week, like I can’t even tell you. I just got back into school, I work full time and I’m planning a wedding so I’m extremely overwhelmed and over stimulated about 90% of the time! Even just having the night out with my partner would have been enough but I can’t tell you the impact you two made on our night. I cannot thank you enough and I can see exactly why Nate is a Manager, and Emily has been there for 2 years.

I cannot wait to go again!

(I’m not sure if this is normal or a one off so please if you visit, say kind things because you mean them, and not due to my review and...

My girlfriend was so excited to go to the Copper Door and made a reservation days prior. Upon our arrival, we were seated in an elderly woman server's section, who half ignored us while she went about serving her other customers. We ordered drinks and appetizers, and when my girlfriend had decided what she wanted as an entree, she asked to order. The old lady server begrudgingly asked what I wanted, and I conveyed I was not yet ready to order and would just share my girls entree. The server rolled her eyes at us, and never put our order in. As we sat there trying to enjoy the atmosphere and our drinks, the server kept leering at us, making my girlfriend uncomfortable. As we noticed the care and attention all the other customers were receiving, we just assumed our server was just too old to be competently serving because of her age, so we cut her some slack and just enjoyed our drinks and conversation. We noticed everyone else had received warm bread and for some reason we had not. As our server was ignoring us, I waved down a random server that walked by and asked for some bread. She said she would let our server know. A few minutes later our server came over and rudely delivered us bread with a comment about how we should have asked her. This is not even the worst part...she had the audacity to look my girlfriend right in the eye and ask "what is going on here?" as if we were conspiring against her. So as we sat there uncomfortably waiting for our entree for over 45 minutes, my girlfriend was so uncomfortable, she wanted to leave. I waved the waitress down to ask about the status of or entree and this is what she said..."oh, Im sorry I didnt put the order in because I was waiting for you to order too" and she said this like she was berating or punishing us. I immediately asked for the check, as she half heartedly apologized. I am actually disgusted with myself that I still gave her a gratuity, because of my appreciation for servers in general. To make matters worse, as we were standing outside waiting for our Uber, the server had the gaul to send the busboy out to ask us if we were driving, because the server was concerned we were drunk (we had one drink each). So, do what you may with this information, but I would give this restaurant the lowest possible rating I could; both my girlfriend and I are insulted, and that server should have been immediately fired! Terrible experience and if you dont trust me, my girlfriend is writing about her own experience, and you can read her review of this...