Copper Rail Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Brighton

The good: Came here for date night on a Friday evening. Upon arrival we expected to wait, but the wait wasn't bad. We talked to the nice hostess and waited 10 mins behind a couple who were sharing some S&M photos with each other. I wasn't trying to look, but they weren't exactly trying to be discreet. The atmosphere was great, I felt like I was placed in a time capsule and sent back to the late 90's. Since that was the best decade next to the 80's, I felt right at home. No issues with the service, we were brought drinks shortly after ordering them. Our server was pleasant and experienced enough to read the table. Allow us to order, answer our questions, and keep it professional. All checked.

The food: Since this was my first time here I thought I'd go with the highlighted restaurant named burger on the menu. Huge mistake. I ordered it medium because you never know which line cook is working. Cooked to imperfection on the high end of medium well. Super dry, less than warm, and not seasoned at all. It literally sucked all the moisture out of my body and I had to order another drink to wash it down. If I was to have a burger named after my restaurant, that's the burger I would invest my good ingredients into. I would make it with a bigger fat ratio to render some juices into it and sear the outside to lock in all that love and season the crap out of it. Coarse salt and pepper with a little paprika. Super cheap and effective. Maybe throw on some fried onions. I don't know, whatever railroad hands ate back then. My beautiful date got the Rueben. Buried in the the menu for some reason, this gem shined brightly as the star of the meal with the, I don't know, ranch sauce, it came with. That was delicious. The meat was tender, the bread was crispy, and it was warmer than room temperature, with melty cheese. The meat was distributed perfectly. So perfectly, the only thing left at the end of its demise was finger length piece of crust.

The conclusion: The food could have easily been a 5. I should have saved up my calorie intake for a whopper or similar. Due to the inconsistencies of making all the food with love, you get a 3. You did well in 2 out of the 3 graded areas for us. That isn't too bad. Would I come back? Probably. I won't go for the burger because I know based off the opinion of 1 guy on the internet that it will remain the same. At a minimum, at least change the name of the burger to, " The 1880," and here, copy and paste this: "This ol' dry unseasoned piece of meat from 2 centuries ago with veggies on some bread. Your choice of cheese" That way no one is tricked into getting it and leaving a...

Food is horrible, the staff was horrible (and understaffed), and we waited 15 min to get our order taken/drinks served, 30+ min to get our food to our table, and another 15 min to get the check processed. We got the appetizer at the same time we got our entrees, and the table next to us was getting wasted and using a laser pointer that hit me in my eye several times (the waitress was aware that this table was using a laser pointer to mess around, I don't think she knew I got hit in the eye several times).

At the end of the experience she asked if we wanted boxes and we said sure and we slid our plates over to the waitress to transfer everything over who then said "oh, I don't put your food in your box for you, you do that, I don't think it's appropriate for staff to touch food of customers cause then I get blamed if something goes wrong". Now, I'm game for taking care of myself, and I have no expectations that I should be treated with such service, but the way we waited for what seemed to be largely inappropriate times and then the way she addressed the food in the box made me seriously doubt ever returning to this place. It ruined our "date night".

Worse was that the food was overpriced and sub-par. If they reduced their prices by 25-30% I'd have lowered my expectations. But, for what we paid (my wife and I paid nearly $50 for dinner which included 2 beers and 2 meals and 1 appetizer) we were forced to stay there and suffer their less-than-nice customer service for over an hour. If we pay that kinda money for dinner I kinda expect better service. If you don't plan on changing the quality of your restaurant and addressing your customer service issues (put a smile on, say please and thank you, offer regular check-ins to ask how things are going or to explain why the food is taking so long, take the orders sooner, bring the drinks and appetizers out FIRST before the meal is served, etc) then lower your prices so we know that this is a "dive" disguised as a trendy spot. Then you'd have gotten higher stars/ratings. I don't mind getting crappy service when I expect it.

"Lip stick on a pig."

We do not recommend this place nor will we return...

After working a smoldering event at Riverdale Regional Park, my colleague and I decided it was time to get our company paid grub on. Now generally speaking, I’m quick to pull the trigger on restaurants when I’m traveling. I know I’m going to win some and lose some regardless of how much time I spend scouring the internet. My business associate on the other hand, enjoys a good game of cat and mouse. I pick a spot, he double checks it, spends the next 30 minutes looking for another spot, only to come back and say, “Let’s go with your spot.” Today the cat wins, and the cat chose Copper Rail Bar & Grill. I didn’t know what to expect from this small town grill north of Denver, but upon walking in I immediately knew It was a damn good call. My eyes shot right, Arcade with a speed hoops game, my eyes beamed forward, sport bar seating with high ceilings, my eyes darted left, outdoor seating situated between decorative lit trees. It certainly passed the curb test but could it keep pace from beyond the grill? If you’ve been following my local guiding journey you’d know French Dips and I have become good friends. They’re there for me when I need a wholesome buttery meat infused sandwich and Copper Rail Bar & Grill kept pace and was the long time friend I needed. With that said, the sandwich didn’t peak premium status but it was certainly good. 

If one thing stood out about this place it was their staff. They definitely brought the small town hospitality! Our waitress was hilarious. We got to talking a little bit and when she guessed what we did for work, she smirked and said,”I don’t know, probably some bullshit sales job.” We thought it was hilarious and I’ll always remember that!

Thanks Copper Rail Bar & Grill for your service. Hopefully I’ll make it...