Copeland's of New Orleans — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Went out for my brother in laws birthday. It was my first time eating there. The server KAILIE (I hope I spelled that correct!) was AMAZING! Very personable, friendly and kind. Fast. My problem resides with the food and leader in that department.

First off, the wine glasses had food on them. It appeared the bartender did not properly buff them. Server was very apologetic. Brought us two new glasses.

I got the trio, my niece as well. My boyfriend and his brother got the crawfish étouffée. I requested the shrimp be replaced with crawfish due to my sensitivity to shrimp. When she brought the food out, she realized as she came to the table that both of the trios had shrimp, so she apologized and went back. Where our table was located, I could see the glass where the expo was and the interaction she had with who I believe was a manager. They were discussing the proble and he was very rude with her. She came back, face hot and looking like she had been scolded and told me they don’t typically do modifications on the weekends, but they would This time. I told her the chicken and the fish was fine, if they could just change the noodles and put crawfish on it instead of shrimp that would be ok. She went to the manager, then the manager sent her back to me with the plate with only chicken and fish on it. They had taken the noodles off. I had not eaten off of this yet, and the plate was disheveled. He told her to tell me to start eating that and then they would bring the noodles and crawfish out later. I said that’s fine because I don’t like to cause a problem. At this point, the food was room temperature. As I started to eat, that’s when I noticed there was a black curly hair on the biscuit. I would like to think this is a higher end restaurant than your typical Burger King or Chili’s, so the problems that kept coming up were very unexpected. I gave the server the dish, and then my boyfriend asked if I could just get a new meal completely. Again, she was wonderful. She was very kind, I do not blame her at all. I ordered the crawfish étouffée instead, and after about 20 minutes, I finally got a complete meal. The meal was very hot, so I know it came straight from the kitchen. We finished our wine, ordered dessert. Boxed everything up and left. Took care of the server because she was great. But there’s some things I really need to complain about here.

This being a relatively pricey restaurant, I would never expect two wine glasses to both have food crusted on the sides of it. The hair on the biscuit. Sending out a plate that’s half made, Because it wasn’t made properly the first time. And cold at that point. watching through the glass, a manager, or whoever that guy was, scolding a server because of a customers request. Also, this peaceful environment was disturbed by his yelling and loudness while he was on expo. I worked service industry for 17 years. I understand things happen. But a place like that I was just shocked. KAILIE, you were awesome. I would have sat and had a beer with you girl, hope you made a ton of money tonight. But copelands, put some hair nets and beard nets on your cooks and expo. Don’t send out a half completed dish, room temp. And please buff your wine glasses…. And be kind to your servers! I was very excited to go here. My birthday is next week, and that’s where I wanted to go. Now that I’ve seen firsthand my experience, I am questioning if I wanna go back. It’s a long drive to be...

Each time I’m in the Jax area, I make it a point to go to the restaurant . If I’m in a rush , passing through. I grab takeout. So my last visit really took me for a loop. The wait to order, exceeded 20 minutes after being seated on a Saturday afternoon. 30 minutes after placing the order, still no appetizers. At the 45-60 minute mark, the gumbo arrives and we are told they are out of clean silverware . They provide the smallest, cheapest plastic spoons on the market. Suitable for feeding an infant baby food at best! Hungry and anxious to get on with my day, I decide to make the best of a bad situation, certain the gumbo would be worth it only to encounter cold soup ! By this time, my mild mannered husband is HANGRY (hungry & angry). The replacement bowl took another 15 minutes and it was cold as well. We’re approaching the 1.5-2.0 hour mark and no entree’s . I get my plate (temperature tolerable ) and 7-10 minutes later my husband food arrives. Still no silverware and his catfish is cold ! He asked for the manager, who offered a sincere apology and promised to take care of it personally. By this time what’s left of my food is totally cold, but I dare not add fuel to the fire in a delicate situation . Another 20 minutes goes by and I ask for the check and a small takeout box. The manager rushes over, apron on, sweaty and apologizing profusely. He offers to pack up my husband’s plate to-go and take care of things. At that point the total bill should have been complimentary. We didn’t order drinks or top tier menu items, just the things that we would typically eat for a quick lunch. Imagine my surprise when I get a check for my order of 2 sides items!!! That just added insult to injury! My experience that day warranted the lunch comp, and at least a $50 gift card for my troubles and the inconvenience of it all. I guess customer satisfaction, loyalty; not to mention customer retention are not important or even a consideration of the business plan for franchised property or corporate owned if there’s an adequate profit margin. There appeared to be adequate staff based on the number of people passing through the area and serving other tables, the kitchen area was busy from my vantage point so I couldn’t understand the delays and poor food quality. I even left out a few observations in the effort to not be petty. I’m not one to typically write negative reviews, but this one is necessary. While the number of positive visits out number this experience, pigs will fly before my husband will ever step into the Jax location again. As for me, I’m disappointed to the extent that I can no longer recommend or sing the praises of this establishment for fear that this was not an isolated incident but a pattern of behavior or the reduction of standards under the current management or...

I'm going to go ahead and give you guys the five stars because I've left reviews before (not great ones). For some reason I can just never have a fully satisfactory experience with this place. Maybe it's me.

For the most part, the food is good. I will give them that. There was only one occassion where what I got was unacceptable which was bleeding chicken wings. There was no effort to make up for that experience. Most people would swear off the restaurant in a situation like that but I've been back many times. I just don't get the wings.

Typically I get my food to-go. There's always one lone woman trying to get the orders out so it takes a while. I always felt bad for her. Don't understand why they won't get her some help. It's been a while since I've gotten a to-go order. I hope things have changed.

A few days ago, I decided to dine in for the first time. Huge mistake. The atmosphere isn't that great. The patrons are loud and some of them obnoxious. I requested to be moved from my table at the bar because the women sitting behind me were talking so loud. I could hear every detail of their conversation. So my daughter and I were moved to another section. Unfortunately, there was a group of women sitting three sections over that were loud as well. I could hear their conversation from across the room smh. The restaurant can't help who comes in. I was later told by a friend I'd have to be mindful of the time of day to dine in here, and forget dining in on the weekends.

The initial waiter we had in the bar area was great. I appreciate him and his efforts. The second waitress I had, who took our order, I didn't see much. In fact, I saw her more hovering around when it was time to pay for the check than I did any other time. She barely gave me a moment to check out. Guess she wanted to see what her tip was.

The food was fantastic though. I can appreciate that.

I just can never seem to have great experience here. I certainly won't ever dine in again, I'll continue to get my food to-go. But that means I'll have to suffer through long wait times. That's fine, I can deal with this place every blue moon.

I recommend the shrimp po boy. It's huge...