Copper Cellar West — Restaurant in Knoxville

My husband and I have always loved Copper Cellar. We have been eating there for over 20 years. We moved 2 hours away from Knoxville but we still drive there every few months to eat because we love the food so much. Yesterday we decided to go. Our son started feeling unwell on the drive so we ordered to-go. We ordered 2 Blue Cheese sirloins with Blue Cheese grits (my fav), spicy mac & cheese with spinach, and my husband got an extra side of Spinach Maria. We picked up our food and started home. When we arrived home we started going through the bag to make our plates. We were missing 2 sides, the blue cheese grits and the spicy Mac & cheese with spinach. I was obviously upset that this to-go meal, that we drove a total of 4 hours to get and paid over $75 for, was missing my favorite item. I called the restaurant to let them know I was disappointed. I’m not certain of the mgr’s name. It was either Jared or Jerry. I explained to him that we were missing items. At first he said he was working the expo line and he knows for a fact that everything went into the bag. He said he remembered the order bc it was 2 of everything. I felt like he was calling me a liar. I told him again that the items were not in the bag. Then he said they were probably not entered into the system. I said, “So you’re saying that this is the gentleman’s fault that took my order?” He said, “Yes!” I said, “It should have been a red flag to you, working the expo line, that one of the steak meals didn’t have sides with it!” He ignored that statement. He was extremely condescending and extremely rude. I was expecting him to apologize and refund me for the missing sides instead he accused me of lying and then blamed it on his to-go specialist. I hate that we had this experience, but most of all, I hate that this mgr ruined our favorite restaurant for us. Customer service is important. Bad customer service is detrimental...

Anniversary dinner was pretty good. We ate at Cappuccinos, which is the Italian side of the restaurant. I have been coming here since the early 1980’s and it’s due for a refresh. Nothing was bad but nothing was outstanding. The issue is that there are so many more restaurants that competition is more intense. Sentimentally, I would love to see an infusion of new talent and a makeover to restore this once legendary restaurant to her proper place atop the Knoxville restaurant scene. The highlight of the meal was the salad course. Both the beet salad and Mediterranean salad were quite good. The chicken Caprese was a solid choice. I vacillated between the Filet Marsala and the Mushroom ravioli and chose the filet. In retrospect, I wish I had chosen the ravioli as the filet was unremarkable and the Marsala would have benefited from a drier Marsala wine when paired with beef. I had a Smith and Hook Cabernet which was not impressive nor a good match for the sweeter profile of the Marsala sauce. We had a bottle of Ferrari Carano Fume blanc with our salads. This is a Sauvignon Blanc that is about as light and easy drinking as anything out there. On a whim and since we had a glass left in the bottle near the end of dinner, I tried it with the filet. To my surprise, the white wine more than held its own in structure and complemented the Marsala sauce much better than the unenthusiastic Smith and Hook Cabernet. The desserts - cheesecake and Tiramisu were both phoned in and not memorable. Here’s hoping for a revival. I will go back but my expectations have definitely...

This is a part of the Copper Cellar Family of Restaurants and it unfortunately showed. I love the decor and the design of the building and the Copper Cellar side. The atmosphere is a must experience - you really should go. Drinks are good, the service was slow and so was the food. I am not sure if this is because it is a shared kitchen with Cappuccino's, but it was noticeably slow. This is less of a "steakhouse", it is more of the corporate menu with a few changes - it has some of the items from Chesapeake's and Cappuccino's and I assume the others in the chain as well. I get it but the menu lacks on the steak side with just a few choices. This could be better- have multiple cuts of steak (not just 2 or 3), it is accessible through your suppliers and the atmosphere is right for it. After having the NY Strip at this location, Chesapeake's actually makes a far better steak - which to me was odd. I encourage everyone to go to the Copper Cellar, you will get that lovely supper club feel which is worth it, we were both disappointed that the food didn't live up to it. Call for reservations - you'll need them and this location has some of the best front of house staff we have experienced, they were great. One last comment, please, please, please, please, please - change the music in the restaurant. Listening to early 70's rock does not fit the atmosphere and degrades the experience. Please, please, please change it to something more appropriate for the...