Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant — Restaurant in Lansing Charter Township

Last night we enjoyed an evening dining at Cooper's Hawk. Overall, I would recommend trying this restaurant for a fine dining experience but there are a few things to be made aware of. One thing that was true positive to our experience was our server: she was excellent. Lara excelled at providing excellent service to the many tables she was assigned. Thanks to her, I was really pleased with the overall evening. Okay now for some needed improvements that would make the experience better: The very noisy lobby, waiting area, wine bar. It's terrible to have to wait in this noisy cacophonous place when we reserved a table. In fact all the parties that came in for a reservation had to wait in this din of noise for 10 minutes prior to seating. Why make a reservation if we have to wait for our table when there are plenty of tables!? Is it just to experience the awful lobby/wine bar area? The evening certainly could have started better if we were shown to our table on the patio where it was calm and pleasant. The patio was definitely a welcome retreat from the terrible entry area, however, why the large screen TVs with sports when all the tables there were for enjoying conversation with family/friends? These TVs are not needed and just an awful distraction from the fine dining. Also, no music is needed on the patio. Let it be the outdoors! Last area of improvement: SALADS! They are absolutely pathetic. I paid $10.00 for 3 cherry tomatoes, a cup of romaine and 4 thinly sliced cucumbers! PATHETIC! I looked around at other tables who had ordered salads and they they are all just as pathetic. Seriously, spend a little time and attention to making salads that have some a more substantial serving of tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers. Thank goodness we had a good server who was willing to bring a few more veggies when I requested.

Now for positives: My family members thoroughly enjoyed the appetizers: crispy cauliflower special and, especially, the crispy brussel sprouts. It was a wonderful combination of flavors in the brussel sprouts and they were prepared perfectly crisp and not fried. The only caveat with appetizers is that they are too HUGE. Perhaps smaller portions would be better. The entrees of my family members were also equally enjoyable. They were very pleased how their dishes were prepared. The generous portions of the entree and huge appetizers left no room for dessert so no comment. As for wines, the Zibibbio was an excellent pairing for the shrimp and the Malbec was lacking. It was very unremarkable. The Manhattans, however, were excellently prepared - kuddos to the bartender.

There are very limited fine dining experiences in Lansing area. Thank goodness we have found one. Certainly, improvements could be made to make it a more comfortable experience at the start. Thank goodness excellent service and overall good dining helped us have a positive experience in the end.

I want to add an addendum as we decided to return on a different night for appetizers and drinks. Service again was excellent so that feature of this restaurant is consistent. I reserved outdoor seating and was promised an outdoor table yet upon arriving was told the patio was closed. They really need to have the wait staff for the patio. There must have been the second tier kitchen on last night as there was much more inconsistency with the appetizers we ordered, especially the brussel sprouts (which was a repeat for us). The brussel sprouts were oily, shaved, charred, and seasoned more generously. The first time we ordered this absolutely delicious appetizer it was halves of the sprout, with a light oil, and a delicate blend of seasonings browned to perfection. As for the other appetizers: the sliders were just okay, the wraps were tasty and a very generous portion, and the dunked shrimp were also pleasing to the palette. The drinks were also just okay not as well portioned as the previous evening. All that said just note, that a weekend experience at Cooper's can differ quite a bit then a Tuesday...

✨️ UPDATE | 6/13/25 Visit ✨️ ➡️ Changed Service Ranking: 2 ⭐️ to 5 ⭐️ ➡️ Added Food Ranking (previous review was strictly based on service): 3 ⭐️

We went back to the restaurant last month + had a completely different experience. The service was top-notch, thanks to two incredible team members: Jordan, who was the host, and our server, Kayla S.!

What's most important to note is that neither of them knew of our previous experience, so the service they provided was a genuine reflection of their skills + high standard for hospitality.

After walking us to our table, we happily chatted with Jordan for a few minutes about the menu. I then noticed that the server made an effort to catch my eye in order to acknowledge us + to indicate that she'd be over shortly, while giving Jordan the space to continue to extend hospitality. It was only before he departed that I told him about our previous experience + praised him for raising the bar! He spoke very highly of management + about how much he loves working at Cooper's Hawk.

Kayla S. is a terrific server — knowledgeable, attentive + kind. Her professionalism was clear in her attention to detail on a busy Friday evening + consideration of how to best accommodate guests.

Before we left, we told her how she'd transformed our view of the restaurant, praised her for her excellent service, + later passed on this same message of praise for Jordan + Kayla to the manager.

I also have to acknowledge CH's Guest Services rep, Christian, for taking the time to reach out after my first review. We absolutely would not have gone back to CH, if not for their commitment to improving our experience. 5/2/25 Visit — This review is purely based on the service experience. It was my first visit + impression of the place.

We made a 3:45 pm reservation specifically to enjoy their Happy Hour. Unfortunately, we were not aware that it was MSU's graduation, which impacted our experience.

My friend arrived first + noted that the hostesses seemed very inexperienced — they didn't make eye contact, were tepid in their greetings, didn't explain that there would be a wait even though we had a reservation. When they were finally ready to seat us, we barely heard them call out for us + weren't greeted or spoken to as we were led to the table. The hostess simply walked away.

The server arrived soon after. When we asked for the Happy Hour menu, only then did we learn that they were not offering it that day. According to her, they didn't have the ingredients to prepare those select items, which was such an odd explanation. When, in fact, it was canceled due to the graduation crowd. A fact that we later learned was true for other Eastwood restaurants like Bravo + Mitchell's.

Our outing was designed to be a "Happy Hour Crawl" so we promptly left to our 2nd destination, which maintained its HH despite the graduation festivities.

Now, while we understand a proprietor's decision to make such changes, we were disappointed that there was no visible signage announcing this change in their regular offerings. There should never be an assumption that guests would automatically know that graduation would affect the menus. [Both Bravo (which still had its Happy Hour sign posted outside) + Mitchell's also need to take note!]

For us, this lack of communication speaks to poor planning + inadequate hospitality skills from management...

My wife and I were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. We had never been to Cooper’s Hawk and thought it would be a good place to celebrate. Atmosphere was great. There is a wine tasting area and the place was packed. We made a reservation but waited over a half hour before seated. It was OK though, there is a lot to look at when you first go in. I enjoyed everything about this restaurant, but I do have to say, there is one thing that happened that was very strange. I had looked at the menu before coming to the restaurant. I knew what I wanted for a speciality drink and for food. If you read what is included in their Bloody Mary on the menu, there is a number of things you get with it (skewer of Aged Cheddar, Andouille, Jumbo Shrimp, Bleu Cheese-Stuffed Olive, Grape Tomato, Pickle, Tajin Rim, Sidecar of local Craft Beer), which was the sole reason I wanted to order it. When we got our drinks, my bloody Mary was just the drink with Tajin on the rim. Nothing else. The waitress asked if we were now ready for ordering our meals. I was still looking at the drink because there was nothing with it. So I asked her about it. She said, they don’t have any of the ingredients and she has it marked down since they didn’t have any of it. Well, even though the only reason I ordered it was because of all the stuff and since she said it was marked down, I didn’t want to make a big deal about it so I thought OK, I can deal with it. She did say that she could get a skewer of something and maybe a side of beer but by that time I thought since she said, she marked it down, it was OK as is. To try to make this long story a little shorter, the marked down drink was only a dollar less ($15 to $14). Very strange! First off, nothing came with the drink that the menu stated. The waitress said nothing until asked and I can’t believe that all those extras were only worth a dollar. Kind of blew my mind. I tried to not let it bother me, since we were there for our special night, but how does that happen? Other than that, I really enjoyed the restaurant and looking past the not so good service (a couple things happened), I would come back. It is a very nice place and the food is great!. We made this visit 6-24-2025 at the Lansing, MI restaurant, seated...