Copper Grill — Restaurant in Little Rock

We reserved a table of 12 for our company Christmas dinner at Copper Grill. 9 of the 12 attendees arrived on time for dinner. Some even early. The restaurant refused to let us 9 sit. We stood at the front with gifts, etc and could not go to our table that was just sitting there prepped and ready. We asked the hostesses several times if we could sit and every time they said the “majority” had to be there. If I do math correctly, the majority of 12 is 7. They said we had to have 10. Makes sense huh? We knew three of our coworkers would be late. Not one time during the scheduling of our reservation did they say 10 people had to be there at 6:00 on the dot. In the 20 minutes that we had to stand awkward at the front, Copper Grill could’ve made the waiter who I might add was ready for ya to sit, as well as the restaurant even more money off of drinks and appetizers. Instead we couldn’t have anything. We just continued to stand there. The hostesses were unhelpful and never once thought to just call the manager and see if it would be okay. Especially since this policy was never communicated. After finally waiting close to 30 minutes the manager said we 9 could sit but if the rest of our guests didn’t show they’d pull our table?? They did end up arriving. Our tab ended up being over $600 and would’ve been higher. I am appalled that the restaurant couldn’t see that we were a serious table (Corporate group) who made a reservation in advance, ready to purchase food and drinks the moment of arrival. They treated our group like we were somehow going to lie about the amount of people we said would be at our table therefore refused to seat us. We all hadn’t seen each other recently and were excited to enjoy a nice holiday meal. Instead, everyone was upset and appalled by the way we were treated. Having to wait 30 minutes when when the FAR MAJORITY had arrived and a reserved table sitting there waiting is ABSURD. Do better, Copper Grill. And if your rule is to have 83% of your guests there the moment the reservation starts, then communicate that ahead of time. You lost business from a company for absolutely no reason. This is definitely not the way to treat people at the holidays. Not one person in our group had ever been to Copper Grill besides myself and I had raved about it. Not a great first impression for any of them.

I only give two stars because our waiter was great and so...

TDLR: The owner is extremely rude and racist, and the food was mediocre at best. Not worth the HOUR AND A HALF we waited for it. We went last night for my friend’s birthday. We had a reservation at 7:30 for 10 people and waited an extra 30 minutes to be seated behind another large birthday group (over 10 people). That group sat 15 minutes before us, and got their food shortly after we were seated at 8. We put in our drinks order and when those came out at around 8:20, we were ready to order. We sat for over an hour waiting on food with no communication from the waitress who only came by once to check on our drinks. A couple a people in our group at that point just wanted to leave and asked if their food could be canceled. The owner came out asking what was wrong and we explained the time issue. He argued that a party our size, which was smaller than the party previously mentioned, takes time to get the food out. Then he said “this isn’t a Chili’s” to my friends, who are black and this comment came off as extremely rude and racist. He said our order wasn’t put in the system until 8:45, and it was 9:25 at that point. One of the ladies showed him her post with her drink, which she took right after it came out, had been up for an hour. At that point he finally agreed to take our other friends’ food off that wanted to leave. Food started to make it to our table, except mine. That came out about 20 minutes later. My fiancé’s onion rings were cold when they hit the table and his burger was so greasy I could see it dripping off when he picked it up. My fish was ok at best, overcooked and only saved by the side sauce. The owner offered to comp OR do free dessert. We took the comp because we didn’t want to stay longer. Even with a comp the food was not worth it. Prior to this whole incident, my fiancé and I talked about coming back on a date but we will not be back. There are several other restaurants I’d rather spend my money at than someone who is going to insult their guests, throw out racist comments, and act like the service...

I was truly disappointed with my visit. This was my first time dining here, and I came based on my friend’s past experience at a graduation party.

I ordered the spicy shrimp appetizer, which was just okay for $14. Then I got the $30 blackened redfish meal, which was bland with barely any crab meat on top. The fish and veggies lacked seasoning. My friend’s meatloaf was also underwhelming—soft with a marinara-like sauce. She was disappointed too.

I told the waitress (who we later found out she’d only worked there 3 weeks) that I didn’t want to send my food back, but she insisted on speaking with the manager. She returned with more seasoning, which made the dish worse. Then she said the manager would let me try something else at half price. She recommended the lobster/shrimp pasta, so I agreed to try it. Thankfully, it tasted good.

But when the bill came, I was charged full price for the pasta—$34—plus the $14 appetizer. I was confused because she clearly said I’d be charged half. Tired, hungry, and not thinking straight after a drink, I just paid. Once we got to our vehicles, My pregnant friend and I then realized they forgot to return our debit cards. No apology was given when we went back in.

Later, my cousin (who also ate there that same night) called me to say the food was nasty as well—he went home and ate cereal. The next day I realized I’d paid nearly $60 (including the waitress’s tip) for a meal that I never would’ve ordered had I known I’d be charged full price.

Between the bland food, misinformation, mishandling of our cards, and the waitress’s inexperience, I left feeling bamboozled. My friend said the food isn’t what it used to be. Something has clearly changed. Do yourself a favor and skip this place—you’ll most likely be just as disappointed.

*see photos: presentation looks good, but food was not....