The Copper Grouse — Restaurant in Manchester

I just had lunch here with my Mother. Today was our second visit and we had high hopes for the good food we remembered and an enjoyable atmosphere for our visit. Unfortunately, it was really disappointing. The restaurant was virtually empty, and yet, the manager (? Dressed in a suit) sat us at the table directly by their wait staff work table. The waitress immediately began sorting silverware LOUDLY 2 feet from my head. When I caught the waitress' eye intending to ask if we could move tables, her response wasn't to come by the table or even to stop what she was doing. Instead, over the sound of the silverware, I asked my question loudly and she waved us to another table. She didn't help us move and just continued her sorting. What I will say that's positive-- the bartender must have overheard what was happening and before we could sit down at another table he was there to help move our water etc. So, we're settled at a new table and we get ready to order. We both ordered the "Organic Greens salad with Salmon." My mother asked if it was possible to get some rolls or bread with the salad and our waitress answered "no, we don't do that for lunch, only dinner." I asked if it was possible to request some toast or sliced bread with butter for a fee as the have sandwiches/ flatbread on the menu, her answer "no." I asked if she might check with the kitchen, her response: "No, we don't have bread at lunch." At this point I seriously considered getting up and leaving but we just sucked it up and tried to put it behind us. Our salads with salmon came quickly... but again, they brought mine with Parmesan on top and my mother's without any cheese. Two exact meals and there was no consistency from the kitchen. We asked for Parmesan and they fixed it but seems a bit strange on such a slow day that they can't get the orders correct. So another positive, the salad was fresh and salmon cooked correctly. I would even give this experience 3 stars, but within minutes of us starting to enjoy our meal the waitress started setting up the table next to us for a wedding tasting. As she is incapable of any tact, she was slamming plate after plate around the table and when she passed by our table her butt knocked it. Her actions were so disruptive and unsettling, we stopped eating. After 2 minutes of trying to get back to our meal and ignore her, we gave up and asked for the check. The manager (?) came by at this point to drop something at the wedding tasting table and also ask how our meal was. We told him the truth, that the whole experience was unpleasant and strange. His response: "We have to work. We have a wedding tasting we have to set up for and we always use this table." No apology, just the blatant statement with a blank face. When I asked him when the tasting was he said 3pm. As it was 2:15, I asked if he thought maybe he should delay setup for 5 min until we'd finished eating? His response, a shrug and we have to work. He then walked away. The waitress showed up with our bill and said they'd taken 20% off but again no apology. I have to say the hospitality IQ of this place is 0. If I managed this restaurant, I'd promote the bartender and fire the rest... total fail on customer experience....

I never like to be one to give low star reviews but we tried to get in here a month ago and couldn't. This review is based purely on food, service and price. We were excited to be able to make reservations and arrived on time. First off, the service was great. Very appropriate for the packed dining room. Our server was attentive and friendly. There was no wait whatsoever for our table. We got starters which was the cheese board, and salmon rillette. Very good for both. We enjoyed the flavors of the choices of cheese, crackers and fruit and the presentation of the food was beautiful. We ordered the Butcher Block which is the chefs choice. This happened to be the prime rib. First off, to us, the main event of our dinner is the meat. Yes, the vegetables were hot, fresh and very good, but the meat is what we as a couple look forward to. We are never opposed to paying the price for not just a "good" steak but a steak we will talk about for months. (Ex.: The Foundry in Killington, VT. We STILL talk about that steak See my review) This prime rib was $80. $80. There was no flavor and it was seriously the THINNEST steak we had ever ordered. To scale it, Our butter knife was thicker. It was hot and fresh, but there was just no taste to it. I am going to leave that alone. It still angers me. I got the roasted chicken breast with a side of mashed potatoes, and ratatouille. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the mashed potatoes were probably the best I ever had other than my own homemade. For dessert, again, we were not impressed. We got the chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. It was a big cookie and the ice cream was very good. However, again, the cookie was cold. Had the cookie been warmed up even slightly, it would've totally changed the whole taste and over all presentation. I got the blueberry cobbler. Now, ya'll know me...I'm from TN and you know that I know a good COBBLER comes a with warm, soft breading topped with granola or with a brown sugar and oats topping. This was topped with granola. Hard, crunchy granola. I was so excited to dig into some type of breading but no. Just blueberries, hot and topped with plain 'ol granola. Don't call it cobbler if there's no cobbler! Google it! Or better yet, call a southern grandma and ask her what makes a cobbler a cobbler! So, in closing, it was nice, clean and cozy. Obviously, you are in an affluent area and expect the usual crowd. This didn't bother us, people were friendly and though we didn't wear our Armani or Louis Vuitton this trip, we were treated well. But the total price for the food we got was unacceptable. Wealthy or not, you still pay with your hard earned money and expect quality. We did not receive that. Final bill $286 plus a $60 tip. Note: this was our anniversary dinner. I did not get pictures of the main course due to a wedding distraction in...

Wanted to treat my buddies to an amazing dinner and pretty much anything and everything in the menu. The appetizers were not bad. But the pita dish was not edible then we ordered multiple drink's that we had to wait for on top of my martini coming out wrong it wasn't consistent with getting drinks for us. We talked to the waitress several of times saying what was wrong and its not her fault but the manager never came over he kept looking at us and didn't care we were having a bad time. Then I ordered a second course of soups and they forget to send them out. At this point the manager was totally aware we were not to happy. But I'm not mad. Just disappointed. As the manager still sits at the bar and keeps running in the back to hide. It would of been nice for him to come over. I then order our 3rd round of food and we ordered multiple entrees because we wanted to try them all. Food came out looked nice. The pork was excellent the burger was good then the chicken tasted off and we didn't want to eat it. We also had the lamb shank and it looked great untill we tried it. Super bland no flavoring and not worth eating. So after all this we still thought the manager would of came over and talked with us. But he hid and let the waitress take the heat. Overall I have fun anywhere and always spend money my bill was over 300 for 3 people and had a bad experience with food. The waitress felt bad but the didn't affect my tip. Who ever is managing that place literally is inexperienced and a coward to come over and say sorry. Also not taking anything of the bill after we complained. So I will make sure everyone knows I had to pay full bill. And this place is ran poorly. But I still tipped the waitress 50% because i would of spent 700 and due to the managers lack of care we wanted to leave. Hope he reads this and reaches out because he needs to learn not to be coward and make his waitress take the heat of...