Copper Boar American Pub — Restaurant in North Liberty

My friends and I drove from Cedar Rapids to North Liberty to try this restaurant. The host was nice he greeted us. We sat at the bar. I asked the bartender if they had Irish coffee. She said no I said do you have coffee? She said yes just black. I said can I get a coffee with Bailey’s? She said yes. So she made me that and my friends ordered their drinks and we got an appetizer. My friends ordered food which they said was ok. The chicken fingers and the pesto pasta. The bartender never smiled seemed almost aggravated to be there. I looked at the menu for a second drink and at the bottom of the menu it said Irish Coffee. I asked the bartender for one and she she said ok. (Which was strange because she said earlier they didn’t) so she got the milk out and frother and the frother must not have worked which visibly aggravated her. So she stood in front of us and dropped this spring looking thing into a shaker and shook it. Then says to her coworker sarcastically “I just love when people order drinks with cream” while right in front of us. she set it down in front of me and I said thank you and she said nothing and walked away. Between Cedar Rapids, Iowa City there are many places to eat that pretty much serve the same types of food. We like to try different places and see if we can’t find a new “go to “ place. But when you have staff that acts like what is on their menu is a Hassle for them to prepare and makes it uncomfortable why would we drive 30 min to that establishment when we could just go elsewhere. So we talked on the way home that this would be our last time going there. It was just uncomfortable and felt like we were a bother. Which is sad that had to be...

We recently dined at Copper Boar in North Liberty for breakfast, and unfortunately, the experience fell short of expectations. The food was generally underseasoned, which made the meal rather bland. The only dish that had some flavor was the omelette, likely because of the variety of ingredients it contained, though it, too, could have used a bit more seasoning.

The most concerning part of the meal was the “breakfast potatoes.” What arrived on our plates were whole potatoes that had been burnt on the outside to the point where large charred pieces had to be cut off—they were simply inedible and potentially dangerous to ingest. Given that these were whole potatoes, the insides were completely unseasoned, and overall, they were a major disappointment. When ordering “breakfast potatoes,” one would expect the typical diced or sliced seasoned potatoes, not this misfire.

The toast was also an odd experience. It was unclear if the butter was sprayed on or applied in another way, but it didn’t add much to the meal.

Adding to the dissatisfaction was the “convenience fee” automatically added to our bill. While this practice is becoming more common in upscale, non-chain restaurants, it still feels like an unnecessary charge, especially since we weren’t asked how we intended to pay before the fee was applied. Accepting credit cards should be considered a cost of doing business, not an opportunity to tack on extra fees.

Overall, Copper Boar has some work to do in the kitchen and with its customer service approach. A bit more attention to seasoning and transparency around fees could go a long way in improving the...

I'm diabetic, so it's not always easy to find appropriate food at pubs, but The Copper Boar has a selection of salads that saved me from the sandwich buns. Their Cobb salad was the prettiest presentation I've ever seen, and though the chicken on it came breaded extra crispy, I was happy to enjoy it with ALMOST everything else in the salad. I'm one of those rare people who taste full-on bitterness when arugula is in something. I asked if they could leave it out, assuming the answer could easily be no if it came as a pre-mix. The waitress asked the chef, and the answer came back, "Yes!" I was prepared to pick it out if they gave me a small plate, but it came to me exactly as I requested. Great service from the chef, and the waitress! She checked back with me over and over to keep my tea and water filled. I have braces, which make eating salad very time consuming, and the tea & water refills help so much to rinse the braces. The eggs in the salad were PERFECTLY cooked part-way between soft and hard-boiled, which I've never seen in a salad before. I saved them till last. Almost ate them first because they looked so good! And to top it off, the weather was beautiful, so I asked for the patio, but laughed, because the flies are bad outside in Iowa right now. The waitress heard me thinking out loud & seated me with a battery operated fly fan for the table! It worked! Lol! Super service...