Copper Dome Restaurant — Restaurant in Sand Springs

(5 Stars, but with caveats… This will probably be my most extensive review to date. This review covers primarily the main food/service and NOT the family style meals on Sunday. I will however, have a blurb at the end to discuss this.)

BLUF/SUMMARY: Exquisite. Food and experience was so good that I am considering lowering my other 5 star reviews… it was that good. Head Chef Tyler Whitson is an upcoming star… won’t be surprised if he gets nominated or wins a James Beard.

DETAILS: Wife surprised me with a Friday night reservation, as recommended by her “foodie” group/s. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, as I usually get disappointed with these types of restaurants. However, I was blown away. Possibly in my top 5 foods/restaurants of all time.

We went all out and ordered the chef’s tasting menu. We also ordered drinks which were good, but the stars of the show were the main food. It was an 8 course affair, with each dish being a perfect balance of plating, playfulness, taste, and flavor - some of which I have not seen or tasted before. Specifically, the chef’s incorporation of pseudo-Asian/Indian flavors (garam and cumin) were masterfully executed and made some dishes extremely memorable. 3 dishes come to mind:

Smoked cauliflower - contained a puffed rice ball that when broken/cracked open revealed applewood smoke that caught us (in a good way) by surprise.

T-loin lamb chop - perfectly seasoned with those Indian flavors, carefully cooked to tenderness and outline cut off from the bone for easy intake. Really well executed.

Gulf Shrimp (whole) - play on Asian flavors were again perfect… served with a sesame/seaweed twill that was as delicious to the palette as it was to the eye. It was probably my favorite as I literally ordered another dish just like it (extra)… I didn’t care that I had to pay extra outside the main chef’s tasting menu.

I know that every palette will differ - but my wife and I loved our meal and experience there. The ambiance was just right - perfectly lit, perfectly spaced seating, and the waitstaff was very good.

If Chef Whitson keeps this up, an award is forthcoming. Undoubtedly.

(Caveat - I need to be honest… our Friday night experience was so great, we heard about their Sunday family style meals so we immediately booked expecting the same caliber. Unfortunately, the Sunday meal was a major disappointment. There is no possible way (Copper Dome folks, please confirm) that the same chef prepared this meal from Friday. The food was elementary, over salted, and not even close to true Chinese flavors. The month theme was Chinese New Year, so it had Kung Pao and Pork Bao… both were extremely salty - soy sauce? - and lacked the flavor and finesse that I would have expected based on Friday night.

If I were to rate the Sunday family style meal on its own, it would be 2/5 stars. I would avoid it (sorry, Copper Dome), and stick to their main...

If I could do a ten star review, I would. What an unbelievable meal. We opted for the Chef's Tasting and it did not disappoint. At. All.

Service was spot on from the time we walked in and were greeted and seated. Our server could not have been more attentive. The bread was served with butter pats molded like honey comb with a bit of honey drizzle and salt. Such a nice touch.

Then the food started coming out! To quote a previous review: "Phenomenal!" The pumpkin soup had just the right amount of sweet and savory and creaminess. I was so delighted and amazed by the eggplant "mushroom." The sweet potato risotto with "slow cooked sweet potato cut into thousand of bruniosed pieces" had just the right amount of toothiness. To finish out the starters, we were served a chicken potsticker.

The two mains were outstanding. The pork belly was so crispy and tender and the pickled onions and caviar added just the right amount of acidity and bite. The duck dish, a roulade of smoked duck filled with truffles and duck liver, was also tender and, obviously, delicious. We could not decided which one was our favorite.

The same was true with dessert. Was the chestnut cake or the namesake dessert, the Copper Dome, our fave? Perhaps more research is needed.

Wine selection was minimum but more than adequate. The only small hitch in the evening was the beer selection. The cocktail list was just as inventive as the rest of the menu but it seemed too Christmas-like for our meal. I absolutely do want to return for their Thursday night cocktail and small plate menu.

The Copper Dome is more than a hidden gem. It's a must-go-to-as-soon-as-you-are-able establishment! Truly. (Sunday nights sounds like a great deal and a great amount of food.)...

We recently celebrated a friend’s 40th birthday with the chef’s tasting menu at Copper Dome. While the food itself was spectacular and well-executed, the overall experience fell short of fine dining expectations.

The highlights were the shrimp dish with its rich sesame sauce and the butternut squash soup with a beautifully whipped cheese that melted in perfectly. The copper dome dessert was a standout, with layers that worked beautifully together.

However, the portion sizes were unexpectedly small—some courses were just a couple of bites, which felt underwhelming for the price. The meal pacing was also inconsistent, with long gaps between courses, making the experience stretch to 3.5 hours. Obviously 8 courses takes longer than a typical meal, but in my experience 2.5-3 hours should be the maximum.

Service-wise, timing could be improved—our bread arrived after finishing our soup, silverware wasn’t consistently replaced leaving us waiting for utensils after dishes arrived, had to keep asking for more water and we weren’t given a menu or wine pairing details to better understand what we were experiencing. Lastly, the music and volume really distracted from the ambiance.

Overall, Copper Dome is a stunning venue with incredible food, and I will be back, but I’d likely opt for the four-course menu instead of the full tasting menu for a more balanced and satisfying experience. I’d still recommend checking it out but with these...