Copeland's Of New Orleans — Restaurant in Slidell

If ya can't take an 8 tops order without writing it down and muffing up 2 peeps orders plz don't try to look cool and impress by just listening and not even going in order around the table.....there's no shame in writing it down ...not many people can do that and I could prove that to any server by challenging them to challenge all their coworkers and see how many can take 5 or up orders flawlessly just once... peeps that can do that usually don't work serving tables lol....so there was that....but then my boy only made it worse on himself by still charging the extra grits that he rang up as grits but was supposed to be a side if ham....which he should have communicated more clearly to the kitchen from jump, then the grits get brought instead of the ham .....then a seafood platter was brought instead of a shrimp platter.....both meals not fixed in the fly and by the time those 2 guest got their meals the rest of us were finishing up....and then no adjustments on the bill? My friend should have at minimum corrected it to the right amount and probably would have still got a %25 tip....As the 8 of us had 2current servers, 2 that have waited tables for years and the other 4 were good tippers and even better with the 4 of us telling the server stories for years..... I'm posting this with much love because I know...hell I worked at 3 Copelands for 8plus years believe I know....this is not meant to be criticism it's meant to be observations of mistakes that can be corrected forever and will only make the server better if they don't take it personal and really want to be better which translates into more $$ right....the mistakes of the wrong or incomplete entrees are gunna happen it was the explanations and excuses and the not making just the correct adjustments for what was served....but just a "my bad and a piece of pie" would have been enough to still get max tip..... sometimes ya may want to just pay the 7 bucks for the dessert yourself split it off and absorb the 7 bucks to make your customers happy and still make more than surely not.....but the server wasn't bad at all all and like I said hopefully my perspective will help him remember that he made it way worse than it was because he and I know he didn't own up to it and get the muffed entrees on the fastest fly, they weren't even on a wait only about half the tables in use...and then I could be wrong but I believe he just decided to roll the dice and hope we didn't notice or say anything about the check being wrong....which may have saved face with the manager in that moment but in the big picture managers quickly forget a mistake here and there if all your guest are coming and going...

I'd like to first say that my family are Copeland regulars so we know when the food doesn't look how it's suppose to look. I had taken my mother out for a Mother's Day dinner since we could not go out on actual Mother's Day. When we walked in, we were a bit shocked to see that they were in the middle of being remolded. It wasn't a big deal at all.

We were seated within the 3-5 minute benchmark, which wasn't a problem. Once we sat down it didn't take long for our waiter to come and take our drink and appetizer orders.

We ordered the Bayou Broccoli and the Spinach Dip. As stated in the beginning, we are regulars. The dip looked different in color and tasted sour. It was also really soupy even when we mixed everything together. The bowties weren't cooked all the way as they were a bit mushy in some areas. We had asked the waiter if they changed the recipe at all because it was not the same in taste or looks and they told us how it's still the same recipe. We know for a fact that it was not the same. Even the Bayou Broccoli Balls looked and tasted different. It's like they weren't handmade as they were all same size and had a smoothness to them. When we would get them before, they were a bit bigger and you could tell that they were handmade.

While the appetizers were a bit upsetting, we moved onto our main dishes. My mother had the Spicy Chicken sliders and I had the Crabcakes and Shrimp Alfredo. Even though the chicken was coked all the way, the outside did not give off that it was cooked. My mother was pretty much disappointed. The Crabcakes and Shrimp Alfredo was super soupy. I tried mixing everything but it just wasn't doing anything different. The shrimp, to me, did not looked cooked all the way. With the crabcakes, I tasted too much of the crab. It's like there was no other seasoning or whatever they mix it with. Also, the crabcakes were lighter than I have ever seen them and weren't on the crispier side how they usually are.

We usually get dessert but once they told us how the bakery would not be there anymore but they will still have their desserts, we just packed it up. It saddens us because as Copeland regulars we never thought that we would have an experience...

While we have been here before and enjoyed it, one horrible visit can make you not want to go back. One of our guest received their meal a good 20 minutes before anyone else. When the rest of the guest received their meal, mine was cold. No big deal, just sent it back. When it came back, it came out cold again (at best, luke warm). So the manager came over and asked if I still wanted the meal. I did, as I had not eaten much at all that day.

A good 15 minutes later, it came back out. The manager came back making jokes about how she tripped or something, nothing that I cared about at this point. It was still not hot like you would expect a fresh cooked meal. But I was starving at this point, and I couldn't hold up my guest anymore. It was my wife's birthday.

During this whole time, the waitress would say, "oh it will only be another minute", and then proceed to horse around with the other waitstaff for 5 minutes before going to check. This happened each time it was sent back.

We order dessert, because again, it's my wife's birthday, and I didn't want her to not have a full experience, just because my food was a problem. The dessert again takes about 15 minutes. It was cheesecake, so no reason for that.

We get the bill, and the waitress says "my manager took off your meal." I thought, well great, at least I won't have to pay for this awful experience. But when we start reviewing the bill, they put two of my meals on there, and deleted one. I'm not sure if it was for deception or what. I tell the waitress, and she apologizes and says let me speak to my manager. Instead of the manager coming over, she tells the waitress that they are NOT going to take the meal off of the bill, but instead remove the dessert from the bill. The dessert had no issues besides taking some time, which we didn't complain about.

Why would you remove the dessert? If we had not ordered dessert, what would have been comped?

We live close to here, but I'll never go back after the experience and the managers ineptitude for helping...