Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant — Restaurant in Springfield

I traveled from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Springfield, Illinois, for my father's birthday today (July 3, 2017). Once I arrived in Springfield, Illinois, I went to dinner with my mother and father. My father asked that we dine at his favorite restaurant (before tonight), Cooper's Hawk.

I made a dinner reservation for 7 pm in my name. I arrived with my party at 6:45 pm. We were told we could not be seated until 7 pm. We were told the restaurant was full. We sat and watched as walk-ins were given tables before us.

We kept asking the hostess when we would be seated, to which she continually replied in a very rude tone, "Don't you know what time it is? You will be seated at the time you made your reservation for."

When we were finally seated at 7:05 pm, we were shocked to find out the restaurant was less than half full. The hostess, who had already been rude, abrasive and hostile, told us that all of the other tables were reservations waiting to be seated.

We asked for a manager. The manager on duty was rude and abrasive as well. He told us that it would "overwhelm" the kitchen if all of the reservations were seated early. When I told the manager on duty that I was appalled he would even make that excuse, he became argumentative and combative. He started to ask me, "Have you ever even worked in the.." and my mother cut him off.

The manager on duty left our table. He came back a few moments later to notify us that he spoke to the General Manager, and the young woman who was the hostess was sent home "for an hour," because of her "bad attitude." It was inappropriate, uncomfortable and weird, for him to even tell us this.

We ordered immediately. Our main entrees were not even served until after 8 pm. In fact, the only reason they came out at all is because the manager on duty stopped by our table, and we told him we still didn't have our main entrees.

Once our food finally came out, over an hour after ordering it, the food was cold. I had ordered the Filet Mignon, which did not have the broccoli side I had ordered with it. I never did receive my broccoli side. I ordered my steak without salt due to a dietary restriction (medical condition), and my steak was served with salt on it.

We paid our check and left quickly. While waiting for my mother in the front entrance area, the manager on duty came up to me again and asked, "Is there something else?" I told him, "This was totally unacceptable tonight, I will be in touch with your corporate offices."

I would highly encourage your management to review the security footage, to see that everything I have stated is true. I will never, ever eat in this restaurant again, and I will very highly encourage others to...

Wanted to order for pickup. Wife used the website chwinery.com at 3:30p on a Saturday. Got the items in the cart and a message said "Springfield is experiencing high order volume and cannot immediately start your order." And that's it. She wasn't offered options for when it COULD be started, that it'd be added to a que and would be done at : , nothing. There was nothing to continue the process.

So at 4:45pm I called the restaurant and said I wanted to place an order for pickup. Was told to use the website. I went to the website and got to the exact same place the wife did. Same message (screen shot included here).

So I called the restaurant back and said I was told to use the website and the website tells me you're too busy to start the order immediately with no option to start it later or pick it up at a later time. The woman I spoke to just said "Ya, I'm sorry, our system checks every 15 minutes to see how busy we are. All I can really say is keep trying." I told her that'd be a no and it is a no, for us.

The bottom line? It's a poorly designed website flow. Every single meal they make has a known time to prepare which can be expressed in minutes. Put that number in a database somewhere and have the app start calculating that when we are adding the items to our cart. Then, have these amazing digital systems be tracking how "busy" your restaurant is at 3:30p and use all the numbers to calculate an approximate pick-up time with some restaurant buffer time. That's it.

So instead of "Springfield is experiencing high order volume and cannot immediately start your order" go ahead and say that AND THEN add "Your order will be available for pickup at 5:00pm (or whatever). Do you want to continue?" And then we, the consumer, just decides from there what we want to do. It'd be better than making the would-be customer practice their persistence skills to spend money with them. Nothing they make, nothing, is worth having to "keep trying" to use their website ordering process.

Can't blame this one on worker shortage. It's just a really poorly designed website...

Cooper's Hawk is an excellent addition to the Springfield community. While a chain restaurant, it has the feel of a fine-dining establishment. Their wines are varied and accessible no matter the palate trying them and the staff is fairly knowledgeable. If you are new to wines, I recommend trying a few in the tasting room first. The recommended pairings on their menu are fairly pedestrian, but serviceable. If you are unsure, ask your waiter and sample a couple options before settling on a wine.

Turning to food, I highly recommend the crab cakes. They are the best I have had outside the Baltimore area! Any of the crusted filet medallions are also worth the splurge, with the parmesan crust being the most accessible and the horseradish crust being my favourite. When we are feeling more thrifty, the Gnocci Carbonara is an easy to enjoy offering that is deep in flavor and rich in mouthfeel. We can easily split one order with an appetizer and dessert and feel satisfied. The Chicken Picatta is also highly recommended, with the zesty, creamy lemon sauce hitting a wonderful note with the crisp Pinto Grigio they offer.

For dessert, try any of their sparkling wines. My palate finds their fruit offerings too sweet, but many rave about them! The cheesecake bites provide the perfect sweet and tangy end to a meal if you want just a bit of sweet that won't break the bank.

Overall, I highly recommend Cooper's Hawk, whether for a business lunch, date, or celebratory dinner. The service is first rate, letting you savor and enjoy if called for or getting your food quickly and efficiently if you are on the clock. The staff is very knowledgeable and courteous, making sure you have a great dining experience. The only slight negative is that the tasting bar can get quite crowded and it can be difficult to attract attention. If you want to really taste the wines, avoid Friday or Saturday nights and you will have a much...