Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant — Restaurant in Surprise

Walked in on a win today for a late lunch and had a great experience. We’ve heard great things from many people and decided to come check it out today. This location gets busy quick and walking in it is clear to me in the future you are better off making a reservation to save wait time. Through our the experience there were only a few negatives for me if you could call it that. I’ll start with one of those now. Walking in it’s a bit confusing if you’ve never stepped foot into a Cooper’s Hawk. You’re basically walking into a bit of chaos with a long bar type are of people tasting the wine options. You can pay for a monthly membership and while it’s a great option I wish it wasn’t the first thing you see upon entering. I say this because if you’re there to eat the hostess station is clear at the other end of the area near their full bar. Once I watched another couple head that way I was able to get us on the waiting list. It just got busier from there. Luckily we were seated with in about ten minutes. Lucky for us because people were coming in droves. We were sat in a spacious, well lit and nicely decorated two person booth. Our server came right over, all smiles to greet us and while taking our drink order she also gave us some great options and left to give us time to look over the menu . Everyone around us seemed to be having a great time. This gave me hope for a wonderful meal. It was a hard decision narrowing down what we’d like because there was so many great options. We decided to start with the pot stickers. We soon ordered a Cooper’s hawk Ale as well as two wine samplers of the blueberry and their newer melon flavor. This was great so we could try before deciding if we’d like to buy a glass or full bottle. I opted for the blueberry, but both had great flavor. They weren’t acidic and hat great fruity flavor. Our pot stickers arrived quickly as well as complimentary bread and butter, yum! The bread was warm, soft inside with a great crust. The potstickers were not only plated beautifully, they tasted amazing and the slaw type cabbage blend under was so good! As our main courses we both chose the surf and turf one with the pork chop and one with the steak medallions. Our other side was the drunken shrimp we both had heard so much about. We enjoyed or time to chat and sip our drinks while we waited for the main course. Everything came out pretty quick and looked wonderful when it got to the table. Our meal came with both potatoes and oven roasted veggies as well. Steak was cooked perfectly, full of flavor . No need for any extra sauces request. The veggies were honestly my favorite of the sides, but all was delicious. The worst for me was honestly the shrimp. It was a huge let down. It was so dry it was practically inedible. There was no flavor because of this. Was I even eating bacon etc. To end our meal even though we were so dang full we took the waitresses advice and ordered the carrot cake. While o do like carrot cake I do not eat much of it because I find the frosting too sweet and the spice too high on most. This hands down not only looked beautiful when it came out it was the best I’ve ever tasted. It was not super sweet or heavy. It was topped with a few strawberries which gave it even more flavor. It left us so happy and extra full. I wish I’d ordered a second to take home. The vibe is great. At around 3pm the lights dimmed a bit more to get ready for early dinner service. Our waitress was wonderful and we never had to ask...

We anxiously awaited this new place to come to our city. We wanted a nice place to celebrate our anniversary this year. We heard good things about it from ones who enjoyed it. Our experience was not all that we would have liked. We walked in to face an active bar that was full of people just inside the door. We did not have to wait too long for our reservation. It was so noisy inside. We were greeted by our waiter who was very enthusiastic and friendly. He did not introduce himself that I could recall, but he noted that it was our anniversary and they planned for us. That sounded nice. They offered us a free glass of champagne and a free glass of wine as their gift. That was nice. He told us about their wine membership and didn't press for us to join. He saw that we had no interest and left it alone. However, it took him a while to get our order and then to get it served. The food came and it filled our little tiny two-person table, a table fit for only two people having coffee or a drink. The bad part is my husband enjoyed his meal and appetizer, but mine was different. My bruschetta was beautiful and different having a sweet taste instead of vinegary. It was okay. However my churrasco steak was very disappointing. I am not one to make a stink or ask for a new dish but I guess I should have. I wrestled all night thinking about how I hated my meal and was very disappointed. That was because the steak was supposed to be medium rare and yet it came out a little too rare chewy with fibers that I had to pull apart to eat. It had a good flavor but inside was not tasteful. In addition a little bit of vegetables that were served had a nice flavor of the pan it came from but they were so thin and so few it wasn't enough to even be nourishing. And they served a nice portion of french fries but they were not good either pretty on the outside but inside it was very dry and tasteless. That was my meal. The waiter never came back to ask how our meal was or if we wanted anything else after quite a while of waiting for him, he finally came to pick up the dishes and ask about dessert. No questions no need to serve us anymore. I did want dessert I ordered the chocolate truffles and wine which was quite good, however, by that time I was so disgusted with my meal that I just asked to pack it up and give us the bill. I did not want to argue or be pacified by getting something so much later in the evening, I just wanted to get out of there. I will not be coming back to enjoy what I anticipated from other people. Because the waiter did not even tell us about the other benefits from that restaurant, he was not as good as we thought he would be from the beginning. I hope no one else has this experience, however, I did hear a waiter serving someone behind me in their little table too who evidently had a problem but I did not hear what it was. That waiter just offered them a deal, he would not charge them for that whatever they had ordered. I did not get that deal because I did not speak up and air my disappointment with my...

Disappointed Birthday Experience at Cooper’s Hawk It’s taken me a week to put this review together because I truly wanted to give this restaurant the benefit of the doubt. This was supposed to be a special night for my sister’s 44th birthday, and I’ve gone back and forth on whether to even write this because I didn’t want to relive the disappointment — but I feel it’s important to share. I made a reservation at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant in Surprise, AZ for August 13th. My sister had wanted to try it after walking in a few months ago and finding it was fully booked, so I thought this would be the perfect surprise for her. The hosts were warm and professional — they greeted us kindly and even wished my sister a Happy Birthday, which started the evening off on a positive note. We did have to wait a little while for a booth (even though I requested and confirmed one in advance), but we didn’t mind since they handled it graciously. Unfortunately, our dining experience went downhill from there. I lost the receipt but I believe our server’s name was Elizabeth, and we were seated at table 332 near the bar area. She never acknowledged my sister’s birthday and seemed hesitant about letting us try the complimentary wine tastings. When we found a wine we liked and requested a bottle to enjoy with dinner, instead of bringing it out, she immediately shifted into pitching the wine club. We signed up — but then the bottle of wine we wanted never arrived. My sister’s meal was served cold, and when we asked again about the wine, we were told she “wasn’t allowed” to bring it to the table. This turned out to be untrue, as we watched another server bring a bottle of wine to the couple seated behind us. By this point, the evening felt more about signing us up for a membership than celebrating my sister’s birthday. We were never offered dessert or anything special for her birthday, and the whole experience fell flat. It was disappointing because this was meant to be a fun, memorable night for her. On the way home, my sister even said we probably should have just gone for sushi — which broke my heart since I wanted this to be special for her. The one positive note at the end of the night came from the woman behind the wine bar. She took the time to explain the wine club clearly and assured us we could come back anytime to pick up our bottle. Her professionalism and kindness were appreciated. Overall, while I wanted to love this place, the service left us very underwhelmed — especially for a birthday celebration. I’m not sure yet if we’ll keep our membership or give Cooper’s Hawk...