Copper + Rye — Restaurant in Surprise

My wife and I just finished our evening out with dinner at Copper & Rye, located in the club house of the Sterling Grove Golf & Country Club in Surprise, AZ. The special of the day was Prime Rib along with a baked potato and green beans. Also offered was Clam Chowder. What started out as a meal with promise turned into a big disappointment. The service and timing of the presentation of the courses was sorely lacking. To begin with, after being seated, we placed our drink order. A few minutes later, our waitress returned (no drinks) to take our dinner order. We asked to start with the Clam Chowder. The waitress then asked if we knew what entrée we wanted. Hesitantly, we told her we were both going to have the Prime Rib. Off she went… Several minutes later, a server (not our waitress) brought us our Clam Chowder. I asked the server to inquire about the status of our cocktails. I don’t believe the server had a clue how to go about that. The Clam Chowder was lukewarm, at best. Very tasty, mind you, but just not HOT. Turns out, this was a precursor for the rest of the meal. Within two minutes of the arrival of the Clam Chowder, here comes another server with our Prime Rib plates. We had just begun eating the soup and now our entrée is in front of us. Oh, and still no cocktails! So, between spoons of (now cool) chowder, we are dressing our baked potatoes (butter, sour cream and chives were served on the side). I could tell when buttering the potato that it, too, is lukewarm (butter wouldn’t melt). I then checked my green beans and they were fairly warm (again, not HOT). However, the Prime Rib (medium rare – should be 140F internal) was cool to the touch. The cup of au jus was room temperature cold. Our waitress walked by and in passing told us that our drinks were just about ready—and then she was gone! A few minutes later, yet another server came by with our cocktails (yea!) Even being cool, the Prime Rib was tender and had a very good flavor. However, I am not a fan of cold Prime Rib (or any steak for that matter). After a few more minutes, someone (maybe a manager?) stopped by to inquire about our Prime Rib. By that time, we were about halfway through eating the meat. I explained that the meat was served cool and the au jus was cold. He did offer to take the plate back to the kitchen to reheat it. I knew that would not be a good idea (time spent, possibility of overcooking the meat, etc.), so I politely declined the offer. The quality of the food items was all very good, but the presentation (temperature related) was unacceptable. Service and attentiveness were either lacking or too little, too late. This could be a great venue if they get their service priorities and food presentation issues worked out. Maybe the Chef should be using their thermometer more often (I hope their Chef uses a thermometer from time to time). I would list this venue as $$-$$$ for cost. 2 cups of Chowder, 2 Prime Rib dinners and 2 cocktails, right at $100 (+ tax). Other, lower cost items are available. Unfortunately, this was our first and last visit to...

From the looks of it, the place looks beautiful and luxurious. But boy was my experience anything but.

The place was a little difficult to find. There's no signing outside of the building to direct you to the restaurant or to even assure you that you're in the right spot. -When the bartender approached us, she was not very inviting. It felt as though, serving us, was about the last thing she wanted to be doing. Which she hardly did anyways. -We ordered a salad to split and then he had a burger and I had wings. We waited a VERY long time for our food to come. When it came, everything came at the same time and the bartender never gave us cutlery or napkins. His burger was very overcooked and my wings were extremely dry. The only compliment I have to give about this meal was their ranch. They had great ranch. When it came time to pay, we waited for the bartender to come back and she never did. Never even checked on us to see if we wanted another drink now that we had finally started to eat. We eventually went around to the front to find about 6 or more staff members having a nice little get together behind the cash registers, giggling and talking amongst each other. I would be infuriated if I was the owner. You're paying a bunch of kids to hang out and relax at work. Certainly would not...

Overall our first visit to Cooper & Rye has us thinking about a return visit - always a good sign!

Positives -Mixed cocktails that we tried were on point. Balanced- not too sweet and not too acidic. The Birdie is refreshing and light- completely unexpected and I highly recommend it. Similarly, the Old Fashioned is something new with Brown sugar as the sweetener and a cinnamon stick for spice - again I recommend trying. -The house made humus dish with vegetables is delicious and filling. -Shrimp Fries appetizer is a fun take on fried shrimp. What sets this apart is the fresh cocktail sauce - spicy and in your face. Again super tasty! Our server was very attentive.

Meh/negative -Beers were good according to my spouse. He would personally order there house IPA, but "he wouldn't order it for his friends complementary" -BLT salad meh. Nothing special and nothing bad. Don't waste your money. The patio...the patio facing the setting sun, so it's in your face the ENTIRE sun. It is, however, preferable to the noisy din of the indoor seating. This is an obvious area for...