Cooper's Chop House & Seafood — Restaurant in Vero Beach

I write this review for those who are looking to try Cooper's and for the Owners of Copper"s. All in all I would recommend Cooper's. They are still in their soft open stage, so this critique may seem harsh, but I believe that you can only get better if you really listen to honest cretiques. Cooper's was recommended to us by some friends. We knew going in that it was going to be pricey. My husband and I who moved to Vero Beach about 6 months ago from Michigan are okay with pricey as long as the food is worth the price. Unfortunately Coopers fell short of our exceptions. Now, don't get me wrong the food was good. I had the Oysters Rockefeller which were good and the Colorado Lamb Chops and I must say the chops were cooked to perfection. The waiter who seemed to be flustered the entire time of our stay let us know that there are sides that are served family style that we could order because the dishes did not come with sides. So we ordered the Yukon Mashed Potatoes and the Brussel Sprouts which were in my opinion the highlight of the meal. However, my expectation for the Chops was that there would at the very least be a sauce of some kind with them. I realized, after the fact, that this was why there was a list of sauces at the bottom of the menu, for an extra cost, that one could add if they so wished. I received my lamb chops dry with a roasted garlic head. Again it was good but for $50 some sauce, that I didn't have to pay extra for, would have been better. The evening ended with a very good chocolate moose cake, I ordered a Spanish Coffee, as an ex-bartender one of the standard after dinner coffee drinks is a Spanish coffee, unfortunately Coopers bartender did not know how to make one. I told our waiter what was in it assuming that the bartender would google it. He did not. So here is what it boils down to for us. We paid close to $300 including tip for 2 people for a meal that was good. For that kind of money I expect Excellent. I think Coopers has the potential to be excellent. My recommendations, and this is coming from someone with 20+ years of restaurant experience, get rid of the a la carte menu, sever all of your meat dished with a carb and a veggie. Make sure that your waiters know what all your dishes taste like and what is in each dish. Make sure your bartenders know all standard drinks even those that may be "obsolete" you never know who will order what. Google is a great tool if you are not sure what a drink is. One final note, as someone who is on the larger size squeezing into a table clothed picnic bench was not so comfortable. I am assuming that these tables were left from the previous restaurant. It was not very comfortable. My husband who is very thin also found it difficult to be comfortable. If your prices are going to reflect that of a fine dining restaurant then be a fine dining restaurant. Cooper's seemed to be straddling that line, wanting to keep it casual so all would feel comfortable. This is fine but then that means the food needs to make up for what the atmosphere lacks. Cooper's has great potential. I hope to go back and find it much improved. Sincerely,...

My husband and I love and appreciate good food, search for the best places when we travel and this is one of the worst places we’ve ever been!!! The service was good in the beginning but once we got our food, she was ghost for the most part and we sat with our empty cocktails for 20+ minutes. Upon arrival the chef’s wife (I’ll call her the manager) was very welcoming and it was a nice atmosphere. I ordered the 10oz sirloin, it was presented already cut, dry, chewy, tasteless and well done when I requested medium. Needless to say, I sent the steak back. Initially, I told the waitress medium rare+ but she stated that medium would be perfect. When the second steak finally came it was still very tasteless, chewy and medium-well instead of medium. At this point, I just pushed my plate aside and ate the truffle mac and cheese. The manager came back around and asked if she could take my plate, didn’t even ask what was wrong with it. My husband started with the clam chowder. I tried a bite and it was really fishy, not sure how he ate it. He ordered the 16oz ribeye, it was approximately 1/2 inch thick, too charred on top, no flavor, tough and 75% fat. Very poor cut and definitely not chop house quality! When the manager returned to the table to ask how everything was my husband gave his honest opinion. She asked if she could take his plate (when it was half done) and he said “yes” thinking he was going to get another steak. After some time went by with no food the manager was very apologetic and insisted on giving us a gift card for next time if we gave them another try. We said no thank you, she insisted but didn’t mention in the beginning that we were still going to pay for the meals that we didn’t eat, enjoy and were very unhappy with. Then she stated she would take the two drinks off our bill and we pay for the rest. My husband said he will pay for the clam chowder that he ate and our two drinks. Then she said I’ll take care of the bill and wouldn’t even let us leave a tip for the waitress. It wasn’t the waitresses fault but she made us leave out the back door in a very rude way, I guess she was embarrassed. My husband never sends anything back. If he doesn’t like it he always sucks it up and eats it anyway, I get so mad! For him to complain and refuse to eat it, it was BAD! We left hungry and went somewhere else. I rarely take the time to write reviews but felt the need...

I have been to Cooper’s chophouse at least four times prior and tonight will be the last. We brought guests from out of town to Cooper’s, hoping to have a great experience. The server we had tonight we have had one time prior and she wasn’t very attentive then either. One of our guests ordered a steak cooked medium and they received a steak cooked rare (We know this from the puddle of blood left behind on the plate). My daughter ordered the bourbon chicken, which we have had several times before and it was good. Unfortunately, this time it came out barely room temperature. I ate the leg quarter and had to stop where it’s connected to the thigh because it was fleshy and would not come off the bone. The mashed potatoes were also room temperature. The brussels sprouts were hot and tasted good. My boyfriend ordered the pork chop medium well and it came out medium rare. His son ordered the grouper and it too was undercooked. I went looking for the host since our server did not come to check on us after we received our food which my salad arrived five minutes after everybody else got their food. I explained the problems to the host and I was informed that we were more than welcome to send anything back to have it cooked more. How embarrassing to ask for that many dishes to be re-cooked. My boyfriend was the only one who had his food sent back because let’s face it, how many people enjoy complaining about their meal and would rather just suffer through. When they brought his pork chop back out, I gave them my chicken and told them they could take it back because it was not hot and undercooked. They tried to tell me that it was pink due to the bone marrow. I explained to them that it did not come out hot and it was fleshy and would not come off at the bone. I guarantee if an inspector had done a temp check it would have failed. When we were getting ready to leave, I was handed an envelope with a gift certificate to come back. A kind gesture, but I don’t feel worth it. It is embarrassing to bring guests out to dinner and have this kind of service and food. I suggest the Tides to anyone looking for a nice meal and...