https://www.coopershawkwinery.com/
Overall GrubGrade A
The Breakdown:
Atmosphere: Grade A+: A word of advice for any of you on the wagon…you’re not going to want to schedule your next AA meeting at Cooper’s Hawk at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. The simple, contemporary décor might be perfect, and the generous table spacing might provide you with enough privacy to carry on a conversation, but oh how you’d be tempted. That’s because there’s wine everywhere at Cooper’s Hawk. Whether it’s in the lobby/waiting area where (at least on the day we visited) there may be 20 to 40 people crowded around the bars sampling some of Cooper’s vast wine selection. Plus, at nearly every table there’s wine being consumed. If you’re into your vino, then Cooper’s Hawk should be at the top of your favorite dining establishments. The restaurant was pretty busy when we visited, but the interior is so spacious that most of the noise seems to linger in the background, allowing you and your guest the ability to carry on a conversation. Cooper’s Hawk is simultaneously contemporary looking yet simply decorated. Bare walls and dark wood with muted lighting really set a nice scene for some good eats, and Cooper’s Hawk would be a nice place to take a date if you want to come off impressive.
High marks: Nearly perfect in design and decor
Low marks: Parking at Easton Town Center is always a chore
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Service: Grade A: Our server, David, was spectacular. He was very friendly and sociable without coming off as silly or as a buffoon. He showed up table side shortly after we were seated and introduced himself and gave us a brief rundown of the menu before taking our drink order. That is exactly how it should be done. We always find it frustrating when a server arrives at our table immediately after we’re seated and asks for our drink order. How about you let us open our menus first, huh? David ran our service like he majored in it in college. Another nice touch added by David is that he crouched by our table when he spoke with us. That way he was eye level and we could hear each other without raising our voices. It was a really nice touch that we usually don’t see in most restaurants.
High marks: Personality and attention to detail
Low marks: None
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Food/Spirits: Grade A: Now for the good part. First off, Cooper’s Hawk has a pretty robust menu. If you are at all indecisive with your food selections, you’d be wise to visit the restaurant’s website before stopping in to explore the menu. And if you are a winer, there’s a boat load of wine selections to choose from. We started off ordering the Over the Border Egg Rolls for an appetizer and Katina opted for an Island Mojito to drink while I ordered the house brewed Cooper’s Hawk Ale. The egg rolls were amazing. Much bigger than anticipated, these egg rolls break from the traditional 99% veggie, 1% meat formula that most egg rolls seem to employ. Stuffed with seasoned chicken, these egg rolls were devoid of all veggies except for the corn contained in the corn and black bean relish. The egg rolls were served with 3 sauces: cilantro ranch, tomatillo salsa, and a cashew sauce. Yeah, we thought we misread that on the menu as well – cashew sauce? Gross, right? Wrong! Of the 3 sauces, that cashew sauce was by far the best, although all 3 sauces were excellent. There’s really no point in describing them – just order the egg rolls when you visit and see for yourself. Katina’s Island Mojito was smooth with a huge pineapple presence and no alcohol bite. If you favor pineapple, don’t order this drink – you won’t be able to stop drinking them and might find yourself unwittingly tatered. The Cooper’s Hawk Ale was really smooth with just a hint of hops but a big malt presence, which is just how I like them and probably why I sucked down 2 of them. For entrees, Katina got out of her comfort zone and ordered Fish and Chips. If you follow this blog you know that was sarcasm. The fish were nicely battered and thick cod filets that were perfectly cooked and served with some lightly seasoned and crispy fries. The fish also came with a sriracha mayo and the traditional tartar sauce. And as awesome as all the rest of the food tasted at Cooper’s Hawk, their tartar sauce blows. The tartar sauce was way out of balance and had an overwhelming pickle flavor. I ordered the Chef’s recommendation, braised short rib cannelloni. This was maybe the 2nd or 3rd dish I’ve had where I thought that I had made a mistake after taking the first bite. There was a flavor that my mouth couldn’t decide whether it liked or not when I first bit into the dish. But like those other dishes, the more I ate the better it tasted until I was tempted to wipe my plate clean with my dinner napkin, hold it above my open mouth, and wring out every last drop of the dish into my gaping food hole. But I’m not an animal after all, so I decided to share Katina’s dessert instead. She ordered the banana ice cream sandwich. If you like bananas, this is the dessert for you. It pretty much describes itself, doesn’t it?
High marks: Entrees, drinks, appetizer, cashew sauce, etc, etc, etc
Low marks: Horrible tartar sauce, but Katina doesn’t eat tartar sauce anyway so no loss
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Value: Grade A: Appetizer, entree, one drink for the lightweight and two beers for me – add on a tasty desert and we expected to hit well over $100 before tip, especially considering the quality of the food and the overall upscale experience. We barely broke $80. That was substantially lower than we were expecting, so we have to score Cooper’s Hawk an A+ for value.
High marks: High quality and extremely reasonable prices
Low marks: None …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Technical: Grade B: The website for Cooper’s Hawk is fairly robust. The entire menu is available to view online. You can also make reservations, buy some of their house made wine, or see what’s happening in many of their wine clubs. The ability to order food is not provided on the website, but Cooper’s Hawk is not really a take-out kind of place.
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Autism Friendly Score 6: Although Cooper’s Hawk probably wouldn’t be near the top of your list to dine if you’re towing around your little friend on the spectrum, if you did decide to pop in, fear not. With the simple décor and online kids and gluten-free menus, you could certainly do worse than stopping by Cooper’s Hawk. We would just recommend not going during “peak” hours because the place gets packed and can get a little noisy.
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