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The happy hour menu is interesting, but ultimately the happy hour drink prices just don’t cut it compared to Valley Tap House and Wild Bill’s. Even though we mentioned a special that was posted on FaceBook, the first server required that I show him what I was talking about before he’d take our order.

As far as food, we had the nachos and I’m pretty sure they are the best I have ever had.

Of course, I am not foolish enough to get attached to the place since they have been nearly empty any time I’ve been there or driven past.

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More importantly, I had forgotten just how fucking awesome the comment section is on this one. Oh, mopey…lest we forget ye.

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Also…and again in my amateur and limited personal experience… I don’t think people really know about CR. I’ve never talked to anybody and heard “Blegh, hate it!” I just get the “Oh? Din’t know it was there/open/no-longer-Molly-Fails.”

I want this place to succeed, much like many of us here. To do so, they have to be good AND people have to know about them. There’s still work to do.

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Then I got to wondering when happy hour was, since that I might be helpful. I asked, and got “3pm-6pm Seven Days a week. Late nightFir-Sat 9pm-11pm.” My inquiry about drink specials yielded, “$3 Domestics, $4 Imports, $4 House wine, Dollar of you call it.”

While it’s a shame and odd that I’d have to ask, this list looks pretty yummy to me and I put it on my to-do list.

Well, last night my neighbor and I were lamenting via IM (we both telecommute) about what shitty days we had. I showed her this list and said “Let’s do this!” So we grabbed our families and tried to beat the 6:00 deadline.

When we got there, the place was nearly empty, which kind of makes me sad. However, it started to get more business as the evening rolled on, which I’m guessing might be par for CR. (And, hence, maybe the happy hour push.)

The same 6 of us that dined here the last time bellied up to a table in the bar area, because that’s the only place the HH specials are in effect. When I mentioned that’s why we came in, a well dressed gentleman overheard me and came up to ask, “Are you Jorn?” When I replied in the affirmative, he said that he was Josh, the (assistant?) Manager at Copper River, and had seen my posts on their Facebook page. He offered me a drink as a thanks for coming in, although I’m not sure what I did to deserve it. I thanked him and gave him a friendly jab for helpful information like happy hour deals and other specials not being on their main website where it belongs. He seemed less-than-happy with the person maintaining their website. Okay.

We decided to, as seems appropriate with “appetizers,” to do this family style and share dishes. We ordered everything on the menu you see above, save for the burger and the oysters.

Highlights: The sliders and nachos are fantastic! In fact, that might be the tastiest plate of nachos I’ve ever had. The sliders are made with very sweet, sautéd onions. The crab cake also got rave reviews from the entire table. The shrimp was also pretty tasty.

Lowlights: The calamari was insanely salty. So much so that it only could be attributed to a horrible error in the kitchen. Nobody would make anything that salty on purpose. We tried to eat them and could not. We shared our feedback with our waiter and he kindly removed them from our bill, which was very nice.

The ladies also took advantage of another special we saw on a chalkboard high on the wall. It’s called the Early Diner Special, and if I recall correctly runs from 4-6, 7 days a week. In it, you get a 3 course meal (I think of your choice) for $30. I’d direct you to their website for the full details, but… you guessed it!… not there. :-/ That being said, they ordered the bacon-wrapped filets and asparagus based upon past experience. Once again, the steak was awesome to point of just producing subtle moaning in delight by everybody who tried it. Yeah, it was that good.

One of the themes of everything we ate was the level of spiciness. While Bill might toss out a “Whatchoo talkin’ bout, Willis?!” to that, some people in my party (wife, son) could scarcely eat many of the selections, including the very yummy mussels. While this is perfectly natural and expected for food on a happy hour menu, just keep that in mind.

The other highlight from our evening was the server. While I have foolishly forgotten his name, he was also tending bar busily last night. He was constantly tending to us, had a great personality, and seemed to know a lot about the menu. Extra credit points for bringing a giant bottle of sriracha without anybody asking.

Josh chatted with us on our way out, and we offered our feedback. He seems to really give a shit about making this a great place to eat, and we all appreciated that. One of the things we mentioned was that the happy hour menu was pretty challenging for somebody with a gluten sensitivity (I would be that somebody) to shop from. On our previous visit, I had requested that the kitchen just sauté/fry the calamari without any breading, and the result was wonderful. Last night, they also brought out a plate of the shrimp sans the breading, which was by no means a step down from the original. Our suggestion was to maybe make those things regular items.

So, while my wife said she wouldn’t do their happy hour thing again on account of the spice, we agreed as a group it was pretty tasty. Plus, the prices aren’t half bad. Again, the calamari was SO bad, I can only imagine (hope) it to be a fluke. We still like Copper River, and it’s bee on our “Let’s go someplace nice!” list for a while.

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“COME CHECK OUT OUR NEW HAPPY HOUR MENU STARTS FRIDAY

TEMPURA FRIED WALLEYE FINGERS
Spicy Pineapple Marmalade 6.95

PRIME RIB SLIDERS
Horseradish Crème Fresh 6.95

¼ POUND HEREFORD BURGER
With Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Avocado,
Cheddar Cheese and Fries 4.95

CRISPY FRIED CALAMARI
Thai Style Chili Sauce 4.95

BAJA FISH TACOS
Guacamole and Cilantro-Lime Sour Cream 6.95

PANKO-DUSTED CRAB CAKE
Chinese Hot Mustard 5.95

CHORIZO & MUSSELS
Jalapeno-Tomato-White Wine Broth 4.95

OYSTERS ON THE HALF SHELL
Half Dozen freshly Shucked Blue Points 10.00

FIRE CRACKER SHRIMP
Homemade Buffalo Sauce and Amablu Cheese Dipping Sauce 9.95

RIB-EYE NACHOS 6.95
House Fried Tortilla Chips, Pepper Jack Cheese, Pico De Gallo and Cilantro-Lime Sour Cream”

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When we got there, the biggest difference I noticed from the experiences I had under the two previous names was the crowd. There wasn’t one. 5:45 PM and we were promptly and cheerfully seated, making us group #7 in the entire place. Yikes.

Cutting to the chase, I can tell you that of the 4 adults and two kids at the table, everybody loved their meals. My tuna was great, the filet was delicious, and my son stuffed himself on the largest shrimp I have ever seen. Most impressive was their ability to take asparagus as large as they have it and make it taste very very good.
The least exciting was what they call “Sea Hogs,” which is essentially bacon wrapped around impossibly gigantic shrimp. They’re actually as yummy as they sound, but the flavor is just too “rich” for an entrée; I think they’d make a great appetizer to share.

Amazingly enough, I’m actually looking forward to returning.

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Please note: I will NOT EVER approve comments penned with invalid/bouncing e-mail addresses. If you posted a comment recently and it was not approved that is why.

Keeping it clean! Nice! [Thumbs-Up]

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That is batshit crazy!

I couldn’t help but go to the Old Chicago review to learn more about the great burgers, but couldn’t help but notice this excerpt.

“The thing I really like about the place is that I can go there, belly up to the bar have a few beers and lunch and before I know it half the afternoon has gone by. I always have fun when I go there!”

All the while his employer is wondering, “Where the hell did Mopey go?”

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Bloggers who are clearly just trying to advertise for their friend/neighbor/brother/husband/etc are not welcome or helpful.

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http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/reviews/2028268

Incidentally, shan (aka Tasha Ericksen) copied/pasted her review above right next to Mopey’s on Urbanspoon (and Yelp).

You’re welcome.

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M Erickson, ever go to The Nook?

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