Copper River Grill: A Generic Experience

My Southern Guide and I decided eating somewhere more main stream would be nice for a change.  A generic franchise with a menu the same as every other franchise.  When you are not quite sure what you want to eat this restaurant style offers the comfort of a relatively generic menu which has a little something for everyone.  As we drove down the road we saw Copper River and thought this is perfect tonight.

I believe the themed atmospheres makes generic franchises different from their competitors.  Over the years I have sat in rain forests, the old west, a traditional ranch, various 1950’s diners and many different themed locations.  These individual themes make the evening interesting and when you find the theme you like it can make for a wonderfully atmospheric dinner.  Copper River caught my attention with its Chalet/Ski Lodge motif.  Extremely high wood beamed ceilings, with an exceptionally large hearth complete with fire, a long bar with a huge wine selection in square cubby holes mounted behind it and long sun room on the side.  With the size of the bar and the dark colors I immediately felt this was a place for a younger party crowd; a group of thirty somethings on vacation cutting loose from work.  Generic uniformed servers bustled about and the generic hostess welcomed us with her generic smile.  Without delay we were seated in the empty sunroom and tempted with the promise of a quieter meal.  Unfortunately the room filled in minutes with a number of couples and their parents.  As I pondered the number of older individuals a couple and their three month old baby were seated beside us.  Not wanting to compete with the baby’s crying we asked for a different table and were promptly seated in the main room near the hearth.  Immediately following us was a large family with young children.  I looked at the other tables, quickly filling up, and noticed that other than one or two tables families sat and ordered their food.  My first impressions did not hold true, at least during dinner time, Copper River is very much a family friendly restaurant.  With my first impression changed I quickly scanned over their stock menu.

The food at Copper River is your average franchise sit down restaurant experience.  I say average because some things stand out and some things don’t; I imagine if I returned and ordered the exact same menu what I thought was good tonight would be mediocre and what I thought was mediocre would be good. The selections on the menu looked the same to me as any other chain: front page was appetizers, the middle offered soup and salad, next some entrees and below that some traditional favorites consisting of burgers and sandwiches. Their unique menu item was a selection of gourmet pizzas.  I ordered a meat lovers pizza to taste their unique twist while my Southern Guide ordered a house salad with an accompanying crab dip appetizer.  The salad was a good size portion of fresh greens and vegetables; but, the appetizer dip was disappointing at best.  Expecting a creamy dip, or at least a creamier dip, the rather dry and chunky crab mix arrived in a bowl surrounded with pita wedges.  I could taste the flavor but thought to order another glass of water to help wash it down.  In contrast to this; the pizza was fabulous.   A light thin crust, with a good helping of cheese and toppings spread almost to the very edge.  It was not greasy and the mix of meat offered spicy and subtle flavors.  It was exactly what I expected a franchise chain would offer me; nothing special but nothing bad.

After sitting down in this franchise, at 775 Haywood Rd in Greenville, I can suggest that Copper River is a chalet themed family restaurant.  There is enough selection on the menu to satisfy everyone in the family and the price is average for what they offer. Like every other franchise style restaurant it can be expected that some will relish their meal and others will be less than  satisfied, but the overall family experience will be average.