copperwood tavern

if you were to judge a restaurant based on the sidedishesalone, copperwood tavern in shirlington village, arlington would win hands down. and then they’d win for concept, ambiance, and the rest of their farm to table menu. in short, our recent date night to copperwood tavern was an epic win. scott and i have long been obsessed with the farm to table fad which is sweeping the country. and you can say you heard it here – farm to table is here to stay. capitalizing on locally sourced farm products and providing an alternative to mass and chemically engineered meat is increasingly fashionable if not downright healthy. growing up in western new york in a farm community, we love nothing more than seeing restaurants recognize the hard work put in my local farmers and producers. copperwood’s ambiance is perfectly suited to its concept – complete with dark, rustic wood tables and outdoorsy decor adorning the walls. i loved the details, all the way down to the mason jar water glasses. spot on. the dining room was entirely open, however the darker colors and rustic charm lent themselves well in creating an intimate atmosphere perfect for conversation and date-night charm. we began our mail with two of their signature cocktails; scott ordered the bacon rebellion (wild turkey 101, house-made maple-orange syrup, aromatic bitters, bacon – yes, bacon)  and i had the bourbon thief, a similar taste to a classic whiskey sour. scott has been dabbling in mixology lately and while i have become a harsher critic in favor of his concoctions, copperwood delivered a well-made cocktail. if you are a fan of warm drinks, they have those too. try the bourbon warmer – scott said it was filling but delicious. our server, roger, was top-notch, and we fed off all of his recommendations as well as those we queried on twitter. for starters, we ordered the short ribs (root beer braised short ribs over parsnip and garlic confit puree) and the bison meatballs (seasoned ground bison with huckleberry gra

disappointment. this is an over priced restaurant with very mediocre food! we took 7 people to celebrate my daughter's birthday and had undercooked duck and tasteless chicken. the salad consisted of a bunch of greens with a few strips of peppers and a dribble of dressing. maindishescome with no sides. we ordered 3 sides which were very small portions without much flavor. desserts tasted stale. don't go!

kind of like the new carlyle, but different- in a good way. i need to go back and take some pictures of the food but every time i go there i devour the food and halfway into it i think "crap, not again!". any how where do i start?

i would say, 4 stars. maybe 3.75 because of the size of the appetizers.

price- leans a bit more to the expensive side. if you're going to go there i would say expect to spend at least 20 dollars although i would say 30 for each person is a better bet. but i didn't have any buyer's regret.

food- ahhh, where do i start? food is of course great. i haven't eaten anything below average. everything was either great or pretty good. i must say the fingerling potatoes are the bomb. cooked in duck fat with bacon and blue cheese... yum! only bad thing is sometimes they have a a lot of bacon and blue cheese and other times not enough. i remember the first time i tried it they didn't have any blue cheese. i would definitely recommend the fingerling potatoes though.

truffle mac and cheese- it's pretty good i've got to say. and i'm surprised i said that because i'm actually a hard critic when it comes to truffle dishes. sadly, most truffledisheshardly have any truffle in them. but with the truffle mac and cheese you can actually taste the truffle. it's a bit faint but it's there. and then i realized that they sprinkled crushed sour cream and onion chips on top of the mac and cheese! genius i tell you. genius.

steak tar tar- wasn't the best and portion was very small. they were some grey spots too. i don't know about you but i like my steak tar tar red.

brussel sprouts- really good. no further notes.

creamed spinach- the only average dish i've tasted from there.

pork chop- the pork chop is a huge single pork chop with mango chutney i believe. mango chutney makes it even better. very filling.

other notes: so here's the deal. all of the steak, chicken, fish, and pork are a la carte. meaning they don't come with any sides. weird i know. but that's where the sides part of the menu come in. so here's a little note for you. i wouldn't get any of the appetizers. sure, i've only tasted one thing from that side of the menu but i do know that all of the appetizers are very small. on top of that, the sides are the same price as the appetizers. mostly 10 dollars. and with the sides, normally i get two sides as my meal and here's the thing. i'm from texas and i have a texas appetite. i actually got full before finishing the second side which surprised my best friend.

atmosphere- so everything i've said about this place reminds people of the carlyle. except the carlyle actually has largerdishesbut we'll get to that in a minute. the atmosphere really makes is unique. it's high class food being served in a very homey type of restaurant.

other notes: make a reservation. they will not seat you unless it's at the bar if you do not make a reservation. but it's worth it trust me. i call in normally an hour ahead. i've seen people complaining about this but it's really not such a big deal.

last thing, earlier i said the carlyle has largerdishesbut even though they're both highclass places... they're just different. the food is just different it really is. and even though the portions are smaller with some dishes, don't write this restaurant off your list. the sides are just the best. the truffle mac and cheese, the fingerling potatoes, and the brussels sprouts are awesome.