Copland’s Cheesecake Bistro
One of the first places I reviewed when I started reviewing Richmond eateries was the Copland’s Cheesecake Bistro that opened at Stony Point Mall, in Richmond, VA.
Incidentally, the cheesecake was good. Rich, calorie-laden, but good.
I have never returned until today. The wait at those new restaurants was awful, and that was one reason… it was routinely crowded. Another was the noise and wait for a busy night out, for dinner. Once the Cheesecake Factory opened in Short Pump, the whole establishment further south wasn’t as attractive.
Like the Factory, the Bistro has a big menu. They both are printed in a similar format, in a spiral-bound book. The Factory wins on the menu’s diversity, and the number of pages. Both interiors have similar traits. And yes, both serve cheesecake. You’d be blind and brainless not to see that the two restaurants are in lock-step competition with one another.
I didn’t need cheesecake or a fattening lunch. We ordered wrap sandwiches.
They both were delicious. But the thin fries that came with mine were… too crisp. I prefer fries that are crispy on the inside, but soft on the outside. These had been too-long out of the frier to make salt stick. Thank goodness for catsup.
The second wrap came with fried onion rings. At some point, they may have been tasty, but these were soggy and had lost their charm.
Who is to say, but could it have been the fact that the plates sat on the counter, for over 10 minutes before service, be the culprit?
We were quickly seated in a 1/3-full restaurant for lunch. The service was slow and inefficient. In talking with a friend, it seems all these Stony Point restaurants share slow service as a trait. That’s far too simple a generalization, but its also surprising when a place doesn’t have a full house.
So yes, good food, but the service prevented it from being anywhere near great.
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