Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant, an upscale chain with more than 60 locations nationally, has opened its first Georgia outlet in Alpharetta.
The home of one of the world’s largest wine clubs, Cooper’s Hawk clearly holds mass appeal. But the food and wine frequently underwhelm.
The wine club, which claims more 600,000 members, supports the restaurants, and the restaurants push the club. From the moment you walk into the Alpharetta location, they’re trying to sell you a membership.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Despite the sales pitch, Cooper’s Hawk makes a great first impression. Customers enter from the parking lot into a modern wine shop dominated by a long tasting bar. Wine racks behind the bar and along the walls display a plentitude of bottles. Tastings or full glasses can be purchased at the bar, which also offers samples.
All the wines are from the Cooper’s Hawk private label, and wine club membership is touted at every opportunity. But there’s also something to be said for enjoying a little hospitality while you wait for your table to be ready.
The wine list isn’t huge, but it’s staggering to see so many different bottles from one producer — more than 30, not including sweet wines, spiced wines, sangria and other options.
I found the wines to be uneven and tended to enjoy the higher-end options and international varietals, such as the lux bubbles from France. The most expensive glass was $15, with a generous pour.
Cooper’s Hawk also serves cocktails and beer. An enjoyable choice was the PBJ old-fashioned, a spin on the classic cocktail that employed Skrewball peanut butter whiskey and was served with a sidecar of sweet red wine (the jam equivalent in the PBJ). It was a fun gimmick that felt earned.
Other drinks on the menu were well-made and full of flavor, including such classics as a Manhattan and a Tajin-spiced paloma.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
The food menu is enormous, with an eclectic mix of Asian, European and South and Central American influences. But the quality of the wide-ranging selections varies.
Drunken shrimp wrapped in bacon and served on dabs of guacamole were tasty, but the seafood disappointed in general. Risotto with shrimp and scallops was gummy, lacking the fresh, light quality you’d hope to find in such a springy dish. The salmon entree was coated in an overpoweringly syrupy soy ginger sauce, and the crab on the crab-crusted beef medallions, part of the menu’s highest-priced entree at $46, was barely there.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
The kitchen did better with humbler dishes, including the excellent meatball appetizer (although it was served with bread that could have come from the grocery aisle), and a solid chopped wedge salad with a sharp blue-cheese dressing.
The chicken giardiniera was a genuine treat, with chicken breasts pounded flat and pan-fried with a crisp crust, served with a savory butter and caper sauce and topped with pickled vegetables.
The service was uneven as well. On each visit, our primary server was wonderful, but the meals were affected by miscues outside of their control. The bar was slow with drinks, and table runners left far too many dirty dishes on the table for too long. When those dishes eventually were cleared, the runners usually forgot to bring fresh silverware.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
In The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s recent exploration of the metro area wine scene, people in the industry said quality over quantity is a key to future success.
Cooper’s Hawk is interesting because it has zagged in the other direction, finding success while offering something for nearly everyone. The wine world is built on nuance, yet this place offers a one-stop shop.
It makes for an incredible business, but not an amazing restaurant.
COOPER’S HAWK WINERY AND RESTAURANT
1 out of 4 stars (good)
Food: American
Service: very good typically, but often slow
Noise level: low to moderate
Recommended dishes: drunken shrimp, crispy Brussels sprouts, house-made meatballs, chopped wedge salad, pistachio-crusted grouper, chicken giardiniera, s’more budino
Vegetarian dishes: crispy Brussels sprouts, tomato bruschetta, caprese flatbread, roasted vegetable and goat cheese flatbread, tortilla soup, house salad, roasted vegetable enchiladas, gnocchi with roasted butternut squash, sweet corn and tomato risotto, wasabi-buttered mashed potatoes, Mary’s potatoes, roasted broccolini, oven-roasted vegetables, asparagus, grilled broccoli, Asian slaw
Alcohol: full bar with extensive selection of private-label wines
Price range: $50-$75 per person, excluding drinks
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays
Accessibility: fully ADA-compliant, with ground-level entry
Parking: large, free, on-site lot
Nearest MARTA station: none
Reservations: recommended; made through OpenTable
Outdoor dining: yes
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 7750 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta. 678-261-7450
Website: chwinery.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s dining critics conduct reviews anonymously. Reservations are not made in their name, nor do they provide restaurants with advance notice about their visits. Our critics always make multiple visits, sample the full range of the menu and pay for all of their meals. AJC dining critics wait at least one month after a new restaurant has opened before visiting.
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