Monday, November 22, 2010
Coopacabana
This is a bar with an identity crisis. Mr. Barry Manilow proudly proclaims the Copacabana "the hottest spot north of Havana." This bar is apparently owned by the Cooper family, hence the clever play on the name. Either way, you would assume with a name like that, that we would get a tropical themed bar. I understand naming conventions don't dictate exactly what you find in a bar...I at the very least expected it to be full of enough Jimmy Buffett references to make any Parrothead feel at home. This bar however, aside from a few stray neon palm trees and a Margaritaville street sign, has none of those things. The bar looks like an old building that was never intended to hold a bar, and has never even been given the slightest thought of a remodel. There are pictures of Elvis everywhere, along with a painting of what appeared to be Frank Sinatra? Add to that an entire Hawkeye themed room, and a bunch of "Shamrock Alley" signs, and a giant "countdown to St. Patricks day" behind the bar, and we have a serious identity problem. There are way too many dart boards here, and what appeared to be a dart tournament going on. In addition, we clearly were the only people in the bar who were not regulars...and this was a Saturday night! Thank god for cherry bombs or Jen and I would have felt so akward we would have dashed for the door without so much as a drop of beer in our bellies. Speaking of our bellies; we were under the impression they served food but didn't get that vibe that they actually did while we were there. On the way out we did notice microwaves and toaster ovens in a random wide open area that was very much NOT a kitchen. I'm not saying this bar doesn't have any reedeeming qualities...wait, I am saying that, nevermind. Oh - but the bartender did her best to be friendly on her first night working there; I suppose that is a plus.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This entry clearly shows your lack of knowledge of Cedar Rapids bars. This bar used to be known as Denny's Green Square and was an absolute sh*t hole. The current owner(s) knocked out walls to make it more open and cleaned it up to resemble nothing of what it used to be. What you term as an 'identity crisis' is actually just variety to give people different atmospheres and things to do within one bar. During the summer the bar has a much more tropical feel and darts are the most popular draw for customers. It also has the only full-length regulation sized shuffleboard in town which you failed to mention. If you're going to judge a bar after a one and only visit then your 'mission' is a nice concept that is poorly executed.
ReplyDeleteI actually welcome the feedback from you, and I apologize that I just recently saw this comment. I do take issue with the fact that the review and visit were done a year ago, and I too had noticed that the owners were trying to update the bar over the summer. We have every intention of revisiting these bars and giving them a second chance, but the reality of the situation is not to trash on a bar for the sake of being mean, but to instead say if random people feel unwelcome in this bar, then perhaps they should look at what could be done to make it more welcoming. Darts are something to bring people in, and that sounds like a great idea, until you make the patrons who are not participating feel unwelcome, and then it becomes a burden. I'm sorry I insulted a bar that clearly you are a regular at, but I do so with an attitude of constructive criticize. Many bars we visited were still shitholes, but the atmopshere led to a welcoming experience.
ReplyDeleteThe essence of this bar is felt on Thursday nights. They have an In-House Dart League that runs from October thru March. If you have an opportunity to revisit this bar I would suggest doing so on a Thursday night before the end of March. Every bar has it's prime time that essentially defines what it is at the heart and Thursday nights are that night for this bar. It's too bad that you felt ostracized because I don't know of this bar to ever create that type of atmosphere. Like many bars it has been hit hard by the economic times and doesn't have the amount of busy nights that it once did. Thursday nights serve as a great showcase of what the bar is and what it used to be on a much more regular basis. Hopefully you can stop back in and have a better experience.
DeleteI appreciate your feedback, and we will of course visit this bar with an unbiased eye when we do. Keep an eye on the blog for our review in the future and we will see how visit number two fares.
ReplyDeleteThe Coopacabana has closed its doors after 40 years as of April 14th. I suggest you read this article to have an idea of what this bar was and who was behind it. http://hooplanow.com/2012/04/09/coopacabana-will-close-saturday-after-40-years/
ReplyDeleteInteresting you should comment. We purposely wait to publish many of our blog entries that we write so that we are a fair amount ahead of the current list that is published on the website. We are currently somewhere around E, and have already visited Coopacabana for the second time. Our visit this time was much different in many ways than the first visit, and we will be publishing that review in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. I appreciate your comments, and we were actually informed by the bartender when we were in there that it would be closing soon...so I had heard, and I'm glad I was able to make it in a second time before it closed to give it a second chance.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I even played a game of darts while I was there!
I know the bar is now closed but I was looking forward to reading the second review on it that you had previously said would be posted. I haven't seen it and didn't know if it had been updated or not.
ReplyDeleteA rough draft has been typed, but Jen and I both read each other's reviews before we post. We had a busy wedding season this year so the blog has been hit and miss. Test assured it continues, and I will post that review shortly.
ReplyDelete