Copper Kettle Bar & Lounge

Located within Bryce Resort, it’s nice to know when you are stuck in the snow and in danger of driving the narrow, winding roads to get the resort that Cooper Kettle restaurant will be there to replenish ready to eat food. This restaurant is conveniently near the Aspen East Condo and one can walk here when you don’t feel driving to town just for food. The food is surprisingly good. I ordered the bison sliders; the bread is home made and good for me.

I’ve got to give it a resounding «meh».
It’s totally hit-​or-​miss…
Many times when I’ve been in for dinner, the wait staff has made me feel unwelcome. But all of them, but I’ve gotten an unfriendly vibe many a time.
Sometimes the food is great, other times it’s only ok. Either way, it is a bit overpriced for the quality.
They really need to work on training their staff in some basic hospitality and either lower the prices or increase the consistency of the quality.
Oh yeah, the resort also claims that they have another restaurant but it’s just the second room of the Kettle but with table cloths. Same menu and dress code. I know that I felt a bit duped by this when we joined the club…

While staying in Bryce this weekend, we got sick of having to drive an hour to EVERY place we went, and with stove in our rental house being terrible, we opted to go out to dinner at the only place there is (that we could find) in the resort.
It’s odd. It’s hard to figure out where it is (through the lobby of the golf shop), if you call for directions, you could get your head bit off like you’re an idiot (um — Im sure I sounded like a tourist, but, um, I am), and upon arrival you are asked what «side» you want to be on… same menu, but on one side you eat out of styrofoam, in the other, you get plates, table clothes and candles on the table. I didn’t ask if there was a price difference… i wonder.
It’s pretty clear that this place doesn’t have any competition. The food sounds better on the menu than it is. Im certain it’s all frozen and heated. But it’s fine. We had a large party and no one spoke of the quality of the meal unless asked and the response was, «yeah, it’s fine»… so… That’s like 3 stars right?

Ok first off. When I order a rail whiskey and coke, don’t give me a whiskey and Pepsi. That was horrible. It made me enraged. I almost cried. Secondly, when you have 4 waiter/​waitresses behind the bar, don’t have them all running around, avoiding eye contact, trying to help the bigger spending tables, ignoring my group and the two other groups at the bar. Luckily the manager lady (or someone with some savvy on how to get a tip) took over and helped us. The first guy was rude, ignored us, and looked like he was trying too hard to be a hipster in the middle of a mountain town. Doesn’t work out here, bro, I just want my Jack and COKE (Pepsi, WTF?) and some decent service while we order food. The setting was great, so two stars, and the lovely lady that did help, she gets the other. But Captain Ignoring People while carrying around an aura of attitude, he gets no stars. If you’re there skiing, great place to get a snack and some drinks, but beware if the regulars are there with friends or family, they seem to get overwhelming priority, while you sit at the bar watching mid-​life crisis golf commercials, pondering why Pepsi would ever be mixed with Whiskey outside of a Frat House. For Shame!!! And by the way, the chicken fingers were good. The moral of the story is that Pepsi, paired with bad service, can ruin an entire day.

I’ve been back to the Copper Kettle a few times since the first night with the HVAC debacle — it still feels a tad to warm and stuffy in here — but not nearly as bad as the first time.
Since then I’ve been back to watch the Virginia Tech vs. Florida State college football game on a Thursday at the bar on ESPN. My new fave Ale at the Copper Kettle is the «Stoudts Double IPA» — available in a bottle. This is a strong, very hoppy, crisp, tasty Double IPA (9.34% ABV) if I recall correctly. I’ve sucked down a few of these Ales during my last stay.
Bartender Ann is awesome! She really knows how to make some good drinks — and she makes an awesome Bloody Mary! Ann had me try a shot of some special vodka they had — I sipped it – it had a really nice flavor.
I’ve also sampled a few other dishes, including their Nachos (average) to their Cobb salad — which was pretty good.

Ordered the ribs. While they did fall off the bone, they were just ok.
Peach cobbler was outstanding. The crust was like nothing I’ve ever had before. It was like a cross between rice and bread pudding. I don’t understand how they did it.
Service was attentive and very good.