The Copper Fish

Excellent seafood and service.

A little disappointed I didn’t order the $ 5.00 pizza! Good thing my dining partner did so I took a bite out of hers and enjoyed it!!! As for my dish. fish tacos with salmon. It was okay. The fish was a little bland. The fries were great. After scooping slices from my dining partners plate, eating one of my tacos, and going in on those crunchy delish fries… I opted for a slice of Italian Rum Cake as if my stomach needed more expansion. Glad I went in for the dessert. This cake was where the party was all along. I thought I would need a to-​go box before the waitress brought the cake because I was truly stuffed from the entrée. Well before I could to-​go box the cake was long gone and so was I!!!

Dried out corn bread and dessert. Not much selection for sides, salmon was tasty. Expensive for the quality of food.

The oyster on the half shell are always good if not a little pricey. The portion of mahi on the salad for the lunch special I originally thought was a joke! I swear its the size of one good bite! Im still waiting on a guy to come out with a camera telling me im on tv and that iv been punked! Cant wait to see how much this costs! If I seabed this at my place I would feel ashamed… oh and could have at least not dried my fish out. oh well next time ill just pay for the high priced oysters.

We were seated and given menus and asked what we wanted to drink. Well, who knows? It took me getting up from the table to ask for the drink menu. Fish tacos were ok but one in our party was served a portabella mushroom sandwich burnt to a crisp. The salmon panini ordered by another wasn’t worth eating. Sandwiches were served with a huge portion of average fries. It was just ok. I wouldn’t hurry back.

Food is excellent. Fish tacos are excellent. I have not eaten anything here that i haven’t liked. Seating is limited and they are very busy on the weekends so try going off hours in between meal times. They also have non seafood items on the menu.

Best specials in Culpeper. Good beer on tap and fantastic pizza. Nothing not to like.

I have had the pleasure of dining at this restaurant on numerous occasions. A nice quite night out to experience great seafood and laugh and relax. They have an amazing fish selection for dinner and for purchase. I highly recommend the fish and chips and the oysters. I was also very impressed with the stuffed Bronzino. They will not leave you disappointed with their wine and drink menu either.
This restaurant is attached to an excellent café so save room for dessert and coffee.
I have seen many bridal parties enjoying their roof top seating as a nice private experience.
This restaurant has an innovative service concept. The wait staff share tips which causes you to never being looking for your waiter/​waitress.

My husband and I were happy to find they are now open on Monday ‘s. The employee’s are really kind and inviting. The food is great. We will definitely be back for more.

We stopped in to try their pizza. It’s fabulous! The toppings are quality and the crust is thin and very good. We will be back! The service was impeccable as well. Bravo!

I WANTED to like this place!
but…
Our experience for lunch was immediately colored by our waiter/​greeter who without a single word pointed to a table and handed my companion and I menus. He did not ask where we wanted to sit, if there were more coming, nothing. He pointed to a table in the middle of the room and we sat.
He came back later with a bit more animation and explained the specials and asked if we wanted drinks. My friend and I ordered the lobster bisque and the seafood gumbo, and split a crab pretzel special.
Her bisque was amazingy smooth and creamy. My gumbo was filled with various seafoods and was perfect. This was the highlight of our meal.
Her coffee was almost ice cold, but the waiter was so unfriendly, we didn’t want to bother him.
The crab pretzel was okay. The crab was wonderful, but had excessive cheese and the salad had too much blue cheese.
Overall, it was not a terribly pleasant experience. I didn’t HATE it, but I certainly see no reason to go back.

We loved our lunch. We ate a late lunch mid-​week and the place was not busy. We had excellent, attentive, professional service. All very well trained staff. We came in looking for pizza, but their lunch menu drew us in. The mixed garden salad was very good with blue cheese instead of vinegarette. The seafood chowder was creamy and beautifully. Presented (see pictures), but a tad bit on the spicy side. My husband had the turkey panini, it was ok but the meat was a little dry. The nice variety on the menu of American and seafood as well as Italian and pizza options was nice. We would recommend if in the area.

I really wanted to love the Copper Fish — I love the It’s About Thyme shop so much, and had a decent meal in the café. I’m not sure they know how to cook in the Copper Fish — the bouillabaisse was not really bouillabaisse, and they did not serve the traditional rouille and croûton they claimed to on the menu. I had to beg for bread to enjoy the juices — the good part of this fish stew — and they brought me a chintzy little slice off a foccacia. It didn’t taste truly cooked — canned tomato squares that just sat there. They claimed it came with au gratin potatoes, but what they gave me was more like a microwaved potato with some butter and cream, sliced in big chunks. I think they need a new French cookbook with illustrations. The calamari we shared was yummy, with a fun sauce made from hot peppadews. My husband’s fish taco was a bit of a joke, as well, so maybe they need a Mexican cookbook, too?
BUT the service was wonderful, the wine by the glass was smooth and citrusy (Sauvignon Blanc) and overall, we were happy, but not thrilled. Alas, it is not love, only like.

My bouillabaisse was serviceable, if not served a bit cold. In fairness, we had a large party. But the real point of the review is bartender. Dude could not have been more put out to make a couple of Campari and soda’s. I think he’s in the wrong line of business.

I really like the trilogy that is Thyme. Copper Fish was a pleasure, from the friendly and professional staff to the wonderfully decorated space to our delicious dinner. We just wanted a light meal as we were traveling. So I had steamed shrimp — simple, fresh, perfectly cooked. And the cocktail sauce had the perfect POW! My auntie had the fish and chips, with Mahi. Very unadventurous, but again, we wanted to keep it simple as we were traveling. The fish was perfectly cooked. The linen and steamed towel provided for our hands following the shrimp was a nice touch. As was the cornbread. Recommended.

I’ve been here twice. The first time I had fish tacos for lunch and the tacos tasted burnt. The second time was for dinner and I ordered a steak dinner, which also tasted burnt. For the price you pay this food was certainly not worth it. I rather stick to Outback Steak House or even IHop for a good steak dinner. I do not recommend this place unless you are okay spending a lot of money for low quality food.

Not sure why the reviews are so low for the copper fish! I’ve always had a great experience here. The people are friendly and talkative. The service is prompt, my water glass is never empty. I’ve sat upstairs, downstairs, and in the bar. The waitstaff remembered my friend and I, which is always a plus! Ladies night is Wednesday. I recommend it! Half price drinks for the girls as well as free appetizer pizza. Great, classy place. Thanks copperfish!

Not the best seafood… not even close.
We went here on a recommendation and were disappointed. The shrimp was overcooked and the oysters were a bit too slimy. The crab soup was meh…
It might be good for the area, but definitely not in my book.

Recently we stopped off for an early dinner while in Culpeper and decided to try out the Copper Fish. Having previously tried and been happy with ‘It’s About Thyme’, being the same owners, we thought OK should be alright… WOW! That was really an understatement — it was very good! Not having checked online reviewers at all prior to visiting, we were flabbergasted at the amount of negative reviews! I won’t say they’re unfounded, but our experience was very favorable, so much so, that we plan on returning. Thyme opened 1995, when John Yarnall relocated his restaurant from Phili to Culpeper. It is definitely a family affair with John’s two daughters, directly involved. Since its inception they’ve grown the restaurant to a market, then Copper a few years ago. My wife and I liken it to Fish House meets Bistro, meets Bohemia, meets dockside — love it. Although we settle for simple comfort foods of Peal and Eat Cajun-​Style Shrimp (by the way they do it right, no over seasoning or overcooked shrimp) along with an incredibly well prepared and delicious order of Bacon Corn Fritters as appetizers, were immensely enjoyed. We moved into the main course with my Wife having a traditional Turkey BLT, being a Fish & Chips lover, I was not let down — their Guinness and perfectly seasoned batter on tender, tasty and flaky Halibut could not be better — the batter crust was thin with enough crisp to make it stupendous. I washed things down with an ice-​cold Draft Stella and she had a House Chardonnay. Some folks appear to have had bad experiences, and some say overpriced. But when measuring apples-​to-​apples, the attention, and their combined knowledge, the prices are reasonable for the quality we experienced, the Owner, Mr. Yarnell is very people driven, and his Daughter Jodi is a refreshing character who seems born to be a restaurateur, and overall everyone on the staff was nice and gracious. This is for sure a place we’ll return to again, and again. Bön appétit!

In a word: Pathetic. The experience communicated one thing to me clearly: this restaurant clearly its patrons with contempt.
Being new to the area, we didn’t know any better when we brought an out-​of-​town friend here for dinner. The whole experience was embarrassing. Luckily, she was easy-​going, but had this been, say, an anniversary, I would’ve been furious.
The service could be best described as a troubling mix of evasive and confrontational. No hostess greeted us. Allow me to stress that this all occurred on a Friday night. I shudder to think of what the Tuesday dinner crowd must have to endure.
When we were finally seated, we noticed that the menu is a jumbled mess and the specials demonstrated neither care nor cohesion. The items are almost uniformly overpriced– even for a seafood restaurant with virtually no nearby competition.
Our fritters appetizer appeared to have been left in the fryer basket and forgotten, but then served to us, nearly black, anyways.
Our guest ordered the bouillabaisse, which was watery and featured rubbery, tasteless scallops. It had clearly been left to sit in a warm bain marie all service. The kitchen forgot her side of potatoes au gratin, but by the time they came out, flavorless and drowned in cream, we wished it had stayed forgotten.
Meanwhile, we had to hunt down a server– any server, to refresh our drinks. The employees seemed content to mill about talking amongst themselves.
My whole-​fish entrée was placed before me and our server reached across me for the five minute display of incompetent filleting. He also used my table utensils, placing them onto my plate when he was done. I do not care to think of where his hands had been. The fish was overwhelmingly fish-​smelling– perhaps a few short hours from being garbage.
When my wife noticeably didn’t eat a ¹⁄₁₆^th of her entrée, the server offered a lukewarm apology for not better explaining the dish– as though perhaps we merely could not wrap our heads around the slopped-​together mess. Her fried artichokes were inexplicably cold. Furthermore, no offer was made of even a partial discount and the final price on our check made me embarrassed for the restauranteurs.
Apparently, this venture has been open for years, which leaves them with no excuses. I would’ve accepted a mediocre dining experience (if the prices were halved), but what we experienced was just plain BAD. We will be actively discouraging friends and colleagues alike from visiting and encouraging you to do the same. Buy local, by all means, but please buy elsewhere.