Been open for about 6 months now, in the old Catalon location. Same owners as Ibiza, Brasserie 19, I which I like, but I didn't find this out till end of dinner and I had already decided I liked Coppa. For some reason it did take me a while to get to this restaurant. Maybe, Catalan affected my decision, I don't know. I actually liked Catalon, but it wasn't exciting, actually I realized I had a boring association to it.
When I walked into Coppa, I already liked the ambiance. It was bright, lively, unlike Catalon. I was on a first date, so I met him there and we sat at my usual spot, the bar. Ooh don't you want the details?! No details, sorry.
So, for appetizer we ordered the fritto misto, crispy fried jumbo shrimp, calamari, fennel, herbs, $15. You know, I don't like shellfish, so I just ate the herbs and veggies, which I thought were tasty. I did try the calamari, which I'll try on occasion, but not the ones with tentacle...eek. I did not think this calamari tasted very good, maybe it was too potent. My date seemed to like it, but we didn't finish it all.
For dinner we split the spaghetti carbonara, salami, egg yolk, black pepper, parmesan cream, $21. The description didn't really appeal to me, my date had had it before and raved about it, and the bartender assured us it kicked any other dish on the menu's ass...SOLD! We also split the bone-in ribeye, with crushed potatoes, $42. I didn't realize how expensive these dishes were till just now! The carbonara was amazing! It was so good! I wished I had ordered the whole dish to myself! If you know me, you know I don't gravitate towards heavy foods, but I loved this dish, it was delish! The ribeye was overcooked and wasn't great because of that. The crushed potatoes were good.
For dessert we ordered the highly recommended olive oil polenta cake, whipped ricotta, lemon honey, olive oil gelato, candied thyme leaves, $9. The first few bites were really good, after awhile it started to all taste the same. This one, maybe, shouldn't be so hyped up.
I have been back since my date, and tried the spaghetti lola, maccheroni alla chitarra verde, basil & garlic infused tomato, burrata, $19 and thought it was ok. My girlfriend ordered the bucantini all'amatriciana, copp, garlic, tomato, red pepper flake, $20 which was good. She didn't seem so impressed, she's very picky, more than me! The lemon semifreddo was delish! The tiramisu, eh and the malt chocolate cake, ok.
I've been back again since and had items off the happy hour menu and the much raved about meatballs, that I thought were overhyped. The taste reminded of my childhood and when I'd eat cornbeef. I wouldn't go near that stuff now. It's crazy the things you'll eat when you're young...got to watch the girly figure. Ok, moving on, the pizzas are regularly around $17, but if you get them during happy hour they are $7!! That's a deal and they're good too!
Definitely a place I like. I like the atmosphere, the service and some dishes are excellent, and bar staff very friendly. I'm glad it's Italian. I feel like we don't have enough Italian restaurants inside the loop. You're either really really upscale or chain. Ok, so definitely try, do try the spaghetti carbonara!
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