American

Copper Canyon Grill (Boca Raton)

Posted on July 3rd, 2010 · American Boca Raton

***** Copper Canyon Grill, 2006 Northwest Executive Center, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (561) 893-8838.

Back on September 12, 2009 I did a writeup on Copper Canyon…at that time, Copper was a new “American Style” restaurant which had just opened in Boca Raton. If you like, you can read or re-read that review at your leisure…suffice it to say, old Jeff Eats found Copper Canyon to be a total disaster…horrendous food and piss poor service.

Now, let’s fast forward to April, 2010…to make a long story short, I got a call from Mike “Bucky” Buckner who use to own Bucky’s BBQ (which use to be one of my favorite casual-bbq ribs restaurants in all of South Florida–why Bucky’s is no longer in business is a whole other story, but the quality of the food and service was never an issue at this joint…) in Boca Raton, which served outstanding bbq beef ribs–bbq pork ribs–bbq chicken–burgers–salads–sides. In a nutshell, Bucky told me that he had recently been made Copper Canyon’s GM.. was revamping its menu and had “improved” the food and service. Bucky asked me to “come by for dinner” and give Copper Canyon another shot.

A few weeks ago, my wife and a couple of friends took Bucky up on his offer. Just so you know, our meal was “comped”…

Here’s what I found…Decor-wise, Copper Canyon looks exactly as it did, the first time I was there. Think–Houston’s and you’ll know what the joint looks like. I really don’t recall the “exact” original menu…but the new one has a “fair” selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, meat-seafood-chicken entrees. You can check www.ccgrill.com for menu/prices—Personally, I think that the current menu is way too-light in the selection department…not enough appetizers or sandwiches to choose from. Now don’t get me wrong, no-one is going to starve here, but the selection is kind-a on the lame side. Hopefully, Bucky isn’t done “revamping” the menu!

Now for the food…I “sampled” bbq beef ribs, St. Louis bbq ribs, bacon cheeseburger, rotiserrie chicken, crab-cakes, french fries, macaroni & cheese, corn bread, caesar salad. Apparently– Bucky has taken-full control of the kitchen, because the food—is now quite good. Just a word to the wise, Bucky’s ” beef ribs” often have what I call a zing–to them, so if zing ain’t your style, mention to your waiter-waitress that you prefer a mild sauce.

On the service front…we had a terrific, attentive waiter. I will tell you, I watched “this guy” handle some other tables and he was also terrific-attentive with them…just in case Bucky had asked him to pay special attention to my group.

Let’s call Copper Canyon a work-in-progess. There is absolutely no question in my mind, that if Copper Canyon’s owners let Bucky RUN this joint his way, they will have a successful-homerun restaurant. Mike “Bucky Buckner (no relation to the Red Sox player who helped my New York Mets win the 1986 World Series) knows exactly how to please the folks of South Florida.

Cliche time…it is now safe to get back in the water.

Copper Canyon is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10:05pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11:05pm.

29 Comments to “Copper Canyon Grill (Boca Raton)”

  1. SS says...

    Jeff, You sure got this right. Two days ago I got an adv postcard from Copper Canyon. Here is what was written in part:

    “The next time you visit Copper Canyon Grill, you’ll find a new menu made from only the freshest ingredients available…To help us introduce our new menu, we’ve put our restaurant in the capable hands of Mike “Bucky” Buckner, a well known local restaurant operator…”

  2. Gary says...

    Bucky’s BBQ was my favorite I’m dying to no what happened I was in the reasturant biz and there was no apparent reason for them to close down. Someone please let me no what the story is. I will definately try out Copper Canyon Grill Youcould have mentioned the price range even for BOCA people. THANKS

  3. NM says...

    Hey Gary, I live in Boca and the story that I heard concerning why Bucky’s closed is as follows. Bucky and his freind Andy ran the restaurant and some guy put up the money. That guy tried to expand the concept in conjunction with Dwayne Wade of the Heat and the whole deal collapsed forcing Bucky’s to close. Bucky and Andy were just pawns in the game and for really no good reason us Bucky BBQ fans lost one of the nest bbq places going. I think that Wade and that guy are in a big lawsuit over the mess. Glad to see Bucky’s stll around and like you I’m going to get over to Copper Canyon. You also mentioned prices, I checked the website and they aren’t too bad. Do check the site.

  4. GABBY R. says...

    Jeff, thanks for the Copper Canyon update.
    Like others here, I thought that Bucky’s that use to be on Glades Rd. and Dixie Hwy made great bbq. My favorite item were the bbq beef ribs. Bucky’s also made great mac & cheese.
    When CC first opened I tried it and found the food inedible. It was salty beyond comprehension. I thought that I would never ever go back into that dump but your Bucky news is the only reason I will try it again.
    Thanks again for the heads up.

  5. KH says...

    copper canyon was a disaster. some of the worse food that i have ever eaten. throw in a lousy gm who couldnt give a rat’s ass about customers complaints and i’m shocked that they didnt close after 1 month.
    this is great news that Bucky is now running Copper Canyon. Bucky’s BBQ was fabulous. Great food and great customer service. the waitresses were sensational.
    really hope Bucky can work his magic at Copper Canyon.
    To the owners of Copper Canyon: Will try again because of Bucky.

  6. jl says...

    jeffeats: reviewers who get comped ( whether or not they disclose that info) cannot be impartial. that’s life. ” he who pays the piper calls the tune”.

    i always feel less critical about a free meal than if i paid for it with my hard-earned money.

    caveat emptor.

  7. PL says...

    jl, boy you sound like a real dope. when that guy Guy Fierer on Diners & Drive Ins goes to a restaurant he always says the food is great. in addition he has to tell the restaurant long in advance that he is coming. people love his show and flock to the restaurants after his appearances. now you dont think that’s all fixed? same goes for critic Adam Richman. ots all fixed.
    jeff didnt have to tell “you” jack. butt he is a straight shooter and is right up front.
    if you read what he said, he wasnt blushing favorable about CC. as matter a fact he said it was a work in progress.
    Jeff is the man.

  8. mw says...

    only because of you and bucky will i try copper again. like you i ate there when it first opened and couldnt believe what terrible food it had.

  9. tony esposito says...

    jl:
    i find it quite funny that here and in other comments you tell jeff that he is biased blah blah blah, yet you continue to read Jeff Eats. apparently you enjoy his writing and picks. what you dont appreciate is if jeff wasnt a straight shooter he woulldnt even publish your nasty comments after all he really does control this site. so it only proves that jeff is willing to let a negative reader post away and lets people have their say.

  10. BB says...

    jeff,
    more power to you that you told us that you were “comped”
    most folks wouldn’t even mention it.
    I guess that Bucky really wanted you to give Copper Canyon another shot because you destroy it on the first outing.
    Glad to see that CC is getting better because Boca can always use a good American place to eat .
    I see from your review that Bucky has been improving things but that work still needs to be done.
    On another person’s remarks to jl about GUY and ADAM who are major tv personalities, there is no question that their visits are all rehearsed and amazingly they never say anything negative about the restaurants.
    This guy jl must be a real jackass because he can’t see a straight shooter when he is right in front of his nose.
    Keep up the great site.

  11. Joe Davi says...

    I ate at CC recently and had a great time. The food was great and the service even better. I guess all you need is managment that cares. I heard all the horror stories in the past but never gave it a chance till now and Im glad I did. I will go back and recommend it to all my friends.

  12. DWW says...

    jeff, glad to see that Bucky is now calling the shots here. i and my wife were huge fans of his bbq restaurant and really miss not having it around. we remember the one on dixie hwy in boca we also ate at the other location which was in sunrise on fed hwy. bucky had a partner in that venture and he and Andy sure made a great team. too bad the money man screwed up the concept and business.
    CC was a mess from day one. i pass the restaurant at least 3 times a day and it is never busy if the parking lot is any indication.
    for some reason the two times that i ate there, CC decided that everything should be coated with a layer of salt.
    Bucky’s was a really good bbq restaurant and the servers were as pleasant as could be. Hopefully Bucky can bring that all back to CC.

  13. jl says...

    jeffeats,

    you have some very protective readers. but perhaps they should stick to the issues and not refer to other readers as jackasses and dopes.this reflects poorly on themselves. BB says “most folks” wouldn’t mention that they were comped in doing a review. PL seems to agree. well, “most folks” if they were ethical critics wouldn’t accept a free meal to begin with. check out the payment section in the link below to see how it’s supposed to work.

    tony,the comments weren’t nasty at all, just truthful. and it is admirable that comments aren’t (usually) censored. also makes the blog more interesting.

    http://www.afjonline.com/afj.aspx?pgID=887

  14. fd says...

    jl.
    the sun sentinel wouldnt even publish your comments. jeff is so cool.

  15. B. Kelner says...

    jl: you sure are naieve. ever notice that in many magazines there is a favorable review and then a few pages there is an ad for the restaurant. coincidence? hardly. get real.
    jeff calls it like he sees it.
    if bucky invited him and jeff still paid do you really think that the review would have been any different?
    get a life.
    jeff has a loyal following.
    amazing you question the guy but you read him constantly.
    jeff owns you.

  16. robertw says...

    Jeff you know the papers with the best of 2010 stuff etc. Most of those best of deals are manipulated in many ways. I knew some stories from people in the regional magazine business about that stuff. Some of the best of places had 20-30 votes all made by management. Advertisers had the best shot of winning such things. You were straight when you said you got the meal comped.

  17. B. Kelner says...

    robertw, in 2009 jeffeats was voted by th editors of sun sentinel the best evry day food blog. in 2010 voting was open to the public and worstpizza.com came in #1 and jeffeats was i think #14. if you do some dd you will find that every site listed in the running advertised that it was a candidate and asked readers to vote. now you know that worstpizza absolutely positively stuffed the ballot box. if you also check jeffeats never even mentioned the contest and didnt ask even one person to vote for it.
    jeff eats has no ads.
    jeff eats just calls it like it is.
    jeff eats is the real deal in this food reviewing business.

  18. robertw says...

    Good points. I think worst pizza is a good site but jeff covers everything and they just cover pizza.

  19. FRA says...

    Dinner at CC this evening.
    Former big fan of Bucky’s never could figure why it went away.
    No question Bucky now has CC under control.
    Delicious St Lou ribs, mac & cheese, ff, bbq chicken, house salad, corn bread,string beans.
    Not sure how bad CC was before as I never tried it. What I do know is that tonight’s food was very good and my wife and I will be back.

  20. jj says...

    had a real nice dinner.
    excellent crabcakes.

  21. My take is that Copper is being turned around.
    I and my wife ate at Copper the first week that it opened and it was one of the worst dinners that we had in a very long time.
    The use of salt was beyond any normal person’s comprehension. Throw is poor customer service and you got the makings of a disaster which Jeff correctly called.
    If anyone doesn’t believe that this was a disaster then explain to me why Bucky was brought in so promiently to bail this place out.
    For those who don’t know Bucky he owned Bucky’s BBQ in Boca and Sunrise which was an outstanding bbq casual restaurant.
    To make a long story even shorter my wife and I tried Copper again because of Bucky. We received a flyer in the mail giving details and had read about the change here at Jeff Eats.
    Coppeer has some massive competition from Houston’s and Seasons 52 right next store and a whole bunch of others right in the area. I will tell you that the rotiserrie chicken that I had and the ribs that my wife had were delicious.
    I think Copper Canyon is now on the road back.
    Good luck Bucky!!

  22. RK says...

    Retried CC.
    Was pleasantly suprised how good it is now (it was really bad the first time out). Excellent bbq chicken, bbq ribs, mac & cheese, corn bread.
    Glad to see Bucky’s hand is now in the mix here.
    One possible problem. CC’s prices give or take a few items are bit pricey. With Houston’s right around the corner, CC ought to take them down just a notch.

  23. Ally says...

    I’ve recently added Copper Canyon to my list of favorite restaurants in Palm Beach County. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant starting with their amazingly inexpensive happy hour! $2.95 appetizers that are out of this world and 1/2 price house wine..yum! I keep going every chance I get. My husband and I ate dinner there also and the rotisserie chicken was amazing, the filet was cooked to perfection (medium), and he said the carrotts were the best he’d ever had. The service is impeccable an personable, the food is delish and it is new and current…tired of the same ol at Houston’s (not to mention too crowded) and Season’s blah bland diet food. Give this place a try if you haven’t! You won’t be dissapointed I promise!!

  24. PL says...

    Hey Jeff, last week I got a mail flyer from CC. I see they used your site on the flyer. Have you been back since your last dinner? I ate there a few days ago and the ribs and burgers were very good.

  25. Carly Archer says...

    My husband and I recently went to the Copper Canyon for dinner (on a much needed night out) and were thrilled with the experience. The food was great – everything we had was the perfect temperature and cooked exactly as we requested it. We left stuffed and content. If you haven’t been — go, you won’t be disappointed.

  26. joe z says...

    much better than when it first opened. bbq ribs are very good.

  27. RK says...

    The other day had a burger and fries. Thought that the food was very good.

  28. chewy says...

    tried twice, once when it first opened and then again when guy from bucky’s came in. it started off really bad, now its fair, but that’s about it.

  29. bonnie says...

    closed!!!

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