Tom was one of the first people in town to recognize the culinary importance of Al Copeland, first with his spicy Popeye’s Chicken and then in 1983 with the arrival of Copeland’s.
He’s always said that Al Copeland was a great tastemaker and he loved the flavor spectrum of all his creations. He’s also said that Al Copeland liked to poach ideas from other people, like Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro, and that maybe these ideas weren’t as good as the ones he came up with himself. Tom’s enthusiasm for both Popeye’s and Copeland’s never wavered though, all through the shortlived ideas like Wholly Mackerel, Straya, and Fire & Ice.
Copeland’s spawned many locations after the Elmwood flagship, and at one time the chain busted out of New Orleans and even Louisiana into far-flung locales It has contracted a bit, and spawned its own imitators.
Copeland’s turned 40 last year, celebrating with a chain-wide renovation of its locations. For some reason, this redo started at the one in Covington. I was delighted to see that because I love the food there but couldn’t stand the cheesy 1980s decor. It has since become a stylish 21st century space, with the requisite muted colors. It’s not glamorous or elegant, just tasteful and casual. The only remnant of things past remains on the ceiling, where fake ivy hangs as a nod to the past.
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We returned to Copeland’s after the renovation, and have had many great meals there, all in the style that Tom first acknowledged as worthy of the cuisine. Just to reminisce, I embarked on a journey to taste all the dishes from the original menu.
The large menu has little notations in red to differentiate special dishes. Some are notated with “New”, and the others “Since 1983.” It was this latter group I have enjoyed on all recent visits.
One of the first things we tried from this early period is an obvious one: The Cajun Gumbo. It was not an especially dark roux, and not an especially anything. It had all the requisite ingredients but they didn’t amount to a particularly good version of our local soup. This was a disappointment and a big surprise.
In the appetizer portion of the menu the only thing from 1983 is the Bayou Broccoli, a dish they have trademarked. These are little meatball-sized balls of broccoli and a medley of cheeses rolled in breadcrumbs and then fried, of course. They come with Copeland’s signature Tiger Sauce for dipping. Back in 1983 these probably seemed revolutionary, but now deep-fried balls are ubiquitous on menus. Items like boudin balls, arancini, fried mac’n’cheese bites, pimento cheese balls are all best sellers wherever they are. They are popular because they are good, and this Bayou Broccoli app is very tasty as well. At least it has a vegetable in there somewhere, though the broccoli is as mushy as it needs to be to be stuffed into a ball. The Tiger Sauce is a nice dipper.
One of the things I remember from the old days at Copeland’s is the burger. It came on a croissant and was dressed like a regular burger. There was a semi-sharp yellow cheddar and more of the Tiger Sauce. I liked this burger back in the day, and I wondered if my fond memories would hold up. On a recent visit to Copeland’s, I ordered it with a baked potato. This time it had the same uninteresting mass-produced croissant as a bun, but it looked more like a hamburger bun now. Instead of the elongated shape of a croissant, this was turned into a circle. It was a nice burger with a good grind and a cheddar component that was apparent. Thick bacon stuck out from the sides. What's not to love about this? The dressings were fresh and this was a good burger, including the now-round croissant. This one came with housemade pickles on the side. The baked potato that came with it was smallish but good. I like the baked potatoes here, But the fries are exceptionally good. Some of the best, if not the best, frozen ones in town.
One of the entrees around since 1983 is the Eggplant Pirogue, a stack of fried eggplant drenched in a creamy and spicy sauce loaded with shrimp over angel hair pasta. This epitomizes what Copeland’s has been about since Day One. It is a celebration of the flavors of New Orleans, presented authentically by layering spice and fat and salt until the richness overwhelmes you with soul satisfaction.
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The Eggplant Pirogue has a lot in common with the Veal Copeland and the Shrimp and Tasso Pasta. All are pasta-based, with a spicy cream sauce that includes shrimp and tasso or andouille. This is not a complaint, but an acknowledgment that these ingredients are as popular as they are delicious.
The Veal Copeland had a few pieces of thin paneed veal fried just so, served atop linguine with copious amounts of shrimp and tasso throughout. And of course the luscious spicy cream sauce. Tom loved this, and I suspect it’s the kind of thing he ordered back in the day at the Copeland’s flagship when he first fell in love with the food.
We were getting down to the end of the list notated “Since 1983.” There aren’t too many of them. I got the shrimp and tasso pasta, feeling pretty sure what I was going to get. It was all of those things but the look of it when it came to the table was unappealing. The tasso wasn’t as I expected. It was more like long strips of bacon fat. I love fat as I often admit, but not if it is all by itself. I always see tasso as a hunk of pork. The shrimp were plentiful, almost unnecessarily so. They were very small and added at the end of the dish. Somehow I imagined larger shrimp that were grilled first. This little- shrimp-added-at-the-last-minute is a running theme at Copelamd’s. Too much of the same thing becomes a bad thing, I think. This dish had a problem with its appearance. I didn’t even want to dig into it, but when I did, it had all the familiar Copeland’s elements I mentioned: salt, fat, and spice that add up to big flavor.
After all the creamy pasta dishes I’ve had from this early menu, I just didn’t want to get another. And I’ve never really understood pasta jambalaya. So we haven’t had that one. And the steaks from that era were also left behind. I remember Tom saying that they were surprisingly good. But if we’re doing steaks we’ll go to a steakhouse, always upscale from a place like Copeland’s. Still, for a steak and side at $40.99, I’d rather sit in the new Copeland’s than at Outback.
Mary Leigh is usually along with us on Copeland visits, and she sticks to her familiar Penthouse Salad, which is a solid winner here. The fried chicken is terrific. It is pounded thin and paneed with nicely flavored breadcrumbs, and there is a lot of it. The greens are fresh and plentiful, although a bit hard to eat because of their size. But this very popular salad is a solid winner. I’m usually not one to go for cheese in a salad, but I love it in this one.
And Tom got the Blackened Trio once, which is blackened chicken, blackened shrimp, and blackened catfish. In the center is angel hair pasta with a Lemon Bordelaise sauce. The wonderful Copeland's biscuits are part of this plate. This is a generous platter with so much food it is shareable. And terrific.
We almost never have dessert, but to celebrate the 40th anniversary with Copeland’s we got the anniversary cheesecake. It was not something we would normally get, but it was the anniversary cheesecake! It was a mess. Drenched in two different sauces and covered with berries, this was definitely not my thing and not even Tom’s thing, sweet as it was. Chantilly cream offset the intense sweetness, but not enough.
On one of these visits we got something that ironically isn’t labeled “Since 1983.” It is the fried chicken and red beans and rice. It was exactly as we expected, and very pleasing to have it sitting down at Copeland’s. This is the combo that started the nationally popular and so very delicious Al Copeland legacy. It seemed fitting, and it was.
