Restaurant Impossible - Copper Steer Steakhouse Update

Photo - Twitter

Tonight on the season finale (there will be another season) of Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Safford, Arizona to makeover Copper Steer Steakhouse. Copper Steer Steakhouse is owned by Parrish and Maureen Blasius who were the ones that built the restaurant.  The restaurant has "turned into a nightmare as they started losing money with no clue how to turn things around."  Robert Irvine and Tom Bury said this is the largest renovation and demolition they have ever done on the show.

As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Copper Steer Steakhouse to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant: Impossible):

Positive Reviews:

• "Wonderful experience! Stopped for dinner as we were passing through to Tucson. Waitress was very attentive, to us and our dog. They let us sit with our dog on the patio, which was important for us, as we have been on the road all day. Food was great. I generally don't enjoy BBQ ribs, but the meat just fell off the bone. Delish! I highly recommend."
• "my business partner and I entertained clients here, and the food was really good. Our young waiter wasn't quite as attentive as I would have liked, but our drinks were never empty for long. I will definitely bring people back here again."
• "They were busy but the service was amazing! I loved seeing the open kitchen/mesquite grill in the restaurant. I originally wanted a steak but after seeing the ribs I was salivating. The ribs did not disappoint, and my wife had a PERFECTLY cooked steak! I didn't go upstairs but I loved the woodwork in the building and the great lighting. As far as price I was surprised at how cost effective it was.. $25 bucks cheaper the Phoenix. We will be back!"
• "The food and atmosphere was fantastic. Great servers. We sat upstairs and the decor was rustic vibe. Very nice. We will return."

Negative Reviews:

• "Place is over priced food is so/so and the help is rude and slow been there several times your better off cooking your own steak at home"
• "Great service and pretty cool place but wish the food was little better. I ordered the fried pork chop under there signature dishes. Was pretty dry had to have gravy to be able to eat it green beans also not real great but on positive note the jalapeño poppers where pretty good"
• "As soon as we got there we had to wait for someone to even talk to us! Good luck getting dinner at all,this place can't handle it's capacity in any way. As soon as we got someone to talk to us they told us there was going to be a 45min wait AFTER we get seated and orderd because they had a so called "big party" to serve first. Why have a place if you can't handle a big party??? Guess the bigger the party the more $$ so better service!? Very disappointed I don't know why ppl eat here the service is terrible. Especially on the weekends!! We will not be returning at ALL!! Good luck eating here cuz it's a gamble! Was told the food was over priced and under quality... pass....."
• "We were the second table in the building, it took fifteen minutes to have a server come to ask what we wanted to drink, another 10 minutes to come back to take our order. This is supposed to be a BBQ restaurant, where standard fare usually included some type of beans, soup, bread, and dessert. not in this case. In addition, 3 of the 5 items that were on the menu were "not available tonight". We asked for a salad and bread, again we don't have salad was the reply, and bread arrived 45 minutes later when we were served cold food. Let me stress, there were a TOTAL of 8 people in the entire restaurant. The owner was more interested in getting the wood stacked properly than cooking (without washing his hands, BTW). We will NEVER go back, Robert Irvine you wasted your time on this one."
• "This place has not been changed much since my first visited in 2012. It has better service but for the quality. It uses cheap meat and the chef still doesn't know how to cook. We came again to this restaurant because friends' invitation.If you are looking for a good, quality meal, do not come to this restaurant!"
• "So they have added an upstairs “Sports Bar”, done some internal remodeling and refreshed the menu. The problem here is service and execution. Several years back this was the best option I found in Safford, today I would say that there are a bunch of better options in this town. The people are nice but they are inept. The food is just “OK” if they would train the staff and concentrate on doing just 1 thing really well (hint: take EXCELLENT care of the customer) they would own this town."

*Reviews from Yelp, Tripadvisor and Google

Other News and Links:

• The Restaurant Impossible makeover happened at the end of January 2019.
• Here is the Copper Steer Steakhouse website and Facebook page.
• The restaurant opened in 2009, and here is an article about the opening.  Parrish and Maureen own the building and Parrish's father owns the land.  The article also talks about how they reused wood from a forest fire.
• In 2014, the restaurant got permission to renovate the 2nd floor of the restaurant which was previously used as a living space/office. (City Council document - page 4)
• In an interview, Robert Irvine said the issues plaguing the restaurant were its location in the middle of nowhere and the open pit barbecue in the middle of the restaurant which caused an unpleasant smoke inside for customers.
• It looks like Copper Steer Steakhouse is currently building an outside patio which they say is almost finished. (Link)
• The Copper Steer Steakhouse building and lot is listed for sale for $800,000 - Here is the listing, which says the equipment, furnishings and licenses will be negotiated separately.  This is a newer listing that I confirmed is still valid.
• An old listing with another real estate agent was listed in August 2018 and taken down in February 2019 (right after the Restaurant Impossible makeover).  So, the restaurant was for sale when Restaurant Impossible visited.
• Copper Steer Steakhouse has a 3 out of 5-star rating on Yelp (99 reviews), 3.5 out of 5-star rating on Tripadvisor (134 reviews) and a 3.8 out of 5-star rating on Google (304 reviews).

Conclusion:

The reviews for Copper Steer Steakhouse since the Restaurant Impossible makeover have been mixed with there being slightly more negative reviews.  The positive reviews seem to complement the food and atmosphere while the negative reviews have complaints about the food, service (long waits) and prices.

Copper Steer Steakhouse is currently for sale for $800,000 which includes the land and building, but not the equipment.  The restaurant was for sale when Restaurant Impossible did the makeover, but it seems like they took it off the market right after the makeover.  It shouldn't shock anybody that the restaurant is once again listed for sale because it was before the Restaurant Impossible makeover.

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