**Restaurant Review-Copper River**

As most of my friends know, I'm not a big "chain" eater.  Neil is big-time not a fan of what he refers to as "corporate food."  But, every now and then, chain restaurants serve a purpose and find their way into our lives.  The secret to their success is consistency.  You can pull into a McDonald's, Ruby Tuesday or a Ruth's Chris, for that matter, in any city and know what to expect and what you'll receive.  I admit, I'm not the most adventurous when I'm in a strange city without any recommendations from people on where to eat.  Like all those cool joints that Guy Fieri finds hiding in strip malls and the backs of gas stations...I'd love to eat at these places.  But, like Guy, I'd only discover them via referral.  You won't catch this girl wandering into "Anyplace, USA" and venturing into something like "Fat Betty's Restaurant" in the strip mall next to Dollar General.  But, I digress (yet again).

Yeah, we're close friends, Guy and me.  Uh huh, that's right.

Yesterday, my mom and I met our good friend Kay at Copper River in the Harbison area.  I admit that I thought this was not a chain but recently someone informed me that I was wrong on this point.  I'll say this though.  For "corporate food" I think it's more than above average.  The decor and atmosphere is warm and comfortable and the variety of the menu is a positive.

First, their "House" and "Copper River Salad" are identical twins of California Dreaming.  I'm going out on a limb here, but I bet you ten bucks that you can't find more than a handful of people who will truthfully tell you that they don't love these salads. At Copper River, they offer a pretty wide variety of sandwiches, burgers, and soup.  When I've been there in the past, I think I've always ordered salad.  But this time was going to be different.  They have this big, wood fired oven that I've always eyed, but never ventured out into their pizza offerings.  Yesterday as I passed by someone else's table, I saw what I wanted.  It's the Spicy Cajun Shrimp pizza.  

Pizza guy, courtesy of Copper River's website

I was quite satisfied with my choice. It is basically a white pizza with a creamy bechamel type base, tomatoes, very thinly sliced red onion, and one of my all-time favorites....CAPERS!  Lots of 'em!  And top it all off with spicy, fried Cajun shrimp.  The shrimp had nice flavors, although their Cajun spice has a little too much salt.  (See?  I love salt, but I know when there's too much of a good thing!)  The combo of capers, creamy sauce and the acidity of the tomatoes and onions were just dreamy with the shrimp.  I was a happy little pizza addict.  

My mom and Kay both got salad, which was as good as ever.  Mom added a bowl of she-crab soup which was good, but not the best one I've found in our area.  She-crab is another of those dishes that I sample every chance I get.  Ok, now I'm getting emotional since this has reminded me that Doc's is closed and my beloved Doc's she-crab is now in the vault.  [fighting back the tears, I won't cry, I can't cry.]


The point of my story is this:  if you're over at Harbison and feel like a really good salad or a delicious, fresh, wood-fired pizza, pop into Copper River.  You'd find me here versus an Applebee's in a skinny minute!