We arrived 30 minutes after closing time....typically an invitation at any restaurant to be told to leave...but not here. They met us on the porch with a smile and some options. Since we really only wanted a quick bite and to see the lake and surroundings they happily sat us along the lake and offered to open the kitchen for some smaller items. We opted for a pizza and margaritas...yes, I know its about the wine, but we wanted something different. Chris (owner??) made fantastic margaritas and shared her secret. If wine isn't your thing, try the alternatives. The pizza was fresh hot and delicious. A few tables were still filled when we left and everyone was enjoying a nice June evening on the dock. I will stop again next trip through the area, very relaxing and peaceful after a long day of driving. read more

Copper Dock Winery - New American Near Me - Pocahontas, Illinois

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Really great winery. Beautiful setting. Friendly and personal service. The waiter shared the story of the swans on the lake here. Highly recommend you try the Pinot wine! If you have never been here you must visit it soon!!! read more

Food and service could be improved, especially for the cost. There are better wineries in the area that are actually worth visiting. Don't waste time or money here. read more

One of the most beautiful outdoor weddings I have ever been to. This place should be checked out for anyone looking to visit a winery or have a wedding. First impressions are key and they have a great one! Reception hall was slightly above average. read more

Good ambiance for outdoor dining. Wine tasting is a good addition to the restaurant Music available for listening pleasure

So wanted to like this place, but unfortunately wasn't able to have an experience. Stopped mid-afternoon while out for a drive on a beautiful fall Sunday. Like others have said, the location is beautiful. There were a couple of tables of folks outside, but it was a little cool so we opted for inside seating, where there were two more occupied tables. Nobody acknowledged us, so we just sat down at a table. 15 minutes later, our presence still hadn't been noted. While that doesn't seem to be excessive, the fact that the place was practically empty made the avoidance deliberate. Probably won't be back :-( read more

Not a winery. They do offer tastings of the wines they have open and are serving at the restaurant; however the wines aren't local or even Midwestern. They are wines we regularly see at Costco. The setting is nice and staff was friendly. read more

Copper Dock is one of the most relaxing restaurants in the area. The food is great, sometimes it comes a out an hour or so later, but it is because the restaurant is packed. The food is worth the prices. I don't mind paying the $3 glass deposit because you do get it back. At most wineries, they make you buy the glass and don't give you the option of returning the glasses. The house wines are not bad, but my favorite wine is the Wente Chardonnay. They have even improved the wine menu so that you can know what the wine is like and know what you are getting for the price. The employees are are friendly. Sometimes they can forget a few things, but overall they do a good job. It is a drive, but it is worth it in the end. I would choose this winery over any other winery in the area. read more

We have been to the Cooper Dock several times - always for the beautiful setting. This place has the opportnity to be a wonderful restaurant if it were not for the service. Today, it took 30 minutes for our drinks to be delivered!!!!! The table next to us did not even get a waiter to stop by for over 40 minutes and they were not that busy. We have talked to the manager (owner?) on numerous occasions about this and, instead of taking steps to improve the situation, we always get nothing but excuses. I will hate to see this place close, but if the management doesn't hurry up and get a clue as to how to run a restaurant, I am afraid it will be shuttered soon. read more

First time i visited the winery was about 2 weeks ago. The owner was completely rude. From the moment we stepped out of the party bus for rehearsal to the time the wedding was over she was no help at all. CEREMONY- none of the fans worked and it was super hot out, there was spiderwebs in the chairs, let the swan earl run free with children around. During the ceremony the winery had a live band playing, therefore we were unble to hear the bride and groom. Very unprofessional, the owner Informed my friend she could not decorate saturday of the wedding that if she wanted it done she had thursday and friday..otherwise there would be no decorations. She made my friend cry the week of her wedding. The room where the bride was to get married was extermely hott. Once the reception was over she told the bride she had 20 minutes to clear out. But had agreed prior to let just the wedding party stay after. When the maid of honor approached her the owner stated " well i dont have a contract with you do i" yelled at her and told her she would call the cops unless we left. We will NEVER return nor recommend this place. Never met someone unwilling to make the bride and grooms speical day go by smoothly. read more

This place under new ownership has quickly become my favorite place to eat, drink, or just hang out. Service is great. Very friendly atmosphere. read more

I will reiterate - not a winery. They do wine tastings of the California wines they are currently offering. Much like a liquor store has wine tastings for their wine specials. The view is amazing and it was nice to have a glass of Cab Sav and sit by the lake on a lovely fall evening. read more

Beautiful place to go for a light meal and relax. The scenery is very pretty. Wait staff was pleasant and friendly and kept our drinks full. Our group tried a little bit of everything. Sandwiches and pizza. Wine and beer selection is excellent. A little bit for all different pallets. read more

Scenery is beautiful. Food and Service are horrible. They don't carry your normal winery food (grapes, cheese trays, etc), but you can't bring food in with you. They are horribly understaffed and told us our dinner order could take up to a few hours. read more

Not a winery, but a beautiful setting with a friendly staff and good food at reasonable prices. Worth the trip.

Very nice place was there on Saturday, October 1, 2016 for a wedding. The grounds and everything was absolutely gorgeous along with the building of the venue. But as a person of disability it was just disheartening to see at the end of the evening one of their female workers approximately in her 20s leaving getting in her car that was parked in a disable location they should ask the workers to park a little further out for their guest. read more

we went here not long after the opened (3yr ago) waited over 2 hours for food never received so we left - said wouldn't return but we tried again tonight (early because a favorite band playing) there were maybe 10 customers, 4 waiters and again never got our meal (did get appetizer that took a bit) - when after about hour from ordering time we asked waiter where our food was - his answer "oh didn't you get it" !!!!! told him to forget it - WE WILL NEVER GO BACK and I will spread the word to stay away!!! I give this place a minus 5 stars. AWFUL read more

I've been to Winery's before, this is not a Winery. It is an outdoor restaurant that sells wine and sandwiches. The food was not good, I generally love "diner" food, but I had expectations of an actual dinner. The food was also cold and the menu options are few. I initially asked for wine list and was told by the server that it was in her head, unfortunately she didn't know what they had when I asked for a specific type so I opted out of wine. We did order a pitcher of Sangria which was overpriced since it turned out to be cheap wine and a can of juice. The only decent thing about this place was the view. Unfortunately that's not enough to bring me back. read more

The good... Beautiful location. Kids loved feeding the fish. The bad... Everything else. We never got our appetizer. When we did get our food, which was over a half an hour if not longer, it was cold. One at our table didn't get their food until everyone else was done eating (hour later and it was only a kids pizza!). My burger was overcooked. it was not busy at all. Only a few other people there. The waitress didn't even check on us until we were done eating (hard to eat without a drink). I really hope they get it together. read more

Setting is amazing, a delightful atmosphere. We made a stop traveling 70 back to Indianapolis from St. Louis. It was my first wine tasting. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. There were no local wines, but more importantly I felt like we were inconveniencing them. We heard conversations among the staff and the snippy owner that we should not been privy. The one good thing was there were beers available for non-wine drinkers. I will not be returning. read more

Wedding review: THEY SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED ABOUT HOW THEY TREATED US! They have a beautiful location for a wedding, but the staff are some of the rudest people we have EVER encountered. I would advise brides that if you want to have a wedding here be prepared for the most frustrating experience of your life! Of the owners, deal with Steve as much as possible because he was always friendly and helpful...Chris on the other hand was rude, condescending, and just plain horrible to us and our wedding guests. Unfortunately she is the contact person for weddings. Some of our encounters included: her referring to me as "Princess", telling me I should change my wedding colors, making rude comments about other people's weddings being ugly or over-done, telling us we could do or have something and then changing her mind 2 days before the wedding, or acting like we never discussed something (because she never wrote anything down). She was extremely rude to my decorator, making her wait for 3 hours so she could drive over there to "approve" the materials she was using. At the wedding she told my guests they were taking too much food! and the staff tried to take people's drinks away while they were still sitting at the table. WATCH OUT FOR THE BARTENDERS ALSO...ten minutes after being told that wine was included in the open bar, our bartender charged several guests for wine! When two friends of min told him that they knew wine was included he argued with them telling them they had to pay...he did not back down until they said they were going to find my wedding planner and then he said, "Oh, I think you are right." My mother had to go over to the bar and yell at him during the wedding! I'm not sure if he is an idiot or if he was trying to steal money from my guests. It is really sad that our wedding is marred by these terrible experiences :( read more

First off I was VERY leery of going after reading these reviews but went for Mother's Day anyway with a backup plan. So glad we felt adventurous and took a chance. We arrived around 11:30 shortly after they opened and went into the tasting room first and sampled from their fairly extensive list. The woman working said they are not really a winery but a wine bar as they do not make their own wines which didn't really bother me I knew that much already. She was extremely friendly and helpful and explained the way things worked and then led us out back and told us about the different levels and seating areas and that a waitress would be with us after we were seated. She arrived very promptly and we gave her our drink order and got an appetizer if arrived quickly and we were ready to place our order. Nothing fancy a couple salads and sandwich selections but I wasn't expecting a gourmet meal. It did seem to take a little long for our sandwiches to arrive but we were in no hurry as we were there to enjoy the setting and music. My hamburger was very large covering the entire bun and I added Swiss cheese and mushrooms the french fries are the skinny kind and were hot and crispy on arrival. I also ordered a small side salad no iceberg lettuce here it was spring mix with cucumber, tomato, red onion and cheese. Our waitress gave us superb attention and was always asking how we were doing and if we needed anything. I wish I could remember her name as she was a very hard worker. We sat on the lower deck by the water and it was quite warm as the tables are marble and get very hot. So after our meal we moved up to the covered patio and sat at the bar overlooking the stage to listen to the band. It was very breezy and quite pleasant. Would probably sit there again. After sitting up there we noticed you could ask for big umbrellas and they would bring them to your table on stands to shade you. For our drink we opted for a pitcher of white sangria which had a citrus flavor and was very refreshing. It cost $20.00 and the 3 of us each had 3 glasses. Needless to say it was a picture perfect day and we enjoyed our visit immensely. We will definitely return with family and friends. I did here our waitress say to someone else that they were gearing up for their busy season and had a lot of new staff just learning the ropes but luckily our waitress was right on top of everything. read more

Called about a week ago for information regarding having a wedding at the winery. Apparently it was a busy day and the owner answered the phone. She was incredibly rude and told me that she would call me back to discuss details with me. She never called back so I called her back and basically told me she didnt have time for me. Too bad because they lost out on a huge wedding (300+). Just a suggestion, hire someone to handle the phones if you are THAT busy, and if you are trying to run a fairly new business don't be SO rude. read more

Relaxing atmosphere. Food menu is decent and the prices are reasonable. I love their wine - Kitchen Sink Red. Everytime I have been there it is packed, so there must be alot of people that like it and just dont write a review. Everything is better each time I go. Start up was a little slow, but I have only seen it improve over the last several months. read more

Bad attitudes... bad service. Beautiful setting for 14 women wanting a relaxing luncheon. Food was ok.. not great. Wine was great.. bad service and rudeness trumped everything else. Won't be back. It didn't get better from the first time I went a couple of years ago but I gave it another shot. The manager (owner?) opened her mouth and it was all negstive. Apparently she needs a hip replacement.. she complained about hips hurting. Slooow service. . . Will not go again.. nope not me! read more

A awesome day 80 and sunny Copper Dock has a great setting on a lake and live music. BIG disappointment the service is awful ! No wait staff had to keep going up to the bar to get drinks and the manager is busy playing on her phone or complaining the bar tapper isn't working correctly yelling at the staff no more beer tap orders. It's a shame the place has a great atmosphere but the owners need new management that cares about the customers. read more

Somehow my review has been removed. This place is beautiful but would only suggest going for drinks. The food is not great and fruit toys everywhere had to fight them off for our food. It was super busy when we went so it did take while to get waited on. If they work on the food this has potential. I could do without thus younger rowdy crowd as well, but they can't choose who goes there. read more

Beautiful property! Service was slow and unwelcoming from the start. Staff seemed overwhelmed. The "head" lady was abrasive and at times seemed annoyed if you asked questions about the wine. We would come back for the atmosphere on a pretty day but order a couple bottles of wine & stay as self-sufficient as possible. read more

I'm a fan!!! Food and drink were terrific. We couldn't have asked for better service, and we were there for hours. The setting is gorgeous. They had live music, which set the tone for a nice relaxing summer evening. I will be returning soon. read more

I have been to Copper Dock several times and have never once been greeted by an owner/manager. I have never been thanked for coming in. The winery is clean and very pretty, but if they want to keep people coming back, they need to work on their customer relations. read more

On the surface, this place has it all. Clean, beautiful surroundings, classy joint. In short, the service is some of the worst I've ever experienced. This place needs some management that knows how to run a restaraunt. We waited 20 minutes just to be acknowledged by wait staff. There were only about 6 people in the whole place and we couldn't figure out why until later. Out of shear frustration, we got up to leave when finally a waitress came by. Gave no apology or explanation. She was friendly enough but waiting tables was clearly not her calling. She never once came to refill our drinks. We had to get up and do it ourselves. We ordered appetizers, salads, and entree's. After 45 minutes of what appeared nothing coming out of the kitchen for the meager crowd, our orders started coming in the following order: Entree's, 10 minutes later, salads, then as we were ready to leave, our appetizers showed up. We howled with laughter because we forgot we had ordered them. The waitstaff were completely indifferent to the fact that there were customers there. We saw them more interested in visiting with each other and texting than waiting tables. Never once were we told thank you for our patronage. This place had such great potential. I don't see a lot of repeat business. We certainly aren't coming back. read more

Well the bad news...this is not a winery but an outdoor restaurant that sells wine and beer. We have been there several times but we never know if the food is going to be good or not. Consistency is not their strong point. Prices are OK but as I said this is not a winery but a place that sells wine and food that can be marginal at best. Buy your drinks and enjoy the scenery but go to your favor eating establishment for food. read more

My husband had a surprise retirement party for me at Copper Dock Winery. management was rude the entire day. They would not reserve 70 seats for our gathering even tho my husband spent over 1700.00 for this party. They refused to give us the remaining Italian Beef but after much "discussions" they finally agreed. Went to get our Beef at the end of the day and low and behold, they could not find it, did not know what happened to it or where it went and they thought that was really funny. Or waiter Matt was great but the management is horrible and we will never go back again and will tell everyone I know how we were treated. It is a beautiful place but with the management it is under now, I cannot see it staying in business very long. read more

Food is overpriced. Ordered Caesar salad (8.50) and got 2 packs of Newmans Own salad dressing. Plastic ware to eat with, the small cheap plastic ware even, in a bag with your napkin and salt and pepper. Seriously? Either lower your prices to fit or serve it up right. Wine was 24 a bottle that sells for 11 in stores. Not going back. read more

I came here tonight for the first time for my best friend's 28th birthday along with her husband and my fiancé. We are avid winery tourists, so we arrived hungry and ready to partake in adult beverages. When we got there we sat ourselves, after my friend and I ordered a drink at the bar for the four of us. There was one waitress (the manager I believe) who asked our gentlemen if they had been helped and they responded with "Not yet, we're waiting on our lady friends." She never came back. After 25 minutes of watching the tables all around us being served and tended to we had to go to the waiter/waitress gathering station (I assume where they process tickets, and where they were all standing around) and ask for a waitress. Now, we DID arrive while it was pretty busy, and we were in no real hurry, but we hadn't eaten all day and were getting a little impatient. Our first drinks (that we got ourselves) were running low and finally our waitress came up to us almost an hour later (after we had to request service) with 3 menus not 4, annoyed, and took her sweet time coming back. My friend and I ordered 2 sangrias and our guys got a bottle of beer and a whiskey coke along with our dinner and appetizer orders. We waited 20 minutes (after ordering with her, we saw all of our drinks sitting in the window condensating heavily, mind you, tables around us were coming and going and being served) and instead of waiting for her to bring them to us, we ordered new drinks AGAIN at the bar. We were nearly finished with our self ordered drinks when she finally brought our initial drink orders, about 30 min after our first interaction with her, again behaving annoyed and unapologetically. We went through a couple trips to the bar for more drinks before our appetizers even came. (Before this, she came back and asked again what our dinner order was...even after writing it down.) Food came ~15 minute after appetizers. She had it MOSTLY right. I don't know if she was preoccupied or a new hire but I've never had more terrible service in my life. Like I said, we were pretty patient, and the "busyness" died down about an hour after we got there, which is pretty much when we finally made contact with our waitress. My fiancé ended up speaking to the manager after we paid our checks (which came REALLY quickly after we asked for them, about 45 dollars each.) He shared with her our disappointment and they gave us two bottles of wine in return. The weather was nice, the drinks were good, and the atmosphere was awesome. But our waitress missed out on good tips and a good review with her lazy/rude attitude and assuming that we were just a bunch of dark haired city dwelling, tattooed, 27 something's not worthy of her time. I drive 30 minutes to visit here expecting to be impressed, and I was with everything but the service. TERRIBLE! I don't think I'll be back. read more

I took my daughter for dinner there, she is a hospitality management student. We came on a Friday night and it was not very busy. We ordered a bottle of wine, which came fairly quickly. It was uncorked inside the bar, brought to our table and set down with 2 water spotted glasses. It was not presented or poured nor did she wait to see if it was to our liking. Finally it wasn't even put on ice. Being a venue that centers around wine they need to train the staff how to serve wine. The worst was when the salad came out, that we served in the bottom of a takeout tray with a plastic fork still wrapped in plastic. No knife, no napkins. When the food did come, the napkins came out in a dispenser you'd likely find at a fast food place and the plastic ware was in a cardboard carrier with ketchup and mustard. Something you'd find in a bar or diner. The waitress never came back to check on us, so we assumed there is no training on what they expect of a waitress, and there is very likely no training on wines. In addition, a table right next to us was lighting up cigars and cigarettes. I was not aware that in Illinois one is allowed to smoke in a dining area whether inside or out. If a winery is going to price themselves as a refined venue then they need to live up to those prices. Very disappointed! My daughter is going back to college with a story for her Hospitality class in what not to do. read more

The wooded setting on a small lake surrounded by autumn color is lovely, but don't go for the food, the service, or the wine, as all were sub-par and over-priced. The server was friendly but inefficient, and knew nothing about the wines on the wine list. None of the wines are local, so "winery" is actually a misnomer. The menu is more bar food than restaurant food. The food taste was acceptable, but very slow in coming and served with plastic ware and no attention to presentation. Lobster bisque was barely warm, (well, we were outside on a cool evening), crab cakes were OK, sandwiches were supposed to come with sides, but didn't, and the server refused to reduce the price when the bill came. Salads were skimpy and without much appeal. Cost for four was $50, which included a bottle of passable wine. We did get our $12 back for the deposit @$3 on the wine glasses, and left to buy dessert elsewhere! As we were leaving we saw that some groups were enjoying the ambiance from several propane firepits, and there was loud live music to entertain the large number of people who apparently didn't mind the shortcomings. I give it the second star only because of the setting. Without Mother Nature this place would have little to recommend it. read more

We have been here several times now and each time upon going back we tell ourselves "we'll give it one more try." The times that we have been, we can never tell if they are under-staffed or if the servers are just incompetent. The last time we decided to venture out there on a night where we were at a loss as to what to do, we went with a group of six. We found our OWN table since no one seamed to care or be concerned with trying to seat us. Once we were seated we asked several of the servers/bussers who passed us by repeatedly if we could get some menus. Finally after asking over and over we did receive menus. The food is mediocre at best. As far as I can tell everything is frozen and prepared by line cooks. I know everyone says, "ooooouuu, it's a winery that serves food, yah!!!" really??? I'm pretty sure we could do that at home: buy frozen food throw it in the oven and get a couple bottles of wine. How hard is it really to find a chef that can just offer a few things and do them really well??? I've heard some people say, "well, it is Pocahontas......" Hmmmm, ok, so you're only expecting people that live in Pokie to patronize you? Doubtful. We have also had a few occasions where we have had to deal with one of the owners. It truly amazes me how someone who deals with the public on a daily basis can so consistently rude to customers. You know....the same customers that are willing to open their penny pinched wallets in this tight economy. We feel like the owners had been to a few wineries at some point, found or owned a nice piece of property and said, "I think we should open a winery!" That seams like as far as the thought process went. No thought about food, service, or proper etiquette on how to manage a restaurant /winery. So now we sit at home and ask ourselves, "do we give them ONE more shot???" The answer in short: Absolutely NO! The owners don't deserve to own a place with as much potential as this property could have. read more