Copa - Durham

Service and food were both great. The one thing that rubbed us the wrong way was a 20% :living wage fee that was automatically added to our check before a tip was even asked for. You'd think that 20% fee on top of menu prices and tax like that would be the tip. Unusual and made departure/payment uncomfortable.Food: 5/5

We celebrated a recent birthday here and everything was very good. We started with three tapas, the duck breast (lightly seared, lovely chutney, the sausage (good seasoning, a bit like andouille) and the clams (good broth). We then split the Medianoche (pork was SO tender and yummy, not fatty just sweet). We finished it off with the Tres Chocolates cake. I also enjoyed a Hotel Nacional cocktail which was quite good. It was a lovely place and our server was attentive without hovering. We would definitely visit again.

The menu offers many items you don 't see in other restaurants, and the chicken and curry shrimp dishes we got were delicious. Bravo!The dining room is too noisy, and the outside seating is just minimalist cafe tables with some Durham all-stars walking by eyeing your food. The park let us in black, but isn 't being used, which is a waste of 2 parking spaces. Those items are what why are, but what is egregious is the 20% Living Wage Fee that is snuck into the bill. It completely destroys the concept of what a tip is and what a wage is. Either provide service worthy of 20% (it was not) or pay your staff a higher hourly wage and raise the food prices.

Good things about this place:1 beautiful restaurant and ambiance2 unique menu and dishes with lots of variety 3 not too loud, you can have conversations4 some excellent appetizers duck was deliciousNeed for improvement things1 service is pretty slow, especially the bar service2 my Caribbean chicken entree was a bit dried out but the flavor was good3 the steak wasn't cooked right so we had it sent it back, though it was good. It tasted like it was marinated in vinegar/ chimmichuri and I hope that's not because the meat went bad 4 wait staff didn't check on us 5 one of our entrees was delivered 10 minutes after all the others 6 it's pretty expensive for what it is

We had high expectations but were totally let down. The plantain chip appetizer stated there was black beans and avocado. I really enjoyed the three bite sized pieces of avocado. Nice and fresh. We ordered the seafood paella and it looked pretty good when it arrived at the table. Since it was served in the pan I was looking forward to scraping the crispy rice bits off the bottom but there weren't any. The shrimp was overcooked and the fish not only had the skin still on it but it still had fins! YUCK! The two scallops were good. That was the worst paella we've ever eaten. The service was good. Didn't need a reservation after all because there were only two other tables occupied. Now I know why. It was way overpriced and they automatically add 20% plus I'm sure they expect more. If you want good tapas style dining , head to Barcelona in downtown Raleigh. You won't be disappointed there.