Cooper’s Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk is a winery and restaurant that has locations across the country, but several locations are located here in central Florida. My family and I were recently at the location on International Drive in Orlando.

The restaurant initially didn’t offer a gluten-free menu, but I found a rather large menu online. After the server saw me looking at the menu, she did offer to get me a menu. I was easily able to navigate the menu on my phone, which is linked here.

There are a lot of choices on the menu for gluten-free. The server was quick to note that they cannot guarantee an absence of cross-contamination, but that they do take precautions as they can. After a few minutes, some hot gluten-free bread was brought out to the table for me to enjoy. This taste very similar to the rolls from Disney to be honest. It is just a much larger version.

My family and I ordered the gluten-free Thai Lettuce Wraps appetizer. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but my eyes were wide when I saw this plate sat down in front of us.

This was one of the best appetizers I’ve had in quite a while. The chicken was served cold, almost like a chicken salad. It had an Asian flavor, but also a little Thai spice to it. The vegetables and fruits that were mixed on the side were excellent. This was such as surprise and probably my favorite part of the meal.

For my meal, I chose to have the Chicken Giardiniera. I asked if they could put the wasabi butter on the side of the mashed potatoes to try. I was a little underwhelmed with the mashed potatoes, but the wasabi butter added a nice touch and flavor. The Parmesan crusted chicken was very good. The pickled vegetables were a little underwhelming. The sauce was a little spicy, which was surprising.

The service was very good overall throughout our visit. The restaurant was clean and the food was good. Fair warning though, the restaurant was pretty loud inside. It was a little challenging to have any conversation while we were there. Otherwise, it was a great visit and I look forward to trying many other items on the menu soon!