Rabat- After the first of my Rabat bar reviews took us to the underwhelming establishment Le Chill, I was on a mission to find a spot that I could actually recommend to Morocco World News’ readers.

And so the second installation in this much-anticipated series explores Copas y Mas, a fancy Spanish-themed bar and restaurant in Rabat’s medium-bougie Agdal neighborhood. For moral support and comedic relief, I brought along Michael Ader, my friend visiting me from the United States.

I picked Copas y Mas because, after Michael accompanied me on my less-than-stellar trip to Le Chill, I wanted him to have at least one good experience at a Rabat bar. I’d been to Copas y Mas a number of times with friends, and never had much reason to complain.

When Michael and I arrived at the bar on the evening of November 8, we immediately liked the vibe. The place was calm and suitable for a casual night out, the music good and not too loud. Michael noticed that Copas y Mas also had lots of space and tables, so the two of us didn’t feel as claustrophobic as we had at other bars in Morocco and the United States.

I tried to order bacon poutine, while Michael wanted a bacon cheeseburger and a Campari spritz. However, the waitress—who gets brownie points for her incredible patience with my horribly accented attempts at Darija, the Moroccan dialect of Arabic—informed us that Copas y Mas was out of all these options. In fact, she said that the kitchen had no pork or poutine whatsoever, a significant issue when an entire section of the menu is titled “poutine.”

I ultimately went for a cordon bleu and an amaretto sour. Michael chose a regular cheeseburger and a so-called “melon ball.” We got our drinks after five minutes and our food within 12 minutes.

In a pleasant change from Le Chill, our drinks at Copas y Mas tasted as expected. The amaretto sour was neither more nor less tart than I wanted it to be, and, though I had never seen a melon ball before, Michael assured me that it was good. We also both enjoyed our meals, with the highlight of mine being the side of mashed potatoes.

Michael was especially complimentary of his food.

“I was expecting a normal burger but it ended up being one of the best I’ve had,” he told me. “The sauce on the burger was amazing.”

Moreover, Michael was very excited about one of the sauces that came with his fries (which, I discovered upon further investigation, was ordinary mustard).

Once we finished eating, Michael and I were ready for the bill. Nonetheless, it took us about 20 minutes to get the waitress’ attention, even though Copas y Mas was not particularly busy that night. When the waitress did eventually come to us, she was cordial and processed our bill quickly.

I give Copas y Mas 3.5 stars out of five—and the place deserves four stars when the poutine is in stock. For the vegetarians and vegans, it’s worth noting that the bar also offers one of Rabat’s few trustworthy veggie burgers.

More generally, I’d describe Copas y Mas as a great place for young professionals to grab a drink after work. I’ll definitely be going back there.