The Happ Inn

Delicious food. Fun atmosphere. Very busy when we went there on Saturday for dinner but we had a reservation so they seated us right away. There were only a few groups waiting w/o a res. Worth the wait I think. Large parking lot too.

The food is absolutely amazing! Give the turkey chili a try, you can even take it to go!

Tasty chicken sandwich! Also the grilled jalapeno that I added to the sandwich was delicious! The tortilla soup was delicious 🤤

Gluten Free seekers! this is THE place for you! Had our B-day party and enjoyed it very much. We were so happy to find GF chicken fingers!! the servers are the best and the place is very high level looking - clean, spacy, welcoming and even the kids were calm and quiet.

My burger and sweet potato fries were perfectly cooked and delicious. We had a wonderful waitress who tried so hard to please us-went out of her way. I love this place-consistently good food. Adore the manager, so friendly (not related🤣)

An elderly friend took me there for a birthday dinner. Our waiter, Hugo, was very kind and attentive. I was treated with a Homer's ice cream dessert! Happ Inn is one of my favorite places. Lots of interesting menu choices, great food and service.

The Happ Inn has quickly become one of our favorite spots in the North Shore! The Willow Road Salad is hands down my favorite entree salad anywhere: vibrant, flavorful, and perfectly dressed, with amazing cornbread croutons that take it over the top. It’s also wonderfully family friendly. The kids' meals are generous and even include ice cream, which our little ones absolutely love. It makes dining out with the family feel easy and fun. The service is consistently excellent. On our last visit, the general manager stopped by, not just to check a box, but to genuinely engage and make sure we were having a great experience. That personal touch goes a long way. The ambiance strikes the perfect balance—elevated yet approachable. It’s an ideal place to take visiting friends or family when you want something nicer than your average bar and grill, but still warm and relaxed. Also worth calling out: the fish and chips are fantastic. Crispy, fresh, and satisfying every time. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a reliable, welcoming spot with great food and atmosphere!

This local restaurant has a good vibe and great Happy Hour. They just added a paper plane to their menu. A great cocktail!

Our family meal at the Happ Inn was delightful! The food was delicious - I’d eat that baked goat cheese appetizer every day of the week - and everything came out surprisingly quickly for a very busy Friday night. The best part of our experience was our server, Anna! She was friendly, funny, and so kind, and I was so impressed by her ability to balance multiple large parties without breaking a sweat. She rocks! We had a great time, highly recommend.

Very classy and beautiful restaurant. Great American food and huge selection of wine and adult beverages. I got the fish (tuna) tacos but my friend got their beet salad and it looked fabulous. Very attentive and helpful staff. Recommend reservations because restaurant was busy on a Wednesday evening. Although there were families at the restaurant, it is a nice enough place that I would be hesitant to bring young kids. We ate in general dining area but there is a more casual bar seating area. Plenty of parking

Feels like an old supper club or family bar/resturaunt. Good atmosphere - a little "townie" perhaps - like they have a lot of regulars. Several dining areas within - bar, tables adjoining the bar area and then a typical dining room through another hallway. Service started a little slow but was fine after that. Enjoyed our food - they had everything from pasta to seafood to steaks. Good drink service too! Will definitely come back!

Fantastic experience! Our food came out great and in a timely manner! To top it off gentleman who took care of us was absolutely fantastic, he was attentive, efficient, and pleasantly social. Unfortunately I don’t remember his name, either way he was terrific. Definitely stop by “The Happ Inn” for good food, great service, and fantastic time. (Whoever’s grandmother made the meatloaf should be on food network)

Had a really pleasant experience last Wednesday. We had a charming waiter, a young blond man, who gave us the best pours. The food came at a respectable pace and was just as described. We didn’t try Grandma’s meatloaf — we remain curious, but we wanted to know more about the type of benefits Grandma has before purchasing. Will be back soon

The blackened tuna sandwich was cooked perfectly and was tasty with heavy seasoning. Fish and chips was good with very flaky fish that could have been a bit crisper. Service was attentive and kind and food came out very quickly. It is popular and the dining room can be fairly noisy. Very worth a visit.

Nice restaurant, pretty good food. (Some) gluten free food marked on the menu. The server was very nice to confirm gluten free options. I believe there are some options (like the salads) that can be gluten free that are not marked. I got the chicken tinga tacos, which were decent (good in kinda a white person sense- my grand parents would love them and I think that is the clientele here).

I was lucky enough to be here for a company event! The service is amazing! We had a set menu and you have a choice of London Broil or salmon for your entree! I picked London Broil and it was very tender and delicious (a really large portion too). We had the chocolate cake for dessert, it was a bit dry but the frosting in between the cake was yummy! We had the function in the private room so the noise level was not too loud!

Very friendly and attentive service. Portions are a bit on the larger side. We ended up with leftovers for 3 out 4 meals ordered. Nice Mexican dishes mixed in with routine American favorites. Extensive beer list. Good choice for the are.

Decent place for a Lunch or Dinner. It is very nicely setup snd have a good ambiance. The things we ate like tomatoes bruschetta, toasted bread with artichoke cheese dip, cheese pizza 🍕, Guacamole 🥑 with Nachos chips, cheese quesadilla etc were as per our vegetarian preference and all of them were decent.

We got their takeout food and we’re pretty happy with what we ordered. Personally I wished for a bit more seasoning on the food to get this a full 5 stars but the food in general was pretty great. The food we orders definitely felt healthy with trying the cauliflower and the onion tomatoes and bell peppers with it. Overall 4/5 recommend

Enjoyed eating here for the first time. Will definitely be back. Food portion sizes were perfect. The flavor was on point. I look forward to eating here again.

Nice upscale bistro. Good service. Food was just okay.

Expansive menu. Delicious lunch options. Very enjoyable!!

We arrived for a group dinner and was sat immediately. Being the first to arrive we asked for separate checks. The waiter immediately launched into a story about how they don't do separate checks because "people move around and change seats" and its hard for them to serve the food properly. Apparently this is a defcon level 4 event at The Hap Inn and they could only break up the table in groups of three or four on a separate check. That was fine with us. Weird. But fine. We ordered drinks and the server was quick to refill our cups as soon as they were empty. The rest of our party arrived and asked about separate checks and got the same bizarre story. Eventually, the server came over and told us that there would be separate checks as it was arranged ahead of time. And truth be told. At the end of the meal, all the separate checks were kind of messed up and had the server running here and there trying to fix them. I ordered the bison burger with lettuce, mustard, pickles (an additional $0.50) and crispy onions (also $0.50 extra) and horseradish sauce. I ordered the fries as my side and got ranch for dipping. I also ordered a cup of their chicken tortilla soup. The soup came first. It was okay. No spice to it. at all. It was borderline a creamy tomato soup with diced chicken bits and chopped up tortilla strips. Iy was okay, but I wouldn't get it again. The bison burger arrived and it was cooked to perfection. The horseradish sauce was not added to the sandwich and did not cost extra, so I didn't care. The pickles and the crispy onions were served on the side of the burger, so it was a little DIY which I also thought weird. The fries were nicely seasoned and crispy outside and soft inside and the ranch had really good flavor. I used this on my sandwich a little. The burger was so juicy, the bottom bun eventually fell apart and I finished with fork and knife. It was a great burger, but they up-charge for silly add-ons put a bad taste in my mouth (pun intended). They added gratuity to all our checks which was nice. There is a 3% surcharge that you can have removed from your check upon request. You can pay by cash, card, or QR code off the Toast app. That makes it much easier. Overall, the meal was good, the space was nice, and the server was very good except for the story about people moving around. Worth going back and trying other dishes.

Service was good and prompt. Ate the grilled Atlantic salmon which and it was cooked perfectly. Would've been 5 stars if it was cooked with slightly less sodium but otherwise the flavor was good and enjoyed the roasted tomato butter that came on the side.

Family friendly with menu options for everyone. Nothing super special about the food but not disappointing either. Staff is very friendly and accommodating.

We dined here while visiting our family for Easter weekend. The restaurant is nice and the food is good. However, because it was very crowded, we felt very rushed to get out of there. I understand Saturday's are very busy and the lobby was packed, but I felt like we were inconveniencing the staff by being there. I don't like being made to feel like I am in the way, when the customers are the whole reason for being open. This place is conveniently located to my in-laws house, but next time we are in town, we will choose to go somewhere else.

The food is mediocre. Service was friendly but a little short-staffed. Don't let them seat you in the front area; the acoustics are loud. It's clearly an old standby in the community, and has a following, but I don't think that's due to the food.

I called three times to place a carry out order. No one picked up the phone. This has happened before. One time I actually emailed their owners. They never replied. I guess they don’t want my business.

Was a little confusing when first arrived. Did not seem like the hostess and waitress were on same page. But food was good

This place is very hit or miss. Used to live 5 minutes away and supported them all through covid. They adapted well and the food was always good. We moved to Lake Forest and I’ve had takeout a few times in the last year when in the area, and man has the food gone downhill. I ordered the 5 way grilled cheese and it was one step from a Fyre festival cheese sandwich. The bread was barely toasted, the cheese was slightly melted, and the bacon was floppy. I’m sorry but if you can’t cook a grilled cheese you aren’t a good restaurant. It’s like the easiest food there is.

Since switching owners or menus, whichever it is, they got rid of some of their best food. Particularly the fried ribs. Those were AMAZING! Also their drinks have gotten bland, meaning less alcohol and other ingredients. Time to find a new place sadly.

Something was definitely amiss when we were last there. They are/were very understaffed. We waited to be greeted and seated, but once seated, the wait person came by quickly with menus, but then spent 15 or 20 minutes tending to other tables before retuning. When our food arrived, the Fish Special was well on the way to being very over done. Dry and burned on the ends. The skirt steak was closer to medium than medium rare. Fried chicken and salad were fine. We won't be back anytime soon. Too bad.

This place is below mediocre. Service was slow. Food was cold. Nobody had anything warm at the table. No one particularly had anything good to say. To round things off, the check is accompanied by a 3.5% surcharge to offset rising costs? LOL. I'd challenge this place to share a menu from two years ago so we can see if they raised their prices in accordance with food costs. Which makes sense because everyone did. But to raise prices AND then apply a surcharge on top, is ridiculous. Definitely not going back.

Could this place BE any worse?? It started with the entrance being blocked by a huge bus apparently there to drop off a big dinner crowd.So, parking lot which was jammed was even worse. Place was packed and super noisy. Waited a long time for server. Took our drink order. After a while I reminded him I never got mine. He said, he would get it “ the next time he went to the bar”! Ordered grilled calamari. Very spicy and mostly arugula not much calamari. Had the dinner Cobb salad which was slightly larger than the side salad. One in our party had a soft drink and asked for limes but got lemons! One person ordered quesadillas which were way over cooked and dried out and hard to chew. We ordered carrot cake for dessert. The server brought it and put it on the table for the four of us to share. As we picked up our forks, he swooped in and literally took the cake away from us with no explanation and put it onthe table of four next to us! When I was finally able to get ahold of him, he said he had inadvertently given us banana pudding by mistake which the other table had ordered. Had to repeatedly ask for more drinks. We got no bread with our food. Then after a long while he finally came over and asked if there would be anything else. I asked him for coffee which he brought but, again, no refills (@ $4.50 a cup). Finally we got the check and I saw a 3.5% surcharge. I asked why and he said to ask the owner. Then he hovered over me the whole time I was using that little device to pay the bill. The service was awful but I left a 15% tip. As soon as he saw that, he literally complained to me why so small? He said did you not get good service? I told him no and he said he was sorry but the place was very busy tonight!!! WOW. Will NOT be returning.

Saturday evening I had ordered hot wings and steak, I had asked for rare but they gave me well done. I also had some milk with it to cool my tongue from the sauce. Sunday morning I had gotten very sick. I could not keep any food down and had no potassium or magnesium in my body left, I was in so much pain. The doctor said it was norovirus, but it could’ve been a punishment for eating meat and dairy together.

I have eaten a few times here, tried different items. The food is not a destination place, no signature dishes you would attribute to Happ Inn. Just the same as most sit down restaurants. However, I placed an order for plain white rice, and I received a voicemail from the restaurant, that my lunch order could not be done because they only had Mexican rice. Hmm 🤨, you have a kitchen and rice, but you can make plain white rice. Also, the chicken tortilla soup was densely seasoned. Needed lime to cut through the sodium spike. And to make it worst, I don’t feel comfortable eating at a restaurant next to a business with mice. Over the entire summer, Peachtree Place has had mice and I saw it on the shop floor. In fairness, I did my due diligence and confirmed with the health department, and it said it has NOT had any issues with Happ Inn on safety at all. So my review, is my comfort level. And although the Northfield Health Department says Happ Inn is safe a compliant, Peachtree Place is not under the same regulations. So it can maintain its mice problem unaddressed.

What were they thinking? After several decades of sharing wonderful meals with both local and out of town friends at the Happ Inn, I was stunned by the recently introduced new menu. The signature chicken tortilla soup that was a velvety and aromatic blend of texture and flavor has been replaced by a cup with a few canned kidney beans and soggy cut up vegetables in a watery tasteless broth. One can get much better soup from a can! My go to entree of seared tuna steak on a brioche bun was likewise nowhere to be found. The sheepish waiter suggested a plate with 3 corn tortillas that contained a few small pieces of tuna and a “coleslaw” that consisted of raw cabbage slices and carrots with a few tiny pieces of tomato—no sauce or flavorings at all. I have friends who drive in from Wheaton 3 or 4 times a year to enjoy the sliders and pulled pork sandwich. They were planning to celebrate a birthday at the Happ Inn later this month, but I told them that both these items are now off the menu and the 1 hour plus drive is definitely not worth it. I will not even drive the 10 minutes from my home in the future. I sense a private equity takeover in the obvious plan to cut costs by using inferior ingredients and cutting down on prep time. If that’s the case the foreseeable fall off in diner visits is not important since the goal is to squeeze every penny out of the business, then leave it for dead. It’s just such a shame that a beloved institution has to be sacrificed for the almighty buck.

I wanted to share some feedback regarding a recent retirement party we hosted at Happ Inn. We had high hopes for this event, especially given the glowing recommendations we had received about your venue. While there were aspects of the evening that we truly appreciated, the planning process and overall experience left us disappointed. Our initial contact with your former private event manager was warm, responsive, and accommodating. We had a clear verbal agreement and were in the process of finalizing a contract when our emails suddenly went unanswered. After several attempts to reconnect, we learned that the manager was no longer with the restaurant and were directed to a new contact. Unfortunately, our experience with the new private event manager was markedly different. From our first interaction, we found her demeanor to be unfriendly and abrasive. It quickly became clear that our event date had not been reserved, and we were forced to restart the process under much less accommodating terms. The pricing we were quoted was significantly higher than what we had initially agreed upon—both the per-person cost and the event minimum. Our original plan, based on the initial verbal agreement, included heavy appetizers priced per dozen, non-alcoholic drinks, and a bartender to open drink tabs for guests. None of these elements were honored as expected. Despite our efforts to work collaboratively and respectfully to find a resolution, our interactions with both the event manager and GM remained frustrating. While they eventually agreed to meet our maximum budget, the final package was disappointing. For our group of 35, we were offered 8 dozen appetizers and one oversized platter serving 20 people—barely enough food for the number of guests, and at a rate that worked out to approximately $58 per dozen. Additionally, the event included an open bar with very limited beer and wine selections, which we did not want, and were not given the option to remove. On the day of the party, the event manager greeted us in a similarly cold manner. Thankfully, the rest of the staff was professional and welcoming, and we appreciated their efforts throughout the evening. The space was beautifully set up and the food, while limited, was delicious. That said, many guests left the party hungry—something that should never happen at a catered event. We truly believe that the person planning private events for your restaurant should reflect the warm and welcoming atmosphere you hope to offer your guests. Unfortunately, the current event manager does not possess these qualities, and her demeanor and handling of our event have left a lasting negative impression. While we understand that businesses face economic challenges, treating potential customers with respect and consideration should remain a priority. Given our experience, I will not be returning to Happ Inn nor recommending it to others—despite the great things I had heard prior.

Not sure if there are new owners or new staff but I have been to Happ countless times over the past 5 years and this was the worst experience I’ve ever had there. We arrived around 4:50pm on a weekday for my birthday dinner and the place was basically empty. We stood at the front receptionist for a little too long and were eventually greeted by the nastiest woman I’ve ever met at a restaurant receptionist - she was unnecessarily aggressive, extremely rude and acted as if our mere presence was an inconvenience to her. No idea how she’s allowed to interact with customers. Our server seemed like he was half asleep and hated his job. I ordered the steak sandwich which was overpriced, small and bland. I ordered the side Mac and cheese for $8 and it was literally Kraft Mac and Cheese. I know they just revamped the menu and the atmosphere is more “formal” and “ fine dining” with table cloths, dark lighting, quiet music, etc., which actually makes my experience even worse. I wouldn’t even expect such a poor experience at a fast food restaurant, let alone at an expensive “fine dining” establishment Will never be going back to Happ Inn again.

Been coming here for years…new owners perhaps? Ordered steak special medium rare, served well done cold tough meat. Entire meal was on the cold side. Got a tepid cup of tea. What happened to one of my favorite spots? Raised my family coming here…not any more.