TLO Restaurant Review: Happy Camper Cafe

Now that I live on a working farm, I get to take part in a wide variety of activities I never thought I'd get to experience.

For example, last week, I helped buy a new tractor for my mother. I went to the feed store in Purcell and after a few strokes of the pen, my mother was the new owner of a piece of heavy machinery, ee-i-ee-i-o.

Instead of waiting around for the momentous bit of training on the machine, I scampered down the old town road and discovered a farmer-friendly place called the Happy Camper Café, 216 W. Main St.

It looked like a solid place for a fine lunch, so I gave it a try, no training required.

I walked into the restaurant and immediately dug the natural earthy camper vibe, feeling freed by the green mountain peaks lining the walls. I then made my way to the ordering counter and glanced at the menu board, clinically impressed with Happy Camper’s downhome take on the fresh and fit menu options.

Being a health-conscious tiller of earth, I was in the mood for a simple salad and a typical sandwich, and the Happy Camper had me covered. I choose the Summer Salad and Havarti Melt, and also grabbed a Hello Dollie from the dessert plate that called to me like a lost sow.

Usually, I have my meals in a traditional chronological manner, but I couldn't resist starting with the Hello Dollie ($2.49). Containing coconuts, pecans, chocolate chips, and other recognizable bits and pieces, this little piece of baked heaven is pure salvation.

My body visibly quaked at the coconut strings and the pecans, which was likely due to me just buying a tractor on an empty stomach, but this little non-pot edible cleared a pathway to my next unmissable meal, a salad.

And by salad, I mean a big salad!

The Summer Salad ($8.99) looks like a big nosh with plenty of Granny Smith apples, blue cheese crumbles, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries with a side of apple cider vinaigrette. This salad is a green monster, moving to the forefront as my fork took a big bite.

Amazing. The blue cheese is mostly massive crumbles, the dried cranberries are nearly part of an orchard, and the apples are sliced—not little, tiny bits, but whole slices. On a daybed of fresh lettuce, everything comes into place. It's one of the best salads I've had in quite a while!

Feeling like an afterthought, I capped off my meal with the Havarti Melt ($9.99), a most blessed sandwich! It's a combination of house-smoked turkey and applewood-smoked bacon paired with melted Havarti cheese—the most complex cheese, probably—topped with fresh tomatoes, spread with pesto, and served on wheatberry bread.

Served with a side salad of black bean corn salsa, cut in two, this was a commendable sandwich! With plenty of turkey and bacon, and the crowning moment with the hearty slices of the hardy Havarti, it is mutually filling and it does the trick. Well done, Happy Camper!

If you are down in this part of Purcell, just bought a tractor, and want a light option for lunch, pack your gear and give the Happy Camper a try. You won't be dissapointed.

Cómpralo ya!

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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.