Building on the Success of Its Food Truck, Happy Dishes Serves Up Southern Comfort Food at Milesburg Restaurant

The Happy Dishes food truck has been a local favorite for those seeking comfort food since 2018, and now the eatery has added a brick-and-mortar home in Milesburg. 

The restaurant serves up smoked barbeque favorites and a Creole-Cajun Southern-style menu. 

Owners Mike and Kennita Johnson opened the restaurant this past summer at 200 Mill Street, Milesburg. If that location sounds familiar, it should. For a long time, the building housed Stover’s Tea Room, which was a popular watering hole.

Mike Johnson loves the spot, but says it presents some challenges.

“It’s been challenging because we’re a little bit further away from the students and families that live in State College,” he says. “But we have had a good turnout from local people in Milesburg and Bellefonte.

“I met with some people and they wanted to do something special with the location,” he adds, “and we really wanted to help the community by delivering some great food.”

According to Johnson, the reviews from diners have been “completely positive.” On Google, there are 17 customer reviews. Every single one is five stars.

The menu at Happy Dishes is eclectic, to say the least.

“We are a restaurant and food truck that is mostly Southern food. It’s definitely comfort food,” Johnson says.

“The food truck is great,” he adds. “You just try to get to as many events as you possibly can.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the food truck became a particularly popular destination in the region.

“We would have our menu outside and we would tell people just to text in their orders. We had their to-go bags ready. People responded to it very well,” Johnson says.

The popularity of the Happy Dishes food truck forced his hand in a way, he says.

“Everyone was like, ‘We want to be able to come in and sit down.’ I was shut down for the wintertime because it was too cold, but people still wanted the food. It really helped push it along,” he says.

Johnson knows his way around a kitchen. After all, he was an executive chef for 25 years, starting as a food and beverage director at a Hilton in Philadelphia and working at the Cowfish and Rumba restaurants in the Hamptons, New York.

At the Milesburg location, Johnson says, the restaurant’s signature dishes are shrimp and grits, a fried shrimp po’boy, a langostino Philly roll, and a pulled brisket cheesesteak.

“Those are the things that are really big. People love those,” he says.

Happy Dishes has something for every taste, he says.

There are a handful of appetizers on the menu. Known as “Happy Starters,” there is Buffalo shrimp, loaded fries with pulled pork, loaded lobster fries, lobster macaroni and cheese, and chicken fingers.

A trio of salads dot the menu. Look for the fresh avocado salad, a grilled chicken Caesar salad, and a basic seasonal salad.

Happy Dishes has a plethora of sandwiches. In addition to the signature sandwiches, one of the best sellers is the “Happy Burger,” an 8-ounce Angus burger, topped with pulled brisket, Applewood bacon, crumbled blue cheese, sweet pickled slaw, and drizzled with barbecue sauce. Other burgers include the “Cowboy Burger” (complete with onion rings and barbecue sauce), a spicy chipotle burger, a turkey burger, and of course, the basic but delicious house burger.

Johnson shops local for the meats.

“We use Hogs Galore out of Philipsburg. It’s a great local butcher. We get all of our brisket, our pork butts from them and we smoke it here, in-house,” Johnson explains.

Entrees include pulled brisket tacos, shrimp tacos, and a New York strip steak.

For the kiddos, there are chicken fingers and fries, as well as a “Happy Grilled Cheese.”“We do a little bit of everything,” Johnson says.

For more information about Happy Dishes or to check out a menu, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.

This story appears in the January 2022 issue of Town&Gown.