Happy Hollow

Date Visited: May 19, 2o17
Location: N. Hillcrest Pkwy., Altoona
Restaurant Type: Bar
Fish Types Offered: baked or hand breaded and battered
Fish Serving Sizes Offered: 2 or 3 piece meals
Sides Offered: coleslaw, Texas toast, and beer battered fries, kettle chips, waffle fries – or sweet potato chips, side salad, and cup of soup available for additional $.99
Cost: less than $10

Happy Hollow was a busy place around 6 p.m. on Friday night; however, it’s a huge bar, so there was plenty of room for multiple groups. With a large round bar in the center of the main room and high-top and low-top tables on either side, we found a seat and a waitress brought us menus and drinks within a few minutes. We decided we wanted to try several appetizers along with our fish, and they soon arrived.

The pizza fries (two sizes available) were a thin crust
pizza fry: very greasy and very tasty. They came with a large side of marinara dipping sauce. The potato munchers were deep fried potato rounds with hot cheese inside. The order wasn’t very large, and the munchers weren’t incredibly full of cheese, but they were still good. The cheese curds were covered in a light batter and were white and melty on the inside. The order was very large, and the curds were from Ellsworth.

Our fish came out shortly after we have enjoyed our appetizers. The beer battered fish had a light batter, not cakey, and the fish was flaky. The skinny beer battered fries had the same batter as the fish, and both were good but seemed as if some seasoning could be of benefit. The baked fish had a lemon pepper coating that complimented the fish well. Once again, the fish was flaky and well cooked. We upgraded to sweet potato fries which were also skinny and well cooked with a good amount potato inside. The meal came with a side of coleslaw which was lightly coated in mayo and had a little horseradish kick. The Texas toast was fairly thick and tasty.

The service at Happy Hollow was good, the dining room was clean, and the food was on par. It seemed that the bar would be a good late-night hang out as well as there were pool tables, dart boards, and signs advertising events such as karaoke. We’d like to return to try other items on the menu.