The latest addition to Old Town's restaurants is Happy Camper, a pizzeria and sister restaurant to Homeslice. It's a welcome addition to the Wells Street dining scene which has many restaurants, most of which are unfortunately not very good. The casual restaurant occupies a large space, divided into two dining areas each with their own bar.
When you walk through Happy Camper's doors you enter a large area with long communal tables, small round high tops, and a long bar along the wall. Vintage campers decorate the space. A small hallway leads to a second room with its own bar where the chairs are tire swings hanging from the ceiling. It's the type of restaurant where you go for a casual dinner with friends or a relaxed (perhaps hungover) brunch.
The menu features the same pizzas you love from Homeslice, but with different names (not quite sure why they did this). On weekend mornings, Happy Camper serves a brunch menu in addition to the full menu. The brunch menu includes things like pork hash, pizza with eggs, and omelets. You also have the option to add eggs to any pizza.
We began our meal with an order of the potato skins, which Charles happily devoured. The potato skins are stopped with pulled pork, cheddar, bacon, sour cream, and green onion, with honey mustard on the side. While I thought that the honey mustard might not be the right fit, I was proven wrong. It complimented the pork and cheddar wonderfully.
I ordered the Green Eggs & Pie, a breakfast pizza topped with smoked ham, pesto, hash brown potatoes, buttermilk ranch, and perfectly runny eggs, served with salsa on the side. The crust was thin and crispy and the runny egg yolk and the buttermilk ranch created a nice sauce for the pizza. The salsa that was served on the side was great for dipping the crust. Charles helped himself to half of this, which was fine since the potato skins were a bit filling.
Charles had the "Crust Free Pizza" which is basically a messy omelet with eggs, spinach, onion, artichoke, roasted red pepper, and goat cheese. It's basically the healthiest thing on the menu, and I was surprised when Charles ordered it, and not surprised when he didn't love it. Ordering an omelet the Happy Camper is like ordering a veggie burger at Kuma's, it just isn't why you go there.
Overall, Happy Camper offers a fun atmosphere, excellent pizza, enough space to accommodate large groups, and plenty of tvs if you want to catch a game while you eat. This will certainly become a hangout for recreational sports teams in the summer, as well as hungry Old Town residents.
Happy Camper's address is 1209 North Wells St, and it is between the Chicago and Sedgwick Brown Line Stops. They do not accept reservations, but you can order online. The staff told me that brunch gets busy at noon, but it is easy to walk in before then.
