Foot Long Fried Mozzarella Logs at Happiest Hour

The Uptown restaurant and bar Happiest Hour near the American Airlines Center was abuzz before the Stars' hockey game last week. The music was loud, the windows and doors were all open on a near-perfect evening. Fans in Maple Leafs and Stars jerseys spilled out onto the lawn, upstairs, downstairs and crowded around the bar.

Earlier that day Happiest Hour had posted photos of their new foot-long fried mozzarella logs on their social media feed. Ever since Observer contributor Doyle Rader praised the from-scratch mozzarella sticks at Rabbit Hole Bar and Grill, we felt like we've been depriving ourselves of a snack that had gotten lost in ubiquity and was begging to be rediscovered. 

Walking into Happiest Hour, we expected to have to fight for space at the bar or a table, but the hostess actually had a table available in the dining area. Given how packed the place was, we, again, expected service to be slow, at best. But, a tip o' the hat, Happiest Hour. We placed our order and had our drinks within five minutes of sitting down. The place was spotless, we saw our server and food runners often. In a time of apologies-all-over-the-place for slow service and hiccups, this was a delight.

We couldn’t find their mozzarella sticks on the digital menu, so we asked our server about them. The look on her face after we said we wanted an order was priceless: a mix of sadness and concern, a gentle, no, you don’t want to do that. “It’s a lot of food,” she warned as she looked at just the two of us.

I told her I was game and mumbled something about it being “an experience.” She smiled and was happy to place my order for enough fried cheese to choke a Packers' fan. 

We started with a bowl of jalapeño cilantro hummus served with fresh vegetables and pita after seeing them on a nearby table. It was fantastic.

The mozzarella logs took a little longer, but frying 5 feet of cheese coated in breadcrumbs while being slammed on a game night might take a minute, right? We never got anxious about it, although most of the jerseys had cleared out for the puck drop by the time it arrived. Our server stopped by to apologize for the delay and said she's comping our hummus, which was really nice. Again it didn't seem that long. She must have just pitied us.

The fried mozzarella is served in a giant red, head-shaped planter along with a small bowl of ranch dressing and thick marinara sauce. Five long breaded sticks poked out of the top of the head, giving the dish a Medusa look.
A few of the sticks had fried cheese oozing out the side. The first one we broke open was about 75% full of cheese, while others had maybe a chunk here or there (ironically like a clogged artery), while others were more "coated" with cheese on the inside. When I commented on the lack of wall-to-wall cheese in some, my husband countered that "they're probably doing us a favor." Or, again, they pity us.

The ratio of wall-to-wall versus coating in the five cheese logs was probably 50-50 throughout.

The breading has a great Italian herb flavor, so even just coated cheese logs are a nice snack. This 5 feet of fried cheese rings in at $50; one per person is probably a decent "appetizer" if you're like 25 years old and eat and drink like you're ... 25. Otherwise, you might nosh on a nice bowl of vegetables and hummus then eat half of one and not hate yourself the next day.

Just as it was for the Stars, who lost in overtime that night, it wasn't a win nor a loss. They snagged one point in a big game and we all got to see Auston Matthews work his magic. And while the hummus was free, we had about three days worth of fried cheese to take home.

Happiest Hour, 2616 Olive St.,  4 p.m. - 12 a.m. Monday - Wednesday; 4 p.m. - 2 a.m. Thursday - Friday; 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. - 12 a.m. Sunday