The Happy Troll Lives Under the Blue Bridge

This Charlevoix lunch and dinner spot carries on tradition

By Geri Dietze | Aug. 31, 2024

Summer 2024 marked Dennis and Paige O’Leary’s second anniversary as proprietors of The Happy Troll, Charlevoix’s busy café/pub/bakery/dinner spot, just steps from the town’s famous bascule bridge, at the confluence of Pine River channel and Round Lake harbor.

Previously known as Scovie’s, the place had a solid 20-year run before the owner chose retirement and passed the torch to the O’Learys, longtime Charlevoix residents. In Norwegian folklore, trolls were malevolent creatures who hid under bridges waiting to prey on unsuspecting travelers. But no one can stay in a bad mood in Charlevoix, and so this troll was rehabilitated by the O’Leary family.

After a lengthy name search, Paige suggested “troll,” noting their location “just below” the bridge. “We settled on ‘happy,’ and our daughter Madison designed the logo,” adds Dennis.

Madison is also the Happy Troll baker, learning her considerable skills from her mother. Youngest daughter Kyle is a server, bartender, and bakery assistant.

The Learning Curve

The O’Learys are pretty savvy when it comes to business—their combined experience includes retail and manufacturing, real estate, baking, and hospitality—and they have avoided the pitfalls that ensnare restaurateurs who take on a well-established venue by sticking to a single important principle: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“We [kept] the vast majority of [Scovie’s] menu,” Dennis explains. “It was a proven winner, and the patrons were keen to let us know they liked the broad offerings.”

Dennis admits that during that first year, “almost nothing” went as planned. “We had a steep learning curve,” he says, “but…our amazing staff that we retained upon the purchase helped us navigate the unknowns, and we were able to…grow the business substantially.” He also cites the “loyalty and kindness of long-standing patrons, who continue to come in droves… They are our best marketers!”

Though the menu is largely the same, the space itself certainly got a glow up. Think nautical vibes with cheerful blues and lake-inspired fixtures, plus new furniture and flooring. Displays of burgee flags (yachting pennants) honor the previous owner’s support of the Venetian Festival and the Red Fox Regatta, and The Happy Troll is proud to carry on the tradition.

The interior is flooded with light from the harbor, and the sound of the signal bells on the drawbridge as it opens and closes carries inside for true waterfront ambience. The interior seats 120 including 12 at the bar.

The biggest challenge was the small kitchen, but this team knows how to work together.

“They [the chefs] are disappointed when they can’t turn a lunch order in under 10 minutes and dinner in a slightly longer frame,” Dennis explains. “That is the lofty goal they set and work to achieve daily.”

Here’s proof: The Happy Troll serves 250-450 patrons daily in peak season, about half that in slower months, with a staff of 25 in summer and about 18 in the off-season.

So. Many. Sandwiches.

The O’Learys added a few things of their own to the menu, notably the famous Maurice salad, a blend of Julienned ham, turkey, Swiss, olives, and sweet gherkins on romaine, from Detroit’s JL Hudson store, and the additions “have been well-received.”

Look for soups and salads, wraps and sandwiches, burgers and paninis, plus a big selection of sweet treats—cookies, cakes, pies, and bars—from the bakery. Meats (including house-brined corned beef and house-made roast beef), cheeses, and vegetables are hand-cut daily, and sourced locally whenever possible.

Favorites include the Bada Bing, loaded with salami, ham, banana peppers, provolone, romaine lettuce, tomato, and house-made Italian dressing. The Lincoln Tunnel is a pile of turkey pastrami, corned beef, Swiss, coleslaw, and Thousand Island dressing. Or try the fresh daily Northern Michigan Chicken Salad, presented two ways, on greens or on your choice of bakery bread. The Three Alarm burger is a 1/2-pound fire-grilled angus patty on a pretzel bun with pepper jack, jalapeños, and house sriracha mayo sauce.

An impressive kids’ menu has all of the usual suspects, plus the Build Your Own Kids Sandwich. (Adults have the same option.)

Outside of the lunch hours, downtown dining happens on Friday and Saturday evenings with traditional favorites. Patrons favor the Pecan Encrusted Walleye, sautéed, oven-finished, and topped with Amaretto beurre blanc; as well as the Baked Meat Lasagna with ricotta and five-cheese blend. The homemade Chicken Pot Pie dinner special takes you right back to your nana’s kitchen.

New York Strip, BBQ Salmon, and Chicken Caprese are among the other choices. Starters include Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Asian Meatballs, and Peel and Eat Shrimp.

Drinks & Off-Season Fun

The drink selections are heavy with Michigan-made brews on tap, in bottles, and in cans, plus the standards including Heineken and PBR. Same goes for the spirits from local and regional distillers. Wines are sourced from California, Oregon, and our own Chateau Grand Traverse.

And check out the cleverly-named cocktails for both the traditionalist—Old Fashioned, Martini—and for those who like a specialty. Try the O’Leary, with Irish Cream and Foggy Mountain Peanut Butter Whiskey or the Rum Toll Please, a blend of Gypsy Mackinac Island Vanilla Rum, Rumchata, Curacao, and Sprite. The Bloody Troll, (Happy’s evil cousin?) is their version of the Bloody Mary, freshly cut vegetables, and candied bacon garnish.

If all that sounds too good to pack into the remaining two weeks of summer, don’t be blue. The Happy Troll plans to make the season switch even better with events and activities during the slow months. Curated dinners “pair a vintner, distiller, or brewer with a four-course meal, and [we] limit seating to ensure an intimate atmosphere,” Dennis explains.

There are also movie nights, pizza and puzzle events, and karaoke. And Paige O’Leary hosts paint-your-own pottery events at The Happy Troll in conjunction with her Cottage Pottery studio, also in Charlevoix. (Check it out at parkavenuepottery.com.)

Find The Happy Troll at 111 Bridge Street in Charlevoix. (231) 237-7827; thehappytroll.com