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Forest Drive cafe closing after 17 years

Staff Report //September 23, 2020//

Forest Drive cafe closing after 17 years

Staff Report //September 23, 2020//

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Forest Drive restaurant The Happy Cafe is closing in December after 17 years.

Owner Sue Hodges, who opened the cafe in 2003 in the corner of The Happy Bookseller bookstore, will focus on launching Sue’s Caramel, a specialty line of the cafe’s popular caramel products, with daughter Anne Reynolds.

“The Happy Café has been a wonderful adventure and, I hope, a place where customers have felt welcome and nurtured,” Hodges said in a news release. “We have laughed, cried, and dispensed lots of unsolicited advice.”

The cafe at 4525 Forest Drive serves lunch, sells to-go casseroles and does event catering. Hodges’ caramel icing is featured on cakes, including mini cupcakes and small varieties displayed in a clamshell container and covered with hot caramel.

The cafe is slated to close after Christmas, according to the release. Its hours are 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday.