After decades as a chef at well known Lake Norman and other Charlotte-area restaurants, Cornelio Garcia fulfilled a longtime dream recently.
He and co-owner Victor DeJesus opened The Happy Egg family restaurant near downtown Mooresville on Sept. 5.
Its varied menu stems from Garcia’s years at such establishments as Epic Chophouse in downtown Mooresville and the original Mickey & Mooch, which closed at the end of 2019 after two decades in Northcross shopping center in Huntersville.
He also spent years at the former longtime Matt’s Chicago Dog in Cornelius, thus the Carolina and Chicago hot dogs on The Happy Egg menu ($10 for one, $14 for two).
Now 48, Garcia has worked in the industry since he was 18. He and DeJesus cooked in the same restaurants, he said.
“His dream has always been to open his own restaurant,” son Jonathan Garcia told CharlotteFive at The Happy Egg on Friday, where he also works.
The restaurant features all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner entrées that are Cornelio Garcia originals, with his special sauces, spice mixtures and ingredients.
I ordered the $16.99 shrimp and grits, which has a grits base with 12 grilled shrimp covered in Garcia’s Cajun cream glaze. The sauce includes blackened and Cajun seasoning, where most restaurants add only one, he said.
I cleaned the huge plate, scooping the remaining sauce with a soup spoon.
The meal rivaled my all-time favorite Cajun restaurants in Charlotte: the former Bayou Kitchen at 7th and Caswell that I and my older besties Dean and Kathy Potts drove regularly to in the 1990s from our homes 40 miles away in Lincolnton; and to the still-thriving Cajun Queen on East 7th.
Aiyee! Hello, N’Orlins, Mooresville.
Then I realized so much more fills the towering, two-sided menu at The Happy Egg.
Lots to choose from here
Consider Garcia’s original Royal Benedict Delights, $11-$16.95; make-your-own Nest Bowls, $11.99-$13.99; Happy Omelettes, $11.99-$14.99; and other breakfast platters.
And his pastas, salads, sandwiches and 8-ounce Angus burgers.
His $4 tacos — fish, Asada, Al pastor and Chorizo — are authentic, handmade tortillas that reflect his and DeJesus’s roots in Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero.
The top seller so far is the $13.99 Reuben, Happy Egg general manager Taylor Paulson said. The restaurant slow-roasts the corned beef for its Reubens and the corned beef hash dish, she said.
The menu also features a $14 Buffalo chicken sandwich; $13.99 homemade chicken salad sandwich; $18.99 Cajun chicken pasta, and $16.99 chicken Alfredo.
And The Happy Egg serves homemade biscuits – plain, $1.50; Fried chicken biscuit, $6.50; and bacon or sausage biscuit, $3.50 – and an array of muffins. Last week featured a French toast muffin with a sugar-coated topping; and a Triple Berry Muffin with strawberries, cranberries and blueberries.
Appetizers include jumbo, bone-in Buffalo and BBQ wings, $12 eight count, $15 12 count; fried green tomatoes topped with a Cajun cream sauce, $11.99; Buffalo chicken dip, $12.50; Chili Cheese Nachos, $13.99; and loaded fries, $11.
Dinner entrees include:
Two 4-oz. crab cakes with Wasabi soy sauce, $26.99.
8-oz. salmon fillet with aioli, $21.50.
12-oz. grilled rib eye, $29.99.
8-oz. premium filet mignon, $29.99.
Half or full rack baby back ribs with house BBQ, $21-$25.
Mahi Mahi Delight, blackened Mahi with Cajan sauce, $20.50.
“Everything’s homemade, it’s as fresh as it can be,” Paulson said. “Homemade salsas, homemade ingredients. They bread their own chicken, they make their tortillas. They put very good quality into their food. They really care about what they’re putting out.”
The restaurant awaits permits to serve beer, wine and mimosas.
More good eats for me
On day two – Saturday – I tooled back to the restaurant under the guise of borrowing a menu to make sure the prices were accurate in my story.
I really wanted the $15 Happy Italian Cheese & Beef hoagie, which includes provolone, peppers and onions, and a bowl of Garcia’s spicy au jus.
I’d become a budding regular.
Paulson said the restaurant aims to be a second home for people, “where they can come and be comfortable. “We just want to give that good feeling, warm welcome, good food, good service, good quality, good prices.
“We just want to provide for the community around us,” she said.
I left happy with my takeout. Back home, I wondered what I’d order on my next visit, this week. The place is that original, fresh, inviting and plain good.
The Happy Egg
Location: 969 N. Main St., Mooresville NC 28115
Instagram: @TheHappyEggNC
