The Happy Cook is such a fun store in the Barracks Road Shopping Center. I love going here to find little gifts for family members or unique kitchen items. The store is small but well organized. You can browse around and probably take hours just looking at the different, unique kitchen ware. I suggest this as a great place for friends/family's birthday presents or christmas gifts. If you are shopping around on Barrack's Road Shopping Center, don't miss this cute store! I'm sure you'll end up coming out with something great for your kitchen! read more

What a fantastic, well proved, and originally stocked cooking store. They have huge collections of favorite things!. Le Crueset, Corksicle, Weck canning jars in cool sizes, these neat melamine French plates and dinnerware in gorgeous prints from Le Cadeaux, and my favorite thing that I'm dying to splurge on, some beautiful Laguiole steak knives. The folks there are so nice and sweet. I've bought several fun fabric things there like potholders with patterns of macarons, and glassware. Two heavy fancy highball glasses yesterday for $9 each compared to the last ones I picked out somewhere else that were similar quality and cost $40 a piece... I totally recommend coming in and buying one fun gadget to make cooking more fun this week. Americans spend more time on average watching cooking shows than actually preparing meals in you can believe that! I feel like this store can inspire a ton of fabulous meals and fun to make and serve them! read more

A nice, locally owned and managed store that has served Cville for decades. Support them because they're local and they have a great location at Barracks Road. BUT, I only buy here if I know I won't need to return anything (exchanges not quite as bad). I returned two out of seven items I bought (with receipt) and was treated as though I had either stolen them or used them (hadn't done either). It was unnecessarily uncomfortable, so if I'm uncertain about a gift or product, I'll go elsewhere. Will keep shopping for items I know I'll keep! read more

This wonderful little store in Barracks Road Shopping center nearly has everything a decadent kitchen could need. I am a sucker for kitchen stores and I have probably visited more than my share of them around the world. So if I liked the store, why not more stars? Service! The store would have received more stars if the weekend staff would have been a little friendlier and helpful. The woman on the floor was great, she was sweet and working her tail off. Where they hit bottom was at the wrap desk. The wrap desk is where the store makes or breaks a consumer's shopping experience. Although The Happy Cook did not quite break my experience, I could not wait to pay my bill and make haste. The two behind the counter were not quite so friendly. I bought three items for just over $70.00 (a set of measuring bowls, a pizza cutter and a jar of herbs). I even tried to engage them about the herbs but nothing. Perhaps it was because they had to work on a Sunday. Perhaps my expecations were too high. It was not so bad that I won't visit the store again but I will expect to get my things and get out quickly...no lingering. I recommend a visit for sure. The store is filled with goodies - I bought a great $20.00 pizza cutter and I don't regret one penny of it. read more

They successfully handled an issue I had with a product I purchased from their store. They responded quickly and took ownership of the issue. I will continue to shop at this location. read more

I attended a cooking class at Happy Cook with Melissa Close-Hart, who has been a James Beard semifinalist four times. She has most recently been at The Local and will be opening a new Mexican restaurant, called Junction this summer. Beforehand, we were only told that the menu would be noveau-Mexican with dinner and dessert. The cooking class was set up at the counter that is attached to the registers. We arrived on the later side, so we weren't able to sit right at the counter. There isn't a mirror above, which made it pretty difficult to see the demonstration. Once again, the cooking space is very limited, and the chef only had access to a hot plate. Almost everything was prepared ahead of time due to the space issues. Melissa was awesome and answered any questions that we had and happily talked about her new venture. She also gave us the inside scoop about local Charlottesville places, which gave me new dining ideas and places to buy ingredients. The menu was tortilla soup and flan, and both were delicious. The recipes were both very accessible for all types of different cooks, and I have since made the soup at home. Overall, I really did enjoy the cooking class, but I think it more appropriately would have been called a cooking demonstration because it wasn't actually hands-on. The store itself is on the premium side anything cooking-related that you could want. I have enjoyed perusing all of the cooking gadgets before and have bought gifts for my mom from here. When you attend a cooking class, you receive a $5 off coupon on any purchase in the store. Not wanting to waste it, I bought an adorable owl lunch box for my niece, who will be attending pre-school soon. read more

We explored The Happy Cook while in Charlottesville to visit family. The staff was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. I was very clear in telling the sales associate that I already had 5 kitchen's worth of high end kitchen wares and would not be purchasing anything and yet I was given more then adequate attention. I have worked in retail sales for 18 years and owned my own retail culinary business since 2011 so I understand how hard it can be to give customers your full attention when you are attempting to get everything taken care of. Phil at Happy Cook is an absolutely phenomenal sales person and should be given a raise. I don't care what you are paying him, he deserves a raise. I apologize that this review is 15 month late! The Happy Cook is a delightful place to shop! read more

Place to get kitchenware. Staffs are always helpful. Got Le creuset teapot, mugs and butter dish.

I was in this store a couple of weeks ago and could not believe what I witnessed. I saw the worst display of customer service ever! The, what seemed to be, owners were almost to the point at yelling at one of their customers over what seemed to be an exchange or money back transaction. They were very rude and unprofessional. I am an avid cook have shopped here since I moved to Charlottesville a few years ago and will never go back. I felt so sorry for the customer that I walked out with her to make sure she was okay. Everyone was looking around like they couldn't believe they were hearing and seeing what was happening. I do not recommend this business and am sure they won't be open long if this is the kind of service they provide. I had heard their reputation was going downhill. Now I know why. read more

I recently took a cooking class at the Happy Cook as part of a wine and cuisine club with UVA. Our chef was Melissa Close-Hart (she cooks at The Local and will be the chef at a new Belmont restaurant soon), and the meal was chicken tortilla soup with flan. The store itself is adorable and the staff were waiting for us at the door to bring us back to the demonstration area. The demonstration was a lot of fun and the staff were attentive in making sure everyone got their food and had full wine glasses. For taking part in the class we were given $5 gift certificates off a purchase. The store reminds me of a Williams Sonoma but with a more boutique feel. It has high end kitchen pieces and a lot of fun trinkets for cooking and baking. It's definitely expensive, so keep that in mind if you're looking for something pretty common. With our gift certificates my husband got a great pour over coffee maker he's been eyeing for a while and I actually picked out a nice pack of wine chocolates made locally by Gearharts and Barboursville. If you're looking to get lost in kitchenware or need a unique gift, you should stop by the Happy Cook. read more

Paid a visit 2 years ago. Nice store with lots of great stuff. The woman behind the counter was not friendly at all, however. She stared at me the entire time I browsed. I guess she had me pegged as a potential shoplifter? She was watching me so intently that she completely ignored a ready-to-pay customer standing right in front of her! The customer asked her if she was ok! Hahaha! She still treated me like a criminal when I payed for a mixing spoon and a cocktail strainer. I haven't been back since. read more

I love this place! I have very picky gourmet friends and am always on the look out for cool stuff. I can never leave the place without picking up at least a couple of things. I went in yesterday because I wanted a really good knife and had absolutely no idea what to choose. The woman who waited on me was really knowledgeable and guided me to the one she thought would be best. He loved it! read more

I've been popping into this store periodically since I was a newlywed (24 years, now), and have been going in more often now that I'm driving my widowed father around because, though he doesn't cook, for some reason he loves cooking stores and this is his favorite. For such a small store, they carry a wide range of items. The prices can't compete with a discount store, but there isn't much overlap with discount stores because Happy Cook carries only the higher-end models or more exotic products discount stores generally don't. The shopper can also get some purchase guidance at Happy Cook that you can't get in discount stores. I have always been extremely pleased with the purchases I've made, and with the decisions I've made based on the advice I've gotten there. I don't think I've ever been in the store dressed in anything fancier than jeans and a sweatshirt, and I only occasionally make purchases, because I've always been broke. The people who recognize me from previous visits must realize that I only occasionally am able to buy the things I admire. Despite this, I've always been treated like a valued customer, made welcome and offered a cup of coffee, and my questions are always cheerfully answered. (I recently went in only to ask some saved-up questions, with no intention to buy anything, but a shop assistant answered them all with a smile, and I wound up buying something before I left, an example of how their good customer service pays off.) I'm shocked at the three negative comments about customer service---I've never experienced or seen bad service in the store in 24 years of dropping in and probably less than $400 in total purchases over that time. I have been treated so well there, and been so pleased with my purchases there, that, with our finances due to make a change for the better in mid-2015, I will be doing much of my shopping to equip my redesigned kitchen all-new from The Happy Cook. (PS, I'm unaffiliated with the shop, though I did once attend a party with someone who mentioned she worked there as a second job just for the employee discount...) read more