Happy days: New ‘neighbourhood bar’ set to put a smile on Kelham residents’ faces

Don’t worry. Be happy. That’s the ethos behind Happy’s, the new neighbourhood bar from the lovely folk behind The Parrot Club and O’Hara’s Spiced Rum, which is set to be open on Rutland Road by the end of the month.

The new bar, housed in the building behind The Parrot Club, promises to be packed full of fun, with plans for live music in the courtyard through the summer months, old school ‘Miami’ style cocktails, American diner-style food (including ‘Happy’s Meals™’), a proper jukebox, loadsa lovely accessible beers and… a life-size marlin hanging from the ceiling! Enough to make you beam with happiness!

“You know when you walk into a bar and you think to yourself, ‘There isn’t a bloody fish in here, I’m leaving’? Well, that will not happen in Happy’s! Here you’ll go, ‘Shit, there’s a fish, I’m staying!’” says Happy’s co-owner John Wickham.

“It’s going to be a proper neighbourhood bar. Somewhere that’s going to be great for people to meet up at any time of day, right through to the early hours. It’s an insanely exciting bar. There’s a good nod of nostalgia. It’s very accessible and very welcoming.”

We’ll get to the nostalgia, but first and foremost the venue is a bar, and as such will have a rotating selection of good quality beers from the likes of Abbeydale, Vocation and other guests, all at reasonable prices.

John explains: “We’re trying to be as affordable as possible, concentrating on good quality beer. We’re not going down the super strong route of DDIPAs or anything like that, it’s just very accessible pints, looked after beautifully.

“We are hitting a sort of American tavern style theme, so we will, indeed, be doing old school Miami cocktails, done really well. Taking those slightly tacky drinks, that people have loved for years and years, and just elevating them. I still have the dream of creating the first ever Sex on the Beach that isn’t, frankly, terrible.

“There’s also got to be a nod to America’s favourite spirit – bourbon. We are going to have a monstrous selection of great bourbon and you’ll be able to drink it in any manner you please: with coke, as a pickle back with a shot of pickle juice on the side… however you like to drink it. We are not here to judge, we’re here to sell you it at a great price point.”

The bar will also boast a food menu that nods to American diner-style classics, with the promise of ‘delicious, simple food, done well’. This will include proper deli bagels, a delicious breakfast menu and of course, the Happy’s Meal™.

“There’s going to be loads of beautiful nods with the food and, of course, it would be remiss for me not to mention the ‘Happy’s Meal’. What adult doesn’t want food served in a box that says Happy’s Meal on it? It’ll be fries, a can of Past Blue Ribbon, a proper burger, and if I’m feeling generous, we might even throw a toy in!

“I have a dream, and it’s to hold a burger in one hand and a pint in the other, without needing a bath afterwards! I think it’s a reasonable dream, so we are going to concentrate on a very pickup-able burger, that is delicious.

“We’re not trying to break any boundaries down here. We’re actually almost trying to pull it back as to where everyone else has gone recently. This won’t be the place to have a burger with a fried egg, peanut butter, and a bloody monkey on it. This will be the place to get proper food, done well, at a good price point.”

“There is also a tub of meat on the menu and I refuse to give any more description of it than that. What you get is what you get, and it will be meat. In a tub.”

The building itself is a former garage that for years made casting sand. Made out of engineering bricks and a ‘wiggly tin’ roof, they have tried to incorporate these features into the final design, giving the inside space an industrial feel, while adding enough touches and furnishings to make it a cosy place to while away a few hours. Perhaps most excitingly, there will also be a proper Wurlitzer-style jukebox, something that is lost from many modern bars.

Equally impressive, is the venue’s outside space. Concealed off Rutland road, the beautiful courtyard space isn’t just an afterthought, it’s somewhere they see people spending a lot of time hanging out over the warmer months. They’ve even built an outdoor stage to specialise in quality rock n roll, blues and indie. The plan being to have live music every good weather day of the year.

“I really want this to be a neighbourhood bar, a community bar and I want to hear about your mate’s band, and how good they are. I want them to come and play. We’ll have live music, proper blues, with everything from old school Rainbow and Bad Company, through to Creedence Clearwater Revival and cracking local musicians.

“I think that sort of music has been shied away from as people want to go more and more down the DJ route. It’s time to start living the American blues past a bit, I think.”

John, along with co-owner Andy O’Hara, who founded popular rum brand O’Hara’s Spiced Rum, have been looking to expand the company for a while, thanks in part to the massive success and popularity of The Parrot Club. When the unit behind them became available they jumped at the chance.

“It was a building that a lot of people would shy away from. It was a wreck.” says John, “The roof was leaking, and it really was a massive effort to get it to where it is now. But the potential was always exciting.

“I would absolutely love to go sleep, It’d be brilliant. But it is exciting. No one has gotten bored and we’re still happy!”

Happy’s Bar’s owners are hoping to be open by the end of the month and, once open, will be slinging food and drinks Wednesday to Sunday, from 11am – 4am at weekends. For more info, go give them some love on Insta.

#behappys