Come on, get Happy: Nob Hill bar still a star

Bob Ross, the preternaturally calm, immaculately permed painting instructor, was an unlikely TV star. Over his 11 years at PBS, he made painting landscapes into a meditative pursuit. His tutorials were soothing and reassuring even for those who didn’t paint.

Ross’ stock quote — “we don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents” — informs the philosophy at Happy Accidents, the five-year-old cocktail bar in Nob Hill. The bartenders mix and match with almost reckless abandon so that the results seem more serendipitous than intentional.

Kate Gerwin is the creative spirit behind the bar. Gerwin opened the place in 2021 while COVID was still casting a shadow on the restaurant and bar scene. A bartender to the core, Gerwin made taking care of the staff a priority. She pays them more than twice the living wage in New Mexico while providing health insurance and partnership opportunities. She also brought a bartender’s love for experimentation, as seen in house-made spirits like mezcal infused with mushrooms and Oreo-distilled gin.

The concept was an almost immediate hit, and accolades followed. The bar earned not one but two wins in 2022 for best new cocktail bar in the United States. Gerwin took second place in Netflix’s “Drink Masters” series that same year. Last year, it became one of only 13 bars in the country to earn a pin from the London-based Pinnacle Guide, and a few months ago, Gerwin was named as a James Beard awards semifinalist for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

Happy Accidents occupies a large space on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Wellesley Drive. The side streets north of Central are usually reliable for parking.

Inside, the decor is eclectic and colorful. Flowery fabrics cover banquettes and flamingo-pink chairs look out on Central from a nook near the entrance. Objects of interest abound. Here, monkey figurines holding light bulbs descend ropes from the ceiling. There, a wall is covered by female mannequin torsos painted blue.

When we showed up without a reservation early on a Saturday night, there were only a few parties inside. The host escorted us to a banquette set against a black-painted brick wall decorated with the words “get happy” in hot pink cursive. She gave us a good overview of the menu and philosophy behind it. Everyone who works there is a bartender, she told us, and so they know the drinks well and, in many cases, helped create them.

Each table holds a card listing the house rules of etiquette. There’s nothing unreasonable; just things like keeping your feet off the furniture and turning down the volume of your cellphone.

The menu is accessed through a QR code at the table.

The eight mocktails that lead off the drinks menu are, not surprisingly, cheaper than their alcohol-based cousins. The Oh Yeah! ($5) is a reverse-engineered Kool-Aid whose flavors change by the day. On our day, it was peach. Served in a hurricane glass, it tasted eerily similar to the real thing.

The bar’s version of Chicha Morada ($8), a drink that originated in the Andean region of Peru, consists of housemade purple corn punch with lime, pineapple, cinnamon and clove. The drink came in a Collins glass with a Collins cube, a monolithic ice cube almost the same height as the glass. The deep purple color cues you to a hit of grape flavor, but the taste is more complex: nutty, spicy, a little tart and not very sweet.

The drinks with booze in them are divided into two categories. The Flex category is made up of original creations, while the Bangers section includes some reimagined classics. Prices range from $12 to $16.

Many of the cocktails are served from the long line of taps behind the bar. The bartender explained to me that Gerwin decided to take advantage of all the taps the building’s previous tenant left behind by making some of the cocktails in advance and storing them in kegs. This is becoming more common in the industry, as it provides a more consistent product with less waste. Still, if you like watching bartenders mix drinks, you might be disappointed — at least for some of the drinks.

Happy Little Accidents ($14), one of the bar’s most popular drinks, features an image of Bob Ross printed on a circle of rice paper that floated like a lily pad on top of the drink. It’s a thick, mango orange concoction with sour notes from the guava, lemon and passion fruit foam. Lurking in the background, the tequilana, a tequila relative, and rum infused with ling hui mui, a seasoning made with dried plum, add salt and spice.

If the Happy Little Accidents evokes the tropics, the Beer Fairy ($13) summons nostalgia. A mix of root beer and housemade absinthe served in a fountain glass under a layer of thick coconut foam, it tasted almost precisely like a root beer float. The absinthe added very subtle herbal and spice notes.

The creativity continues in a food menu that goes beyond bar bites into some ambitious dishes. Naturally, there are a few shareable snacks, including two varieties of popcorn for $3 each.

We tried the Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Popcorn ($3) variety. Served in a crystal bowl, the popcorn is tossed in dehydrated ketchup, carrot powder, garlic powder, beef bouillon and mash potato flakes to simulate the taste of the classic comfort food. It was quite good and amply seasoned — something we soon discovered was a pattern.

The Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese ($16) takes the popular dip and stuffs it into a grilled cheese sandwich. The result is an earthy, creamy mix that would probably be Popeye’s dream sandwich, though I found the amount of spinach to be overwhelming.

Steak Frites ($22) is the most expensive item on the menu. An 8-ounce sirloin steak is served medium rare and sliced under a slather of forest-green chimichurri, the classic sauce of South American origin made with parsley, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. It was a solid dish, the steak cooked to the right temperature, the sauce adding tang, brightness and a garlicky snap. It came with a generous serving of fries, standard cut and nicely cooked and tossed in a spicy seasoning mix that left the lips tingling.

We were treated well at Happy Accidents. Every staffer we encountered was happy to answer questions. They knew not only the ingredients in each drink but also the thought process behind the mixes. Service was brisk, for the most part, and friendly. The menu helpfully indicates which items contain gluten and potential allergens.

Happy Accidents’ wildly inventive food and drink selection and baroque setting make for a fun night out. Were he still around, Bob Ross would approve.

Come on, get Happy: Nob Hill bar still a star