While the history of the former Jefferson Square neighborhood continues to be erased and replaced with the new buildings that make up the Builder’s District, the Happy Bar still stands.
More than 100 years before the Kiewit Corporation started construction on its new headquarters at 16th and Mike Fahey Streets, Max Tatle built the three-story brick and terrcotta building that would become the Rex Hotel – and home to the Happy.
The hotel, located at 16th and California Streets, had rooms on the upper floors that were available for $1 per day or $4 for the week. The building at 601 N 16th Street also had a corner store on its main level that was home to Rex Drug. Its tenants would change over the years as A. W. Wagner chicken feed store and Boylan Tire occupied it.
The Happy Bar opened its doors in 1953 and while I haven’t been able to pinpoint its original location, it filed for a liquor license at 1609 Webster Street in 1955 and was operated out of the former White Swan Tavern at 501 N 16th Street in 1957.
By 1968 the bar had moved to the former Rex Hotel which by this time was called the Wade Hotel. The family run business was operated by both Robert (Tony) Pascarella and his wife Ann. From that point forward, its maintained its familiar home at 601 N 16th St. Son Robert Pascarella Sr. was operating the bar by 1978 if not earlier. He groomed the third generation, his sons, Robert Jr. and John, to take over the family business.
The bar has witnessed its share of changes in recent years including the construction of Michael G. Morrison Stadium, home of Creighton’s soccer team, to its west in 2003. In 2011 Charles Schwab Field to its east opened as the new home to the College World Series. In 2021 the Kiewit Corporation opened its corporate headquarters just north of the Happy Bar.
When another new office building at 1501 Mike Fahey Street opened between Kiewit and the former hotel, it appeared that the bars days might be numbered. Despite that the brothers relented selling and relocating. At the time Bob said “We were here when no one else wanted to be, and now that things are changing, we’re just a little fish. We don’t want to be bought out”.
Sitting near Sol’s Pawn Shop and Pettit’s Pastry, it has long been a gathering spot for those who live nearby as well as those that worked for Metro Area Transit and Wynne truck drivers. When the College World Series moved to North Downtown, it became popular spot among baseball fans. It was also a stop while I was on the Historical Brewery Tour sponsored by Infusion Brewing in 2018.
Despite having a book of poetry named after it, Meet Me at the Happy Bar by Steve Langan, the old-school, cash-only watering hole remains in danger as the developers view the land on which it sits as being essential to the area’s transformation.
Content written by Omaha Exploration. Feel free to leave a comment or to let me know if there’s something you want me to explore. Until then, keep exploring!
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