Many of us drive down Main Street in Ashland all while bypassing many hidden gems throughout the downtown realm of the small city. 

However, many of these hidden gems bring successful revenue into Ashland. The town thrives on local businesses, flavors, and companies. Among these local eateries and establishments is “The Happy Grape,” which opened in January–just earlier this year.

Ashland’s “Happy Grape” was founded by Paul and Pam Smith and is the second of their HG Franchise, with the original one being located in Lexington. 

“The Lexington branch has been open, going on 4 years in January,” explained Paul.

The Smiths have family in both Lexington and Ashland, which is how their franchises have grown in both. 

“As soon as we opened the first one, they were like ‘you need to open one in Ashland!’” Paul said.

He appears as a very hospitable man, both with a warm personality and a welcoming attitude to all customers, yet remains driven to work hard and ensure quality customer service.

“We have wine, a full bar, we carry all of the Great Lakes beers,” Paul mentioned. He also elaborated that they are hoping to expand to have a diverse craft beer line next year, as well as different martini concoctions.

Amazingly, the wine selections at the “Happy Grape” are incredibly diverse.

“We do carry some Ohio wines, but many of our wines come from Germany, Italy, France, and California,” Paul proudly stated. “We source our wine from all over the world. You can try something from anywhere!”

Contrary to the “Happy Grape’s” identity as a wine bar, the menu items do not simply stop with just beverages. 

There is also an array of food options.

 “All of our food is hand-made. We don’t get anything from a can. It is all made from stock—we make our own pizza crust right here in the house. We are really proud of our kitchen. The people that we have are phenomenal; really good at what they do,” he said.

Furthermore, customers enjoy events at the Happy Grape, such as live music which occurs on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, usually with Jeff Bell.

In addition to running the business, the Smiths strive to support as many other local businesses as they can in all of their efforts.

“We use 8 or 9 local small businesses to supply us. Sometimes you have to go to big container stores, but we try to use as many local businesses as we can,” Paul explained. “So, when people come here and support us, they are also supporting those businesses.”

Paul highlighted the fact that he would love to attract more college students from AU’s campus. 

Currently, the most common customers are between 28 and 58 years old, and the restaurant usually sees a lot of business women.

He remained optimistic on a future with AU’s campus.

“Student customers have started to pick up since we open for lunches,” he said. “We have a lot of students come down for lunch, use our free wi-fi, and just kind of hang out.”

It seems like the overall vibe of the Happy Grape has been successful among students as well.

“I know the response from them has been really good. They enjoy having a place to hang-out down here.”

Paul advised that if there was anyone uncertain about a wine bar, they should come by and try it.

“It is a great opportunity for people to try wine without people feeling nervous about it.”

The Happy Grape wine bar of Ashland is certainly a business unlike any other. 

The camaraderie of the employees and universal support of the community makes it a destination that you should definitely put on your list.

Paul also said that since they own the business, they want to make it as enjoyable as possible.

“We don’t have to conform to industry standards set by a large corporation. It lets us have some fun with what we do!”