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Stopping by Bear’s Hideaway on the last day of its 15-year run in San Juan Bautista, Jennifer Clarke did not really expect to walk out later that evening as the new potential owner of the business.
However, when she discovered that owner Lori Wilson was not shutting down due to any business-related issues—she was simply ready to retire—she could not resist the idea of taking it over.
“When I came that day,” she said, “I thought she had closed already. I asked Lori if she was trying to sell the place. She said yes. And I said, ‘Well, maybe I want to buy it. Maybe I can’t afford to buy a house here, but I can afford to buy a bar.”
Rechristened as just “The Hideaway,” it’s a far cry from her current day job as executive director of California Leafy Greens Research Board, an industry-funded program under the authority of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
“We fund research into different lettuce varieties,” she said, “including iceberg, romaine, green leaf, red leaf, butter lettuce, spinach and spring mix. About 60% of the budget is for plant breeding and genetics.”
But managing a bar is certainly not unknown territory for Clarke, who started waiting tables at 18 to put herself through college and ran the tasting room at Brander Vineyards in Santa Ynez.
“I really went to school to be in the wine industry and vineyard management,” she said. “But I couldn’t pay my bills with the first job I got out of college. My second job was with Earthbound Farms, and that’s what landed me in San Juan.”
“Taking the leafy greens research job,” Clarke said, “was coming back full circle to ag production: working with farm advisors, thinking about what growers need. And this bar is going to be the fun side-hustle social outlet that I’ve been missing.”
Clarke said that, after moving from Prunedale to San Juan a year and a half ago, she became a regular at the bar and found herself drawn in by the welcoming atmosphere and the friendliness of the other customers—the “fun, friendly vibe.”
“I’d been here when it was crowded,” she said, “and people gave up their seats for me so that I could sit with my dog. There aren’t a lot of places where people so readily want to make you feel comfortable as a stranger.”
Clarke intends to maintain that atmosphere and has, so far, made only a few changes beyond opening up the front area to create a lighter, more open feel with some additional seating.
“Well,” she said, “it’s a bar. That’s it, right? I want people to sit. It’s super fun to get to know people that way across the bar. And there are so many people in San Juan who kind of consider this place their second home.”
In the back area, with more relaxed seating, Clarke has again done very little beyond adding a few more plants and rearranging the furniture to improve the flow.
Regulars will recognize the wine and beer selections, including local favorites from DeRose Winery and Nuthouse Brewery, which are the remains of Wilson’s inventory. But Clarke intends to expand into a few other directions, like Luli wines from Pisoni. And, of course, other wineries like Morgan Hill’s Twice Tyger have already approached her.
“I’m friends with Mark Pisoni,” she said, “and I just love their wine so that’s going to come in. I’m going to carve out time to do some wine tasting and that will be fun.”
Clarke will also maintain the open mics and live performances, and has already hosted local musicians, including Richard Smith from Aromas and San Juan’s own Luke Krebs.
“I think these kinds of events are fun,” she said. “I enjoy live music, so I totally want to keep that going. San Juan has a fantastic number of musicians, and it would be really cool to have them rotate through here.”
Bear’s regular Lydia Collins has already made herself comfortable in the slightly updated Hideaway, describing it as “an amazing little escape right in the middle of town.”
“It’s really beautiful here,” she said. “I really like it here—it’s very peaceful and quiet. And she has done an awesome job in renovating the place. It looks great.”
Clarke is maintaining Wilson’s original hours for The Hideaway, which she thinks will balance with her current work schedule, opening for three hours on Thursdays and holding longer hours on Fridays and weekends.
“I am just seeing how it works out right now,” she said. “If I see that people are here and they are enjoying themselves, we’ll stay open longer. I like meeting people and helping them have a good time. So far, this has really been fun.”
The Hideaway
402 #B 3rd Street, San Juan Bautista
Hours
Thursday: 4-7 p.m.
Friday: 2-8 p.m.
Saturday: noon-8 p.m.
Sunday: noon-6 p.m.
The Hideaway on Facebook and Instagram
Contact: Thehideawaysjb@gmail.com or (669) 219-5260
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