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Don’t drink booze if you don’t want to, just please never use the phrase “sober curious” again
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In January, when many have resolved to reduce consumption, non-alcoholic drinks are popular ways to keep bars busy in a month where the hospitality business is down in general due to cold weather and a holiday hangover.
Bigger players are poised to enter the market. Breweries with the means have no worries about selling a consumer a product that may eat away at the profits from other products. Remember the apprehension with hard seltzers? That was a fun time.
But there’s still room for creativity as these bigger companies prepare to offer whatever product is loaded with artificial flavoring. Chicago’s bartenders have been doing this for years, and though the city has earned a reputation for drinkers who savor their alcohol, this city also knows when to take a break and isn’t adverse to trying something new. So check out these restaurants, bars, and a brewery that have delightful booze-free options.
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In January, Temperance unveiled a new beer, Near Tears, without booze. It’s a double-dry hopped near beer that’s dry, tangy, and bright. Hopefully, it will also brighten up the brewery’s sales, which are usually down in January.
This Michigan import arrived in Andersonville to bring both a sober bar and in creating a welcoming space for the LGBTQ community and its allies. Eli Tea mixed up unique tea drink no other tea room or coffee shop in Chicago offers.
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The bartenders at this LGBTQ-friendly bar owned by a pair of Black women are always mixing something up lively. The menu features two drinks, but that’s just a sample of the bar’s library. Try the Desire (Lyre’s Italian Orange, passion fruit, lime, agave, habanero bitters).
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Bokeh represents an evolution of booze-free drinks as it’s a newish bar that featured an NA section on its opening menu. Some bartenders and older bars may show some disdain in mixing up an NA drink, but that’s not the case at Bokeh. The Bosphorus Strait (Turkish coffee, “tagine” syrup, condensed milk) redefines the genre, proving that NA drinks are more than glorified juice bar selections.
Chiya Chai imports its teas from Nepal and uses leaves creatively in both traditional and new ways in Logan Square. This is where to go when you grow up and realize that the words “chai” and “tea” are redundant when used consecutively and want to graduate from Starbucks’ pre-packaged concoctions, or whatever premixed garbage those neighborhood baristas are selling. Mocktails with ginger and chai are among the rotating specials.
Billy Sunday is a figure central to the temperance movement. Sunday was a former White Sox player who used his platform as a pulpit. There’s great fun in naming a cocktail bar after him. A few of their selections are powered with their own rabarbaro, a type of amaro. Sunday’s NA version is used in a daiquiri and the Teacher’s Pet with spiced sour cherry and Verjus rouge.
An Israeli specialty is gazoz, a seasonal soda with fresh herbs. It’s no surprise that the staff at Galit in Lincoln Park have leaned into the drink for its NA offering. There are two varieties. A pomegranate with cardamom rose, and hibiscus; and apricot with shrub, urfa (dried pepper), and anise.
In 2022, a bottle shop selling NA spirits like Bare and Everleaf debuted in Humboldt Park as a pop-up inside a plant shop called Succulent City. Bendición Dry Bar’s mission was to unite marginalized community members who were interested in reducing their booze consumption. They’ve hosted events, from queer tarot card reading to drawing classes. The hope is to build a bar inside the space for regular service.
In River North, the restaurant inside Chicago Winery, a new venue with locations in New York and D.C., is slinging three NA drinks. Liva is calling these drinks Flightless Birds. There’s a negroni, a drink called Tik-Taka (South African rooibos, black pepper, cranberry tonic), and Hotel Evangeline (Seedlip Spice 94, pineapple, apricot, lime, cinnamon).
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Arbella, the sibling to Peruvian icon Tanta, is a sleek bar with great drinking food that can make for an impromptu meal. The lounge’s bold NA drink lineup includes Smoking Kills (lemon-ginger kombucha, lime, ginger beer, infused smoke) and Secret Window (London Dry spirit-free, hibiscus, Peachtree sipping vinegar, fruit).
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises has created a restaurant inside a restaurant with the Omakase Room at Sushi-san, capitalizing on Chicago’s increased appetite for premium fish. Diners can pick from a few NA drinks including the Broken Promise (gingerbread Roobios, sesame, five spice, almond orgeat) and Banana Brain (Genmaicha green tea, banana, sesame).
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As regional Indian food finds popularity in Chicago, Bar Goa takes inspiration from Goa, the state off India’s southwestern coast that’s known for its beaches. At Bar Goa in River North, they’re mixing up the Ginger Flower using hibiscus, ginger, orange, and lime.
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Rose Mary leans into a mix of Italian and Croatian flavors, with chef Joe Flamm and company coining the term “Adriatic drinking food,” for its menu. There’s a a full menu of NA drinks including the Fake It Til You Make It (Lyre’s Agave Blanco, Cinnamon Orgeat, orange, Q Ginger Beer).
The owners of Bandit and Bar Siena have opened a Greek restaurant in Fulton Market and offer a full line of NA drinks. A popular choice is the Halara (Amass Zero Proof, pomegranate, lemon, mint, tonic).
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Over at lauded Japanese-inspired cocktail lair Kumiko in the West Loop, Julia Momose is mixing and muddling a number of spirit-free drinks. The Pepperberry Tonic has become somewhat of a signature, but there are deeper cuts. The Umeboshi Swizzle (shiso-pickled ume, brown-rice vinegar, lemon, Japanese seven spice) is poured over crushed ice.
One of the most polarizing restaurants in Chicago is in West Loop were the owners of Michelin-starred Porto opened Bambola. The menu is marketed as a trip through Silk Road, but it can also be viewed as of what Asian food could taste like while living in Spain. Rose & Shiso Soda (rose water, red shiso, lime leaf) is a fizzy way to enjoy a drink.
Danish-inspired Elske in the West Loop offers seasonal booze-free drinks on its a la carte cocktail list, as well as a juice pairing to complement its set menu. Individual drinks include spirit-free “Shaken” with celery, hops, and lemon; and “Collins,” with carrot, ginger, lime, and curry.
Osito’s Tap has a trio of drinks those who are giving booze a break including one that would make Bugs Bunny proud. Deep Rooted Problems contains carrot, grapefruit, and orange juice; apricot-cinnamon syrup, and Three Spirit Nightcap. It’s topped with ginger beer.
Experimental Bridgeport taproom and brewery Marz Community Brewing Company isn’t just focusing on beer. It also offers many booze-free options, including “Flower Power,” a CBD-fueled elixir with ingredients like hibiscus, chamomile, and cinnamon; and “Juniper Fizz,” also spiked with CBD, and enriched with vanilla bean, spruce, and blood orange. A second location in Bucktown also offers these concoctions.
Virtue, James Beard Award winner Erick Williams’s Southern restaurant in Hyde Park offers spirit-free imbibing options. “The Hummingbird” is flavored with basil and bitter lemon, while “the Duke of Earl” calls for Earl Grey tea, star anise, lemon, and egg white.
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In January, Temperance unveiled a new beer, Near Tears, without booze. It’s a double-dry hopped near beer that’s dry, tangy, and bright. Hopefully, it will also brighten up the brewery’s sales, which are usually down in January.
This Michigan import arrived in Andersonville to bring both a sober bar and in creating a welcoming space for the LGBTQ community and its allies. Eli Tea mixed up unique tea drink no other tea room or coffee shop in Chicago offers.
The bartenders at this LGBTQ-friendly bar owned by a pair of Black women are always mixing something up lively. The menu features two drinks, but that’s just a sample of the bar’s library. Try the Desire (Lyre’s Italian Orange, passion fruit, lime, agave, habanero bitters).
Bokeh represents an evolution of booze-free drinks as it’s a newish bar that featured an NA section on its opening menu. Some bartenders and older bars may show some disdain in mixing up an NA drink, but that’s not the case at Bokeh. The Bosphorus Strait (Turkish coffee, “tagine” syrup, condensed milk) redefines the genre, proving that NA drinks are more than glorified juice bar selections.
Chiya Chai imports its teas from Nepal and uses leaves creatively in both traditional and new ways in Logan Square. This is where to go when you grow up and realize that the words “chai” and “tea” are redundant when used consecutively and want to graduate from Starbucks’ pre-packaged concoctions, or whatever premixed garbage those neighborhood baristas are selling. Mocktails with ginger and chai are among the rotating specials.
Billy Sunday is a figure central to the temperance movement. Sunday was a former White Sox player who used his platform as a pulpit. There’s great fun in naming a cocktail bar after him. A few of their selections are powered with their own rabarbaro, a type of amaro. Sunday’s NA version is used in a daiquiri and the Teacher’s Pet with spiced sour cherry and Verjus rouge.
An Israeli specialty is gazoz, a seasonal soda with fresh herbs. It’s no surprise that the staff at Galit in Lincoln Park have leaned into the drink for its NA offering. There are two varieties. A pomegranate with cardamom rose, and hibiscus; and apricot with shrub, urfa (dried pepper), and anise.
In 2022, a bottle shop selling NA spirits like Bare and Everleaf debuted in Humboldt Park as a pop-up inside a plant shop called Succulent City. Bendición Dry Bar’s mission was to unite marginalized community members who were interested in reducing their booze consumption. They’ve hosted events, from queer tarot card reading to drawing classes. The hope is to build a bar inside the space for regular service.
In River North, the restaurant inside Chicago Winery, a new venue with locations in New York and D.C., is slinging three NA drinks. Liva is calling these drinks Flightless Birds. There’s a negroni, a drink called Tik-Taka (South African rooibos, black pepper, cranberry tonic), and Hotel Evangeline (Seedlip Spice 94, pineapple, apricot, lime, cinnamon).
Arbella, the sibling to Peruvian icon Tanta, is a sleek bar with great drinking food that can make for an impromptu meal. The lounge’s bold NA drink lineup includes Smoking Kills (lemon-ginger kombucha, lime, ginger beer, infused smoke) and Secret Window (London Dry spirit-free, hibiscus, Peachtree sipping vinegar, fruit).
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises has created a restaurant inside a restaurant with the Omakase Room at Sushi-san, capitalizing on Chicago’s increased appetite for premium fish. Diners can pick from a few NA drinks including the Broken Promise (gingerbread Roobios, sesame, five spice, almond orgeat) and Banana Brain (Genmaicha green tea, banana, sesame).
As regional Indian food finds popularity in Chicago, Bar Goa takes inspiration from Goa, the state off India’s southwestern coast that’s known for its beaches. At Bar Goa in River North, they’re mixing up the Ginger Flower using hibiscus, ginger, orange, and lime.
Rose Mary leans into a mix of Italian and Croatian flavors, with chef Joe Flamm and company coining the term “Adriatic drinking food,” for its menu. There’s a a full menu of NA drinks including the Fake It Til You Make It (Lyre’s Agave Blanco, Cinnamon Orgeat, orange, Q Ginger Beer).
The owners of Bandit and Bar Siena have opened a Greek restaurant in Fulton Market and offer a full line of NA drinks. A popular choice is the Halara (Amass Zero Proof, pomegranate, lemon, mint, tonic).
Over at lauded Japanese-inspired cocktail lair Kumiko in the West Loop, Julia Momose is mixing and muddling a number of spirit-free drinks. The Pepperberry Tonic has become somewhat of a signature, but there are deeper cuts. The Umeboshi Swizzle (shiso-pickled ume, brown-rice vinegar, lemon, Japanese seven spice) is poured over crushed ice.
One of the most polarizing restaurants in Chicago is in West Loop were the owners of Michelin-starred Porto opened Bambola. The menu is marketed as a trip through Silk Road, but it can also be viewed as of what Asian food could taste like while living in Spain. Rose & Shiso Soda (rose water, red shiso, lime leaf) is a fizzy way to enjoy a drink.
Danish-inspired Elske in the West Loop offers seasonal booze-free drinks on its a la carte cocktail list, as well as a juice pairing to complement its set menu. Individual drinks include spirit-free “Shaken” with celery, hops, and lemon; and “Collins,” with carrot, ginger, lime, and curry.
Osito’s Tap has a trio of drinks those who are giving booze a break including one that would make Bugs Bunny proud. Deep Rooted Problems contains carrot, grapefruit, and orange juice; apricot-cinnamon syrup, and Three Spirit Nightcap. It’s topped with ginger beer.
Experimental Bridgeport taproom and brewery Marz Community Brewing Company isn’t just focusing on beer. It also offers many booze-free options, including “Flower Power,” a CBD-fueled elixir with ingredients like hibiscus, chamomile, and cinnamon; and “Juniper Fizz,” also spiked with CBD, and enriched with vanilla bean, spruce, and blood orange. A second location in Bucktown also offers these concoctions.
Virtue, James Beard Award winner Erick Williams’s Southern restaurant in Hyde Park offers spirit-free imbibing options. “The Hummingbird” is flavored with basil and bitter lemon, while “the Duke of Earl” calls for Earl Grey tea, star anise, lemon, and egg white.