Happy New Year! It’s now 2024 and while we are still in the middle of the Christmas season on the ecclesiastical calendar, the solar calendar proclaims a brand new year. January is legendary as a time of new resolutions, goal setting, and making changes—and for some, setting aside the consumption of alcohol is one of them.
As someone who does not drink alcohol anymore (thanks, cancer), nothing has really changed for me, but it’s exciting to see how the NA beverage world has become more and more interesting over the years. And for those who want to take a break from the booze, “Dry January” is a friendly campaign to help you do just that, with tasty alternatives.
Portland is a fantastic place to enjoy NA beverages: cocktails made with dry spirits, NA beers, and even the simple mocktail of club soda and a lime can be quite refreshing. I will say that NA wine has a ways to go still, and most taste pretty fruity (fruity like grape juice). In general, I find the sparkling NA wines to be better at resembling regular wine. But if you have a NA wine you’d recommend, I’m all ears.
Where To Find Tasty NA Cocktails in Portland
Here are some of the places I have enjoyed an NA cocktail or two in the past couple of years.
Hale Pele. Recognized as one of the best tiki bars in the country, Hale Pele offers an entire menu of NA cocktails on their “Virgin Sacrifices” menu. It’s hard to find their menu online, but last year PDX Now highlighted two of their excellent drinks: the Nada Colada (coconut and pineapple, blended) and Trouble on the High Seas (grapefruit, lime, falernum, bitters, cinnamon, and passion fruit). 2733 NE Broadway, Portland. halepele.com
Kann. One of my favorite restaurants I ate at last year, I love that Kann has a No Proof cocktail menu that garners as much respect as the Full Proof beverages. There are many flavorful tropical/Caribbean ingredients featured in these drinks. I really like the Kowosol (soursop, coconut milk, lemon, maple syrup, mint). The Rose Kayenn (Wilderton bitter orange, botanicals, hibiscus, ginger) also looks particularly good. 548 SE Ash Street, Portland. kannrestaurant.com/menu
My-O-My. I’ve talked about them a number of times on the blog, and they offer two standard NA cocktails and at times they offer seasonal one. In summary, the Stick-A-Bush (pineapple shrub, orange, lime, ginger beer) tends to be less sweet than the Sand Dabber (orgeat, lemon, pineapple, soda, house Grenadine). But both are a lot of fun to drink. 8627 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland. myomypdx.com/drinks
Oma’s Hideaway. This fabulous Singapore- and Malaysian- influenced restaurant is at the top of my list of places to take out of town guests, as well as a place I’d happily eat as an in-town resident just about any time. The food menu changes throughout the year, as does the drink menu. A back they offered a zero-proof slushee “Mothership Connection” (cucumber, citrus, coconut water, Thai basil, turmeric, with a lime leaf-sumac-chili salt mix on the rim). On the current menu, Don’t Call Me Shirley (five-spice ume grenadine, Sanbitter apertivo, soda, Sichuan tajin rim) sounds intriguing. 3131 SE Division St, Portland. omashideaway.com/menu-daily
Sousol. Below Kann is this chic spot offering, again, lots of great NA cocktail options. When I was there last I had the Fwi Pasyion (bright, tart, and fresh; passion fruit, spiced banana shrub, ginger). Next time I’d like to try the Ruby Anmè (layered and bittersweet; DHOS gin free, grapefruit, lime, cinnamon, Sanbitter). Sousol is a really nice place to get a drink and hang out, and it’s also a really nice date spot. 227 SE 6th Avenue, Portland. sousolbar.com/drinks
The Pocket Pub. Aside from the tasty pizza, salad, and one of the best versions of tiramisu I’ve ever had, they offer a handful of NA cocktails to go with your meal. I’m a big fan of No Regerts (zero proof Tequila, cinnamon-honey syrup, lime, grapefruit, salt rim) but I think next time I’m there I’ll order the Bells & Whistles (Widerton Earthen, ginger syrup, lime, orange bitters, ginger beer). And though it’s not a cocktail, the Lemoncocco Fresca Italiana—a mix of lemon and coconut—is also really nice. 2719 NE 7th Avenue, Portland. pocketpubpdx.com/menu
The Sudra. Along with their great Mango Lassi and Tamarind Limeade, they have a couple of drinks that would be considered NA cocktails and that includes their Bandit Queen (cucumber juice, lemon juice, mint syrup, chili salt rim). I pretty much get it each time. The other mocktail is the Masala Film (mango puree, ginger juice & lime juice, simple syrup). P.S. Their chickpea cutlet is crazy good. 28 NE 28th Avenue, Portland. thesudra.com/drinks
Victoria Bar. I was unaware of this place until the Buzzcutt folks had their event there last year. We stopped by, checked out the vendor tables, and had a meal. I ordered the Into the Groove (Bright & Light: strawberry, cucumber, pineapple, lime) and a shandy made with NA beer. Beautiful Stranger also sounds great (Citrusy & Effervescent: Wilderton Lustre distillate, lemon, cucumber, ginger beer). 4835 N Albina Avenue, Portland. victoriapdx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/page-drink.pdf
A Few Other Things
Departure has a small zero proof cocktail menu, but to be honest, it’s very mild-mannered. The menu is a shadow of its former self when Gregory Gourdet was at the helm. Don’t get me wrong, the mocktails look perfectly fine, but that’s about it. EEM has been a place where I’ve had some great NA cocktails, too, but I’m unsure about what they have to offer these days, as there’s no evidence on the website of what they offer.
On the other end of the spectrum, I gotta hand it to McPeet’s, where I had my first Athletic beer, which made me fall in love with NA beer. Dolly Olive offered me a Phony Negroni, which is a bottled version of the negroni in NA form, and it was also pretty tasty. They offer one other cocktail, the Critical Hit (Wilderton Earthen. black no-maro. lemon oil), which I suspect is made on site at the bar. This seems to be a cocktail that makes an appearance at various restaurants in the Sesame Collective universe.
I also had a great NA cocktail at Xiao Ye, but I was without my phone that night and have no memory of the name of the drink, but I remember loving it. They do not publish drinks on the website, but I can assure you that their drink program is as good as their food offerings.
Other Recommendations
Perusing Portland food media, here are some places other NA cocktail aficionados recommend.
Blank Slate. This bar on NE Glisan in Montavilla offers Low ABV & No ABV Cocktails. The ones without alcohol are marked N.A. I’d try the Vacation N.A. (passion fruit, orgeat, lemon, lime, coconut milk, soda, mint). 7201 NE Glisan St Suite C, Portland. blankslatepdx.com/menu
Epif. This vegan South American restaurant offers a nice handful of NA cocktails. I’d try the Tropic Topic (pineapple, ginger beer, lime, tiki); the sparkling cherry limeade sounds really good, too. 404 NE 28th Avenue, Portland. epifpdx.com
Paydirt. Located inside the Zipper on NE Sandy Blvd near 28th Avenue, they offer a lot on their bar menu, including five alcohol-free cocktails. The Electric Lady (Ritual n/a tequila, Dhōs n/a orange, prickly pear puree, lime, orange, agave, served on the rocks with a grapefruit salt rim) really caught my eye. They also do their version of a NA negroni and hot toddy. 2724 NE Pacific Street, Portland. paydirtbar.com/drinks
Takibi. I have not been here but I am looking forward to checking out this spot in NW Portland with a menu featuring Japanese and Oregon influences. They have a small NA mixed drink menu with very enticing options. I think I’d try the A Haiku #2 (Wilderton Lustre, Sencha infused sushi rice water, lime juice, marionberry jam) first. 2275 NW Flanders Street, Portland. takibipdx.com/bar
The Bye and Bye. On the western side of the Alberta Arts District is, according to Google, an “artful, dimly lit hipster bar with expansive patio serving Southern-inspired vegan food until late.” Their non-alcoholic offerings range from cocktails to CBD sodas; the Tiny Miracle (basil, ginger, tonic syrup, lime) sounds pretty good. 1011 NE Alberta Street,
Portland. https://thebyeandbye.com/
Of course, to expand your options even beyond this article, check out the BuzzCutt app. It’s a guide to finding NA drinks all over Portland. Their upcoming zero proof cocktail week, SAVØR, sounds pretty awesome.
Neo-Prohibitionism?
And, to round things, out, I can’t help but link to this article from the New School Beer blog, “Reasons to Skip Dry January.” It is understandable that a website devoted to promoting the purchase and consuming of beer would not really be into the Dry January concept.
And while I (and maybe you) am not the target audience of this article, I think it’s worth reading for its thought-provoking assertions, especially the economic ones. But I gotta push back on this: “There are obvious mental health consequences that come with choosing to avoid social interactions – which often comes with abstinence – or community gathering places such as bars.” If anything, expanding the cocktail scene to include NA options is more inclusive and gives more people opportunities to socialize—at house parties, at restaurants, and at bars.
But bottom line: you need to do what is right for you. But for those of us who are interested/curious about life without alcohol, having more and more options is pretty awesome. Many thanks to all the bars and restaurants in Portland who are diversifying their drink menus and giving us all tasty and fun things to drink.
Updated January 6, 2024
Meg Cotner
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Freeland Spirits tasting room also has a great mocktails menu! Mocktails are $4 there
Thank for the tip!