I would go if invited, but wouldn’t likely ever go otherwise. But at 50 with a family, I don’t go to regular bars either!

Anonymous wrote:I think that's called a family restaurant without a liquor license - I swear, people think they are inventing something truly new. It's just a new way to make money out of nothing.

This. Or this: https://robeks.com/

Anonymous wrote:I would go.

I had an idea (apparently this has been done) of having a water bar: just different waters imported from around the world.

People like to gather. Why not?

Add coffee and sounds like a great hangout place for the AA crowd.

No

So it's like a smoothie shop or coffee shop? Isn't Starbucks basically a bar without alcohol?

I wouldn't go out of my way to go just because a juice or soda based drink goes down really fast. They're sweet so I wouldn't have more than one. Which gives me no reason to stay and linger like you would at a bar. It just automatically gives it a different vibe than a bar.

Add some really great small plates or snacks and I can picture it better.

No. What for?

I understand the concept of no alcohol but it defeats the whole point of a bar. Just go to a coffeeshop. It's like talking about a vegetarian meat-free steakhouse. What is the point?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, but I also find the idea of $15 fruit juice, sorry mocktails, ridiculous

But if it rotting or ahem “fermented” stuff that contained alcohol, you’d totally pay for it?

You can do a lot of things with dealcoholized ferments, tea, vinegars, shrubs, syrups, etc. Non alcoholic doesn’t have to be fruit juice, unless you want that.

I'm at the point where, no I'm not paying for it. The going rate in DC for cocktails is hovering around $20 for something basic like a Cosmopolitan. Which is a ridiculous markup. I make my own frou-frou cocktails at home. If a typical drink has ~2 oz of alcohol, you can get ~12 drinks out of a typical 750ml bottle. Bottle of Grey Goose goes for a little over $20. With that, a small bottle of cranberry juice, and a couple of limes, you have cocktails for a small party. For a few bucks more than a single cocktail at a bar.

Anonymous wrote:No, but I also find the idea of $15 fruit juice, sorry mocktails, ridiculous

But if it rotting or ahem “fermented” stuff that contained alcohol, you’d totally pay for it?

You can do a lot of things with dealcoholized ferments, tea, vinegars, shrubs, syrups, etc. Non alcoholic doesn’t have to be fruit juice, unless you want that.

No way I’m paying $15+tip for a glass of watered-down fruit juice.

I’d go for the company but I would order juice or seltzer or a soda, not a mocktail. If I am paying that much for a drink, it should have some alcohol in it somewhere.

I go to restaurants for the food all the time. I would never go to a juice bar. A juice bar that served really great food? Totally, but I’d drink water.

OP here.

An example in Alexandria. They call themselves a Bar.

https://www.umbrelladrydrinks.com/


Taken from this WTOP article:

https://wtop.com/food-restaurant/2023/01/more-nonalcoholic-options-across-the-dc-area-this-dry-january/

Guess they are called Sober Bars in NY:

https://secretnyc.co/sober-bars-nyc/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that's called a family restaurant without a liquor license - I swear, people think they are inventing something truly new. It's just a new way to make money out of nothing.

I mean, OP says it's a bar. Not a restaurant.
I probably would once. I have a friend who's been sober for more than a year and would be fun to try with a group that includes her. Everyone is doing dry January, so could be especially fun now. But I agree about drinking calories. I've never bothered with mocktails for that reason.

PP here - disputing that it is actually a bar. It seems to me more of a way to avoid dealing with getting a liquor license and leaning into stoner culture.

Restaurants that are open in the evenings make money on alcohol. It's sold at a HUGE mark up. Yes you can sell fancy water and mocktails at a huge mark up, but people who drink those things will drink one and call it a night.

I think it'd be incredibly hard to stay in business, as a bar/restaurant, without the booze sales. If it was a cafe/coffee shop, sure maybe.

Agree, the problem is that most mock tails have a ton of sugar.