Dry January lists are often expensive, hype-y, and written by people who aren’t sober, which means that sometimes if you take their advice, you walk into a bar that has a floor covered in beer. Yikes!
You’re in luck, though, because I don’t just drink NA cocktails when I need content for Dry January. I’m sober all year long. As the Twin Cities’ resident sober restaurant critic, I’m here to tell you my top five spots to go drinking on a budget.
5. Chi-Chi’s
The food at St. Louis Park's Chi-Chi’s 2.0 is… not good. As I’ve eaten my way through the menu for a review, I’ve been left wondering if they should have remained Chi-too-much-Cheese, because everything seems to be covered in enough cheese for an entire extra large pizza. But the NA cocktails, served with a side of free warm chips and salsa at the bar, are surprisingly excellent!
Chi-Chi’s even serves its NA margarita ($9) in a different glass than the standard ones so you know you weren’t accidentally served alcohol. I love that extra touch. They have a solid NA beer list (skip the wine), and bartenders have made zero fuss about me ordering NA drinks. Just promise me you’ll get dinner elsewhere, OK?
1602 West End Blvd., St. Louis Park
4. Liliana
Out in the eastern suburbs, Woodbury’s Liliana has a slew of great NA drinks, but my favorite is the most affordable at $7: the Arbusto. This strawberry shrub is balanced with chamomile, oregano, lemon, and a mix of both soda water and tonic. The Arbusto doesn’t read of vinegar like most shrubs do, and it’s a perfect pairing for Liliana’s teeny, tiny brown sugar ice cream popsicle.
This is one of my favorite places to drink solo. The bar is beautiful, with sober-conscious bartenders. They stock NA bitters, so you don’t have to worry about trace amounts of alcohol in your cocktails, and the food is bite-sized so it’s perfect for Girl Dinner. My personal food order is the cannoli, whatever ravioli is on the menu, and that popsicle for dessert. Their other two NA drinks clock in at $10 and $11, and both of those are great, too.
10060 City Walk Dr. #102, Woodbury
3. All Saints
Creamy cocktails are hard to find when you’re sober, but the Joop Joop ($8) at All Saints is one of the best. Black cardamom-infused Thai tea is paired with banana-walnut condensed milk and cinnamon for an after-dinner drink that pairs perfectly with the gjetost panna cotta.
All Saints’ other two NA drinks are equally fun, with the Young Buck ($10) featuring carrot and ginger and the Rosē ($9) rounding out the menu with sweeter flavors like hibiscus, rose, and honey. I like to drink the Rosē with fries, focaccia, or the swordfish, which is my current favorite dish on the menu here.
222 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
2. Myriel
Yes, that James Beard award-winning Myriel has NA cocktails under $10—a number of them, actually, including a lavender lemonade ($7) that summer patio days are made of and the grey fox ($9), where Earl Gray and lemon are shaken with an egg white.
The star of the show is the dry sparkling tea which clocks in just over my limit at $11. The grapefruit oolong is oversteeped, which helps create a similar mouthfeel to wine. Whey is added for even more body, and white peppercorns help create that slight tingle you would normally get from alcohol. Food at Myriel is, admittedly, not as affordable as these cocktails, but the bar is a great place to come for dessert, which consistently clocks in under $15.
470 Cleveland Ave. S., St. Paul
1. Steady Pour
Steady Pour’s winter menu is complex, varied, and a heck of a lot of fun, making it my top choice for Dry January drinks under $10. Drinks include the Olive You, a $5 cocktail with olive brine, lemon, and house mineral water. While it’s definitely not a martini, it is reminiscent of one. The Not-a-Toddy is Steady Pour’s take on a hot toddy, but pineapple, clove, and red pepper take it over the top ($8). This was a giant, steaming mug that I could have sipped all night long.
For a more herb-forward drink, the Last Waltz ($8) is a not-too-sweet concoction of cranberry, honey, sage, and lemon. If you prefer something smoky, the Basecamp ($8) might sound sweet, with notes like blueberry, lemon, and lavender, but it’s actually really well balanced, with smoke as the predominant flavor. My favorite off menu-order is the 3Leches Rosso. It’s my favorite NA vermouth, and only a few bars have it. Steady Pour is also sober-centered. Every NA drink is marked with an edible flower so you know that what you ordered doesn’t have alcohol in it. Plus, Jook Sing is back as of January 7, and while I haven’t had their new menu yet, everything they have is delish.
2125 E. Hennepin Ave. #205, Minneapolis
