Sober bars, non-alcoholic cocktails and more shake up SoCal
The New BarCredit: Courtesy The New Bar
Just the smell of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum catapults me back to a memory from incorrigible youth, one that has been emblazoned on my brain since the late ’80s: Def Leppard blaring, a sudden swirl of blue and white lights, the shaky glare of cops’ flashlights, the feeling of taking off running, well, stumbling through the woods with a coterie of other teen idiots to escape capture. Then came a face-plant caused by an unseen lumpy tree root. To this day, I still don’t know what was worse: the split lip that came with the fall, or the sickening dread that my father would find out his daughter and her bookish friends were drinking spiced rum in the woods. With boys. And despite all that frenetic mayhem, we still did it again.
These days, what was once a Generation X rite of passage, getting shitfaced, legless, tanked, crocked, blottoed, is as out of fashion as a pair of Gold’s Gym parachute pants and a MySpace page. Especially in Los Angeles, where Generation Z’s version of going on a bender is more likely in reference to a heated Ashtanga yoga class than a night that ends in a “paddy wagon,” the ethnically insensitive and somewhat outdated term for the LAPD’s drunk tank transpo.
In 2025, wellness is in. Wasted is out. Especially with the under-35 crowd.
The New BarCredit: Courtesy The New Bar
Avery Rose Rhodes, 26, a lanky, yoga-toned, pink-haired artist from Echo Park who was imbibing a sunset-colored mocktail spritz at the bar in her neighborhood’s popular red sauce Italian hot spot, Donna’s, on a recent summer night, explained it to me bluntly: “Drinking’s gross and fattening. Who wants to get all messy when everyone around you can whip a camera out?” she said as she took a sip from her nonalcoholic drink, which was nearly as pricey as the full Aperol-laced version on the menu. The price point, Rhodes said, didn’t bother her a bit. “Zero-proof is where it’s at, so I don’t mind paying for it. Especially when the bartender is not just pouring juice but mixing something interesting. This feels like I am partaking in the social norms without the whole falling-on-your-face-later-tonight thing. That’s not a good look.”
But that’s not to say Rhodes and her sober-curious Generation Z compatriots are boring. Whether they’ve completely gotten sober or have just cut back on alcohol as part of a healthy lifestyle, there are plenty of nonalcoholic options. Many of those brands are backed by Angeleno A-listers, actors, influencers, models, singers and even race car drivers who have launched their own lines. Tom Holland is behind his nonalcoholic beer brand, Bero. Katy Perry teamed up with a mixologist to create De Soi adaptogen drinks. Blake Lively sells booze-free bubbly mixers with Betty Buzz. Danny Trejo has his own no-booze tequila line, as does Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton. Bella Hadid promotes Ayurvedic drinks with her line, Kin Euphorics. Little Saints makes nonalcoholic cocktails and spirits powered by mushrooms. Bethenny Frankel has Mingle. Pellegrino water has launched sugar-free, flavor-filled mixers under the name Ciao!. Venice-based Hiyo adaptogen drinks are a fan favorite, as are mocktails in a can by companies Ghia and Improv.
Bar NudaCredit: Courtesy Bar Nuda
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Bar NudaCredit: Courtesy Bar Nuda
The movement has grown so big, so fast, that there’s even a new website dedicated to staying on top of the N/A trends called Dry Atlas. A Los Angeles deep dive into the ever-growing no-alcohol revolution this summer found that some of its members are sober. Some are curious. Some are just opting out for the night or are pregnant. Whatever the reason, it has signaled a pivot to address their needs for luxury dining and travel.
Niko Santana, 22, who manages the bar program at Studio Mediterranean, the uber-trendy, reopened waterfront restaurant at Montage Laguna Beach, has been studying N/A drinks and experimenting with ingredients like rice vinegar to give craft mocktails a fizzy, satisfying and, more importantly, unsweet kick. All of it, he says, is about connecting to “the next generation of the cocktail culture,” people who don’t want the booze but “still want to be part of the experience, not apart from it.”
Studio Mediterranean at Montage Laguna BeachCredit: Courtesy Montage Laguna Beach
That same trend is happening behind the bars of L.A.’s best restaurants, as mixologists recognize the need for inventive mocktail lists. On a recent Thursday night, the line outside Bar Nuda, the Mexican-inspired sober bar pop-up in Venice, was every bit as long as the wait for a seat at Market’s boozy lounge nearby. Late-night tea houses like Tea at Shiloh are now staying open till 11 p.m. and others serve into the morning side of midnight, with some offering private memberships.
Bar NudaCredit: Courtesy Bar Nuda
All of it makes it abundantly clear that Angelenos still want to party. They just want to remember it the next day.
There’s a convergence of factors that led to L.A.’s drying out. A recent Gallup poll showed a dramatic drop in the number of people ages 21 to 35 who say they drink even moderately. Most surveyed said they don’t drink alcohol at all. Meanwhile, the 55-plus crowd admitted to finding themselves increasingly in their cups. Why the younger generation is embracing sobriety is likely rooted in a few things, but it certainly didn’t help boozing’s brand when the surgeon general came out with a warning that alcohol increases the risk of cancer.
Bar NudaCredit: Courtesy Bar Nuda
Then there’s the legalization of the decidedly less-caloric cannabis, which has led to the term now known nationally as “California sober” — an approach to weaning off booze that prompted Demi Lovato to write a song about it:
Cashin’ in my chips for forgiveness,
Trading in my shame for perspective.
Tired of being known for my sickness,
It didn’t work, I’m tryin’ something different.
A lot of former 12-steppers are trying “something different,” like actor Shane DeBois, 42, who spent nine years in Alcoholics Anonymous before he started using weed. “I love being Cali sober,” he told me as he took a hit on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. “It helps me relax without the brutal hangovers.”Since the 2021 release of “California Sober,” Lovato has since become “sober sober” and no longer supports leafy substitutions. Luckily for her and everyone else aboard the sober-sober train, there are plenty of ways to still partake in the party.