The Resy Guide to Chicago’s Most Spirited Non-Alcoholic Cocktails

Along with Esme’s multi-course offerings and wine pairings, there’s a non-alc pairing option available as well. For the Michelin-starred restaurant’s Kitchen Possible menu, multiple booze-free drinks (created by beverage director Tia Barrett) are just as creative and thought-provoking as the food itself. Start with a bright red fruit punch that’s served in a glass milk carton, then move on to a cool plum horchata. There’s also a banana Manhattan that’ll please any bourbon drinker, a lip-puckering apple shrub, and a colorful cocktail (aptly named the 2-in-1) that you can mix yourself into a pleasing purply concoction.

At Kasama, pair the award-winning Filipino tasting menu with alcohol-free cocktails, including a bright and refreshing yuzu highball; the Beekeeper, a riff on a bee’s knees with clarified watermelon, lemon, and honey; and a Toddy-mansi, an alcohol-free hot toddy with genmaicha tea and calamansi juice. For something sweet and vibrant, try the Ube Fizz, with all the classic ingredients plus Amass Riverine (a distilled non-alcoholic spirit).

You know what pairs well with Galit’s signature (not to mention enormous, wood-fired, and very fluffy) pita and creamy masabacha? Their housemade gazoz. These drinks are like fruity sodas, filled with ingredients such as pomegranate, hibiscus, cardamom, and rose, or watermelon with aleppo pepper, cinnamon, and lime. The sweet-tart flavors and warm spice blends nicely offset the hearty lamb kebabs and smoked turkey shawarma.

The opulent boho setting of West Town’s Beatnik sets the mood for celebratory cocktails. In between bites of babaganoush and kebab, you can enjoy a slew of booze-free drinks, including the Yes Mistress with watermelon, raspberry, Mediterranean tonic, and black salt, and the Odd Couple with coconut, avocado, kiwi, and yuzu kosho. For brunch, try the caffeinated Snooze Button, loaded with cold brew coffee, salted Thai young coconut, and sweetened cream. There’s a whole zero-proof wine menu, too.

If you aren’t up for a night of ouzo at Chef Doug Psaltis’ Greek spot, there are two alcohol-free cocktails to pair with the mezze and slow-roasted lamb, both using Seedlip distilled non-alcoholic spirits to deliver that signature alcoholic bite without the booze. The Cucumber and Soda features Seedlip Spice (which has a blend of aromatic cardamom and allspice), while the Honey Fizz uses Seedlip Grove for a citrusy zing to offset the sweetness of the honey.

Just because you’re dining at a moody gastropub doesn’t mean you need to partake in a hard-hitting cocktail. While the bar is lined with traditional liquor, the menu here has five booze-free drinks that are just as festive and celebratory as the rest. There’s the Lion’s Share with Kentucky 74 “bourbon,” Ghia, demerara, and lime; a Garden Gimlet with Amass Riverine and Seedlip Grove; and a dealcoholized sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, among others.

There are four floors of the historic Louis Sullivan building and Celeste makes use of them all. While the disco and garden are for bottle service, the bar and deco lounge on the first and second floors are the perfect spots to sip the Something Non-Alcoholic. The base of this mocktail is chicha morada, a Peruvian beverage made from purple corn. That, plus the warming flavors of cloves and cinnamon, sour green apple, a touch of sugar, and ginger beer, makes for a colorful drink that pairs well with chorizo flatbread and aioli-slathered Nashville hot chicken.

At the opulent, casino-inspired The Whale, there are four drinks that make use of Lyre’s non-alcoholic spirits, from the playful Lyre’s Pants on Fire with n/a agave, blood orange, and sumac-chile syrup to a “gin” and tonic — served like its spirited counterpart, on the rocks and with lime. Or, sip a Malt and Cola as you sink into a pintucked leather chair and pretend that $25,000 bets are no big thing.

If you’re visiting The Bristol for its stunning eight-course tasting menu, know that you’ll have a choice of equally stunning non-alcoholic drink options. In the Saturn Ascending, Seedlip Grove is paired with yuzu simple sugar, passion fruit orgeat, and mint. But as the temperatures continue to drop, opt for the Favorite Book, which teams Seedlip Spice with spiced brown sugar honey and magnolia blossom oolong tea — better than a hot toddy, as far as we’re concerned.

At Porto — a glimmering Michelin-starred spot that evokes the flavors of Spain and Portugal’s Atlantic coast — food and beverage director Jesse Filkins oversees a cocktail list developed with the seafood-forward menu in mind. To sip alongside the conservas, try the briny Hinojo Asado with roasted fennel and kelp seaweed, or the Memoria Membrillo, an herby-sweet drink with thyme, quince, demerara syrup, and lemon.

At Carlos Gaytán’s Tzuco, expect beautifully plated Mexican dishes with a touch of French flair, plus a handful of zero-proof drinks that speak the same language: there’s the Hojas, with pineapple and orange cordial, lemon juice, and matcha powder; and the El Grito, which pairs a Flora CBD hemp spirit with hibiscus, lemon juice, and serrano pepper.

At Lonesome Rose, the menu is stacked with Tex-Mex classics, from truck stop nachos and empanadas to a hulking taco salad bowl. The drinks match the menu (think margaritas, palomas, daiquiris and micheladas), all available booze-free. We think the chips and salsa go particularly well with an icy strawberry margarita, made with Lyre’s Agave Reserve N/A Tequila.