Perhaps you’re laying off the sauce, or you know how easy a good cocktail goes down, so you’re pacing yourself. Some don’t care for the stinging taste of alcohol at all. Regardless of the reason, there is a surge of alternate options on many cocktail menus.
The drinks are called “mocktails” or “zero-proof.” Many restaurants and bars are catering to sophisticated tastes without the spirits. Goodbye Shirley Temple.
At Amerikas, 734 Lake St. in Oak Park, a few well-made drinks look like cocktails, but drink like you can still drive. A hibiscus flower and chile de árbol syrup power one of their options. The other is created with passion fruit syrup, a dash of their margarita mix, topped off with Topo Chico sparkling mineral water and enjoyed from a glass rimmed with tajin spices and just enough salt to play nice with the sweet sips. All the syrups (for all their drinks) are made in-house.
Chef Shangri-La, 7930 W 26th St. in North Riverside, is celebrating 50 years serving high-fun tiki drinks in their Chinese and Polynesian-themed restaurant. The famous “Dr. Fong” cocktail is a closely guarded family recipe, but according to the owners it does clock in at a very low alcohol content, low ABV for those keeping score. The bar and full-service restaurant offers complete abstinence with their virgin pina coladas and planter’s punch.
In Riverside, La Barra, 2 E. Burlington St., boasts a full zero-proof section of their drinks menu. The NA amaretto sour is made with Lyre’s Amaretti (the company has a whole line of non-alcohol spirits), lemon juice, simple syrup, bitters and fee foam (a plant-based alterative to egg white foam). The drink is elegant, balanced with a tinge of bite at the end. Like the others it looks elegant enough that no one but the bartender knows what you are drinking.
You can always choose some sparkling water in a tall glass with a wedge of lime to sip the night away in perfect sobriety (as I often do), but these fancy options are both beautiful to behold and palate pleasing.