More than an NA Menu: An NA Experience

NA Cheers to the rise of nonalcoholic options on menus newly popping up all around the Twin Cities! It’s a full circle moment spanning a decade of my personal sober experiences circa 2013, the year I began asking for nonalcoholic options in the social spaces I frequented. The answers were frustrating and the beverages limited. Most venues assumed a sparkling water, soda, club soda with lime (aka The Last Resort), or Red Bull would suffice for those, like me, who choose to not drink alcohol.

While I am still met with a lack of or subpar NA options, I am empowered and encouraged to see venues getting curious and serious about their NA menus. Each venue has its own NA readiness level which includes elements of culture, relationships with food and beverage distributors and sales reps, access to NA product, knowledge of the NA product and industry, and venue clientele preferences and habits. Clearly there are many barriers to doing NA well.

My work in the nonalcoholic space centers on collectively working to solve for these challenges and finding innovative ways to model what a heightened NA experience looks like. My TEDx Talk released July 2023, Why We Should Rethink Drinking Culture, continues to be a call to action for consumers to ask for NA and for venues to do NA better: no excuses, we now have amazing NA options! Building on concepts in the Talk, in December 2023, I’m immersing myself in helping NA forward restaurants tell their story through small group experiences.

Ah-ha Moments in NA

I’ve had a lot of ah-ha moments in my sober journey of over nine years. Notably, a St. Patrick’s Day Happy Hour in 2017 that was coffee-centric and a safe space on a heavy drinking holiday, and a speakeasy nightclub experience by Marigold in March of 2022 that was the foundation for Zero Proof Collective (ZPC). Most recently, I added yet another ah-ha: a dinner and nonalcoholic beverage experience for six at Borough in Minneapolis, a restaurant I’d deem “NA forward.”

NA forward to me means having a quality of and variety of elevated nonalcoholic options (low in sugar) from internationally known and locally sourced makers on a printed well-presented menu, and server knowledge of and enthusiasm for nonalcoholic beverages and their delivery. Typically to be NA forward, someone within the venue and in a leadership role has a personal passion for or mission to make NA prevalent and celebrated. This was apparent to me about Borough upon attending their fall block party, which had an NA menu with St. Agrestis’ Phony Negroni for starters!

In continuing talks with Adam Rosenkrantz, Borough’s general manager, it became clear that he and the team are doing an exceptional job with NA offerings and the experience. They’ve been able to deliver connectivity in the offering and experience, which sets them apart. Industry wide, in many conversations with owners, managers, and servers at restaurants and bars about their nonalcoholic offerings, they’ve reported feeling varying levels of confidence in their offerings, and roadblocks to educating and incenting servers to deliver a great NA experience. All of my exchanges and experiences have reiterated how deeply steeped alcohol consumption and promotion is in our culture.

An Intimate NA Experience: Party of Six

Borough’s menu and Adam’s passion for doing NA well, opened the door for me to confidently bring in a group of friends to model a what a great NA experience looks and feels like. On December 8, our party of six tasted all of the NA beverages, checked out the spirits and labels (no and low cal and sugar), and paired everything with amazing eats.

I loved our eclectic mix of friends, and I especially relished the opportunity to intro NA for the first time in this way. The conversation was so focused and engaging, flowing and full of positivity… any social anxieties melting away. The connections forged in that experience reminded me that we cannot just place NA on a menu if we want it to succeed and thrive in our culture. We need to invite people in, guide them through it, and model it.

NA in 2024

I applaud the venues who’ve already intentionally stepped into what it means to have a modern-day elevated NA menu. And I look forward to consulting with and supporting those that are curious and serious about embracing all the positivity in this space. Let’s create more momentum and elevated NA experiences together in 2024!

Borough’s NA menu currently includes Phony Negroni, Amaro Falso, Hibiscus Mulled Wine, Gin & Apricot Sour, Calamansi Tequila Sour, and an NA Parlour Old Fashioned, featuring products and makers including Lyre’s, Abstinence, St. Agresis Phony Negroni, and Tres Leches.