Alcademics

I wrote up a story for Eater.com on the best bars in which to get non-alcoholic cocktails in San Francisco. This post has more than that, below. 

My criteria on creating the list was:  

1. Must have at least three non-alcoholic cocktails.
2. The cocktails must be on the menu. Every place will tell you they're happy to make non-alcoholic cocktails but then when you ask the bartender they're absolute jerks about it. (Pet peeve of mine.)
3. They must be real cocktails, not just "options" like ice tea with lemon.
4. They should be served in a real cocktail bar. We considered coffee/tea places and take-out places but they were so far apart from the rest we didn't include any. The most different from the rest was The Ice Cream Bar. 

But I found a lot more than just the 14 we put in the story.  I wanted to give props to other bars that meet the criteria in San Francisco. 

• Evil Eye in the Mission has 3 cocktails with Seedlip always on the menu, and I think they're doing an extra push for Dry January. 
• Pabu has 3 options (but I already included another Michael Mina restaurant Trailblazer Tavern so we didn't want to over-spotlight anyone).
• Bellota has 4 "sparkling refreshers" but same as above with the Absinthe Group. 
• Linden Room at Nightbird seems to have three on the menu, but they're not on the regular menu and I couldn't confirm with ownership.
• Elda has 3 mocktails, I think listed on the bar book rather than the short menu
• Elixir across the street from Elda is launching a new Low- and No-ABV menu but it wasn't served at press time
• Noosh has a lot, but the restaurant is "in transition" to put it nicely
• One Market has 3 mocktails but they're kinda basic
• Palette (on Folsom, not Tea House) 3 drinks with Lyre's or Seedlip 
• ABV upped their n/a cocktail list, I think I saw 4 recently. 

I was initially looking in the whole Bay Area but decided to stick to SF. So here are just a few others I had in my notes before I stopped pursuing outside the city. 

East Bay

• Copper Spoon – 3 drinks sodas
• Sidebar – 3 drinks for Dry January in partnership with Seedlip
• Bardo Oakland – 4 NA cocktails 
• Here's How

North Bay

• Fern Bar Sebastopol – 5 NA drinks most with Seedlip
• Dukes Healdsburg - 5 homemade sodas plus 4 NA soda-based cocktails

South of San Francisco

• Meso – 3 Seedlip cocktails
• Manresa Los Gatos – 4 cocktails plus 3 spritzers
• ROOH Palo Alto – opening soon
• The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse – has 3 plus 12 boozy ones
• Vino Enoteca has 3 Seedlip special drinks for Dry January
• http://www.soifwine.com/ “usually has 3-4 options”