5 Friday: 5 Restaurants That Make Delicious Non-Alcoholic Drinks

By Melissa McEwen in Food on Oct 3, 2014 6:00PM

Acanto's wood-grilled orange soda (Photo by Melissa McEwen)

In the past going out wasn’t much fun for people who couldn’t or didn’t want to drink alcohol. You’d be lucky to get a decent ginger ale. But things are getting better for abstainers who want something more interesting to drink.

Next (953 W. Fulton Market): We have to start out this list with Next because their non-alcoholic pairing program has been so influential in Chicago in getting restaurants to offer more than just overly sweet pop as a so-called non-alcoholic option. Next's non-alcoholic pairings are known for being interesting enough that some people who do drink alcohol opt for them. They develop new pairings for each of their distinct menus from spices, teas, flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables. Most importantly, unlike many non-alcoholic drinks served at restaurants, they really inhabit every nook in the flavor spectrum from the smokiness reminiscent of a great scotch to the tartness of a refreshing lambic beer.

Senza (2873 N. Broadway St.): They are proving you don’t need gluten or alcohol to have an amazing meal. Their pairings are very similar in their range of flavors to Next’s. Recent pairings included a cucumber, fresno chili and mint limeade. Beverage manager Chris Voccia says "This one is pretty simple. I steep Fresno, cucumber and mint in a rich syrup (1:1) for a few days, adjust the flavors afterwards and add a little salt. I add that to soda water with fresh lime juice to taste. Garnish with mint ice cubes and English cucumber and you're good." Another refreshing drink he makes is a cardamom, rose water, ginger and pineapple juice.

Elizabeth Restaurant (4835 N. Western Ave.): After requests from many customers and trying the non-alcoholic pairings at Willow’s Inn in Washington, Chef Iliana Regan decided to offer some non-alcoholic pairings. Recent pairings included a house-made kombucha crafted from elderflower water and Keemun tea. Another is a soda made from chamomile and pink peppercorn syrup blended with a house made tea of dried sassafras and sassafras twigs, dried mulberries and dried marigolds. Flavored with local ingredients from the woodlands and farms in our region, they are the perfect accompaniment to her food.

Acadia (1639 S. Wabash Ave.): Having opted for the wine pairings here, I ended up eying my dining companion’s non-alcoholic pairings jealously and thankfully she let me try them. My favorite was an intensely aromatic makrut lime and lemongrass soda. The corn soda with Kix foam was so good it caused me to abort my wine pairings and switch to the alcohol-free options. It reminded me a bit of the time I had chicha, a sour Peruvian corn beer that sparkled with flavors of toasted corn kernels.

Acanto (18 S. Michigan Ave.): Spirits director Michael Page told me he grills oranges over fruit woods like cherry until they start to caramelize. Then he juices them and saves the peels, storing them in a vacuum bag in sugar to pull the powerful flavors from orange’s essential oils. The final result is a syrup he uses to make an incredible wood-grilled orange soda that won’t disappoint people looking for a slightly sweet, but complex alcohol-free drink. They also offer a strawberry balsamic soda that is delightfully tart and reminiscent of a shrub, a classic colonial-era drink made from fruit and vinegar.

Honorable mentions: don’t miss the malted walnut soda at Dusek’s or the pink peppercorn soda at Green Zebra.

Do you have some non-alcoholic favorites? Let us know in the comments.