Get through Dry January in Fresno without drinking O’Douls. 5 local places to try
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fresno bars and restaurants offer nonalcoholic drink menus year-round.
- Menu options include mocktails, CBD drinks, zero-proof spirits, adaptogens and more
- Businesses include a new restaurant, a cocktail bar, and a craft beer bar
There’s plenty of drinking happening in Fresno. But it’s got a pretty healthy non-alcoholic drinking scene too — if you know where to look.
Several locally owned bars and restaurants have robust drink menus without a drop of booze in them.
And, seeing as it’s Dry January, we thought we’d point out five of them to you. Their menus are available year round.
After all, just 54% of American adults say they drink alcohol — a 90-year low.
Whether it’s mocktails, non-alcoholic beers, or cocktails with zero-proof spirits, there are options out there at bars and restaurants.
5 places in Fresno to get non-alcoholic drinks
1. A new restaurant: The Yellow Chilli
The Yellow Chilli Indian restaurant opened last month in the former Blast & Brew/Piazza Del Pane on Palm Avenue, just south of Herndon Avenue. It’s in the process of getting its liquor license, but it has a permanent menu of mocktails, some towering with elaborate garnishes, ranging from $7 to $9.
They include berry and piña colada lassis (cousins to the familiar yogurt drink mango lassi), a virgin mojito and a Caribbean Sunset made with orange and pineapple juice and topped with an orange slice, cherry and mint.
It also has a full menu of gourmet Indian food created by an international celebrity chef.
2. A sober bar: Lumiere
Lumiere Sober Bar in downtown Fresno’s Sun Stereo Warehouse building at 736 Fulton St. doesn’t serve alcohol, but it claims that its drinks can give you a buzz. It serves “adaptogenic” and “nootropic” cocktails — plant-powered drinks that help the body naturally respond to stress and enhance cognition.
It won’t get you drunk though, said owner Joy Alvarado.
The bar is open by reservation only via its website (though walk-ins are welcome when people with reservations have already opened it up). The experience costs $25 a person, which gets you two drink tickets in the form of marbles. Cans, bottles and cases can also be purchased to take home.
3. A bar where CBD drinks sometimes outsell beer, Goldstein’s Mortuary & Delicatessen.
Goldstein’s at 1279 N. Wishon Ave. in the Tower District sells CBD drinks on tap (as does its sister business, the Backyard Social Club in Clovis).
The most popular is a cranberry-blood orange from Ablis that’s made from hemp. It has 50 milligrams of CBD, which is a natural chemical compound that isn’t intoxicating, but can potentially have benefits such as relaxation, according to Healthline.
Although beer is Goldstein’s bread and butter, there have been nights where the CBD drinks have outsold the beer, Johnson said. It has other non-alcoholic drinks on tap and in cans too.
4. A cocktail bar, Modernist.
Modernist in downtown Fresno is one of Fresno’s top cocktail bars — and that includes cocktails with no and low alcohol.
The “free-spirited” menu features drinks made with non-alcoholic tequilas and zero-proof gins. There are also drinks that don’t imitate alcohol, said Modernist owner Po Tsai. And many of the ingredients are made in house.
The Mirror, Mirror, for example, has a non-alcoholic tequila and house-made lavender tea and red apple cordial.
There’s also a “no-groni,” that’s non-alcoholic.
Non-alcoholic drinks are “becoming more of a category, same as you would think about vodka, gin,” Tsai said. “It’s another component that cocktail bars need to know how to work with proficiently.”
5. A flexible Clovis restaurant, Colton’s Social House.
Colton’s, on Shaw Avenue in front of Sierra Vista Mall, has a portion of its drink menu called “H.T.A.” — hold the alcohol.
It includes six drinks that are crafted like cocktails, but with nothing alcoholic in them. Alcohol can be added upon request.
They include “So fresh & so clean,” made with non-alcoholic grapefruit liqueur, lime, cucumber and soda water, and “I’m just Ken,” made with non-alcoholic blue curaçao, pineapple, the spiced syrup falernum and coconut.
The restaurant has plenty of alcoholic drinks too, and a full lunch and dinner menu.
