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Mocktails have grown in popularity over the last few years, and not just for teetotalers or people looking for healthier alternatives. The N/A (non-alcoholic) movement is all the buzz for people who want to participate in the social aspects of drinking, or the culinary delight of a well-made cocktail, just without alcohol.
For years, most bars and restaurants had only sugar-filled beverages to offer non-drinkers — sodas, Shirley Temples, Roy Rogers, and more recently, kombucha. Now, an assortment of N/A spirits like Seedlip and Ghia h are allowing bartenders to not just mimic a good alcoholic cocktail, but create something that stands on its own.
Here in Kansas City, we have a growing selection of bars and restaurants that can meet the unique needs of the mocktail-enthusiastic and N/A-curious — more than we can fit in one list.
Start your N/A night here with these bars and restaurants, where you’ll find something delightful, refreshing and different. (These are just a few of Kansas City's many great N/A options, so let us know if we missed your favorite!)
The Westside Local
Nestled in the Westside neighborhood lives a local farm-to-table restaurant with charm oozing throughout the entire building. With a wide-ranging menu, The Westside Local has something for everyone, including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free food options.
Westside Local also offers four N/A drinks. One of the harder non-alcoholic beverages to find in Kansas City is a glass of dealcoholized wine — a beverage made the same way as traditional wines by harvesting grapes, crushing and pressing, fermenting, clarifying and then aging and bottling. However, the alcohol is removed during the fermentation stage. Non-alcoholic wine can taste similar to traditional wine, having a rich flavor palette and texture, which is why it’s a great alternative for teetotallers.
Westside Local offers a fruity and fizzy ‘Secco’ from the brand Fritz Müller, a German wine company that was founded in 2009.
Other noteworthy mocktails include Aesop, a Perrier-based drink with lime, red bell pepper, mango shrub, and chamoy, a sauce made of dried chilies, lime juice and typically mangos. Some Bitterman's Hellfire Bitters add a delightful touch of heat (heads up: the bitters are made with alcohol if you’re avoiding entirely).
Another promising menu item is Mother Goose, which combines passion fruit, carrot juice, coconut water, and lime, with some salted toasted coconut. This tropical and refreshing drink will keep your end-of-summer blues away.
Unfamiliar with the Westside neighborhood? KCUR's Jenny Vergara reported on the charming neighborhood earlier this April.
Wild Child
A sister of the James Beard Award finalist Drastic Measures, and one of the newest additions to Kansas City’s bar scene, Wild Child is cranking out no- and low-alcohol volume beverages — quite literally, with a hand-cranked ice shaver.
KCUR contributor Erin Woodiel reported on Wild Child earlier this year. Co-owner Jay Sanders said that everyone deserves to enjoy “really cool drinks” regardless of the alcohol content.
Wild Child is open Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 1 to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 8 p.m. Be sure to make a reservation, and then grab a seat at the bar to watch the wildly talented bartenders create drinks like the N/A French 75 Kakigori, which features a non-alcoholic gin and shaved ice, or the Lacto-Strawberry Spritz. This drink features alcohol-stripped Amaro (an Italian herbal liqueur) and local strawberries macerated with lactic acid.
What makes the mocktails at Wild Child so memorable — besides their beautiful 1960s interiors and the affordable price point, at $10 a mocktail — is that at least half of their menu has some kind of spirit that’s been stripped of its alcohol.
These drinks are memorable and will leave you wondering if you’re really missing anything from leaving alcohol behind. And don’t forget the savory popcorn!
Outta the Blue
Opened in 2021, Outta the Blue is an “lil’ oasis” located in the Park Place shopping center in Leawood, Kansas. From the moment you walk into Outta the Blue, you are engulfed in a playful and colorful space that is filled with large indoor palm trees and greenery, a tiki roof, a pink ostrich feather chandelier, colorful surfboards and rope swings.
As part of their beach-forward cocktail menu, Outta the Blue offers seven different N/A plays on classic tropical and tiki drinks like a mojito, daiquiri, painkiller, blue Hawaiian and a Pina Colada. To make them non-alcoholic, Outta the Blue uses typical cocktail mixers like club soda and Sprite plus nonalcoholic syrups like a blue curacao syrup — which contains no alcohol and can be added to lemonades, sodas and other beverages.
With a beautiful La Marzocco espresso machine, the bar also offers coffee and tea drinks well into the night, and is stocked with an array of healthy bites should you want something to nosh on as well.
Mean Mule Distilling Co.
Tucked into the Crossroads Arts District, Mean Mule Distilling Co. is a buzzing distillery known for making and serving agave spirits in the Kansas City metro.
Although they’re primarily known as a distillery, Mean Mule’s tasting room features five custom-made mocktails. Pickle's Punch features the punch of their house-made red pepper syrup, mixed with cactus brine, ginger beer and lime.
Want more of an aperitif? You should order the Kleopatra, which utilizes Ghia’s nonalcoholic spirit, plus a syrup made with almonds and ube. Mean Mule is a great place to start or end the night.
You'll have the pick of the pack when it comes to mocktails, be engulfed in a cozy bohemian space with rich brick interiors, prickling cacti and burgeoning plants and southwestern-influenced furniture and décor. You’ll be buzzing (but not literally) alongside the booming soundtrack.
Le Lounge
From the looks of the red brick building tucked off of 17th and Wyandotte Street, you would have no idea that there was a guesthouse with a chic hotel bar. However, on a Thursday or miraculous Friday night, you'll see an open "Guest Entrance" in the alley behind Birdie's Lingerie.
Follow the stairs up and enter Le Lounge. At first, you might feel like you've wandered into a very chic house party in the 1990s, but that's the charm of it. Le Lounge is like a beehive with bartenders buzzing around a beautiful marble-covered island, with bottles and glasses spread around them. Patrons waft in and out of the space, sitting on the long velvet couch and surrounded by chairs, candles, and delicate light fixtures.
Two stand-out drinks here are the Sober Lush, a grapefruit, citrus and jalapeno concoction and a golden ale from Athletic Brewing Company, a non-alcoholic craft beer company that’s now being stocked at more bars and liquor stores. This well-balanced beer has earthy and spicy notes and is designed to be low-gluten as well.
Le Lounge is worth changing plans for so you can stop in on a Thursday night.
Goat & Rabbit
If you're looking for a mocktail late at night and want plenty of options, Goat & Rabbit is the place to go. Located on 39th Street, the well-lit bar has an array of emerald green chairs and comfortable couches.
There are four mocktails on the bar’s seasonal menu, all extremely distinct and just $10 each. Looking for something tropical and refreshing? Try the Pulp Friction, loaded with passion fruit puree, guava and hibiscus nectar, and an orange blossom foam.
If you're looking for something caffeinated, try the Iced Flat Pink, which marries the espresso of an iced flat white with strawberry puree. The Tosatto is closer to a traditional cocktail, which has a base of Bare Zero Proof cucumber infused “gin,” balsamic vinegar, mint, lemon and tonic water.
You can also just tell one of the team members what you're looking for and wait to be delighted.
More N/A options
Those bars just scratch the surface of N/A options in Kansas City. KCUR’s Up To Date recently recommended the mocktails at The Savoy at 21C, like the hibiscus tepache, and the Hey! Hey! Club, whose Troubadour features coconut water, lemongrass, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon and lime.
Gael’s Public House offers an impressive number of bright and fun N/A options (considering it’s a sports bar), as does the literary-themed Afterword Tavern & Shelves. At The Restaurant at 1900, you can order a Just Beet It (beet juice, lemon and ginger beer), and you can stay Clear Headed (one of The Town Co. signature "no proof" options) with Ritual’s rum alternative, Earl Grey tea and smoked vanilla.
Have a favorite mocktail in Kansas City? Let us know.
