My Latest Restaurant Pet Peeve
places without thoughtful N/A options
My cookbook AMRIKAN: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora, is available wherever you like to buy books, though it is currently 50 percent off (!!) for a very limited time on Amazon. I promise the book is worth it for the Saag Paneer Lasagna recipe alone.
Let’s get into today’s newsletter: my latest restaurant pet peeve.
I love that we live in this era of novelty beverages. Thoughtful drinks are a form of entertainment and delight at restaurants — not just the food. This goes for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options, and even coffee shops. In fact, there has never been a better time to be someone who is a non-drinker: there are several liquor alternatives, beer and wine alternatives, and drinks that defy categories but are non-alcoholic available on the market. It’s never been easier to craft a really playful and fun booze-free drink list at a restaurant — but many still choose not to, and I remain baffled as to why.
A few weeks ago, I slid into a bar seat at Leopardo, the spacious and airy new pizza spot from chef Joshua Skenes with two pals, and our eyes widened as we watched the extra puffy crusted pizzas flow out of the kitchen and into the dining room. The server slide three pink cocktail menus on to the counter laced with fun names and fun fonts: Chocolate Spring Water ($21), Artimaro (made with barbecue artichoke), Filthy Martini (clarified green tomato & pickled things). My eye was immediately drawn to the Kyoho Frose, a twist on the classic frose made with the concord-like grapes and cachaca. It comes swirled in a coupe, decorated with a cocktail umbrella, and is served with a tiny silver spoon — essentially a grown up slushy in the best sense.
There is one thing missing from this clearly well thought out cocktail menu: a single non-alcoholic option. My friend, who does not drink, asked the server if there were any n/a options to which the server replied, “just name what ingredients and flavors you like and we can make you a mocktail of your choice.” While yes, this option is better than just “juice or soda,” it feels like a giant missed opportunity to not have a singular, pre-throughout non-alcoholic option on the cocktail menu — and instead put the work of figuring out their drink on the customer. It was surprising to see that not even one option on the list could be made without alcohol, as is often the case.
I am personally not a huge drinker, and while I did end up ordering the grape frose, it was a Monday evening and I would have preferred to not drink at all. I would have absolutely ordered the n/a option, had there been one listed that was just as fun and as novel. Or I would have ordered it as my second beverage.
In 2024, I will never understand why restaurants do this? People who don’t drink alcohol are still willing to pay just as much money for clever options — and drinks are one of the few spots on a restaurant’s menu with actually large margins that really help the business make money. Why miss out on what would have been an additional $20-$40 on our check? It’s literally leaving money on the table.
It’s also a wild gap in a restaurant’s hospitality game — especially when other details are so clearly thought out from the glassware to the garnishes. Customers who don’t drink, choose not to drink, don’t want to drink, or cannot drink (the reason doesn’t matter), deserve to also have the same level of experience, just in the way that those who do not eat meat, also deserve a well thought out experience.
There is also a strange trend of restaurants that do in fact have a few non-alcoholic options but they are not listed on the well-curated menus and instead, customers are forced to inquire about them, as if they are making a special request or ordering something off-menu. I was at Danbi recently, a charming modern Korean spot in LA’s K-town with a fun soju-based cocktail menu. I was not in the mood for a cocktail, but it was only once I asked that I learned that they could make a non-alcoholic version of one of their more popular drinks and that they had an n/a beverage that was daiquiri-like called the “Strawberry Surprise” that the bar likes to make. Why not list it on the menu? People often do not order what they cannot see.
I wish more places would operate like Birdie’s in Austin that no only has a glorious and massive wine list, but a large and thoughtful n/a list that is presented with just as much enthusiasm and excitement as their wines. People who do not drink are not second class customers, and should not be treated as such. Great hospitality is inclusive without being pandering.
What are your restaurant pet peeves?
I'm with you on the bartender saying 'just say what flavours you like & we'll make it for you.' I'm not a mixologist. I'd prefer for the restaurant to come up with clever non alcoholic cocktails and drinks instead of having to rack my brain to try to think of something that's not going to be sickly sweet. I'd also like more places to stock interesting independent brands of soft drinks instead of relying on mega corporation coke etc.
Why are mocktails just as expensive as cocktails? I never understood this. In these situations, I just stick to water or a Diet Coke.