10 Seattle Spots Suitable for Sober Socialites

Sober? Sober curious? Whether you’re cutting back, committed to Dry January, or years into sobriety, it’s often a challenge going out when every bar and restaurant is alcohol-centric. Making off-menu requests with a busy waiter or drawing attention to yourself at a work dinner can inhibit an otherwise enjoyable outing.

We’ve rounded up a few highlights in Seattle’s growing list of spots with mocktails and other beverages with spirit but without spirits.

Life on Mars is quintessentially Seattle with its vegan comfort food menu, vinyl theme, and David Bowie namesake. Local KEXP DJ John Richards is an owner, and you won’t miss the influence—an entire wall of the lounge is vinyl records, of which patrons can place in the turntable’s queue.

Although Life on Mars is 21+ and has a cocktail bar focus, a number of options sans alcohol appear on the menu. Put your records on and chill in their bright yellow booths with a Q Ginger Beer, oat milk latte, or one of their “low to no proof” seasonal rotations like Tiki Night and 110 Thai.

Looking for a fun spot with a quirky aesthetic? Tucked away in the Fremont neighborhood, not far from the Sunday Street Market and Canal Park, Stampede Cocktail Club offers a classic rotating drink menu and, not so classically, dumplings.

Stampede’s drink menu features several zero-proof cocktails made with Seedlip’s distilled, non-alcoholic spirits. Head to the patio and sip concoctions like Love, Lust, “And Just Plain Fervor”.

This “beer” won’t leave you with a hangover at Rachel’s Ginger Beer. Instead you can find beverages that are thought to have many health benefits owed to the root of this beverage (see what we did there?).

Grab a single serve or growler fill (or both!) of flavors like pink guava, blood orange, rotating seasonal offerings, and, of course, their original flavor. It’s all the kick and citrus and spice of a cocktail mixer... without the spirits.

With locations in U-Village, Capitol Hill, SLU, and Pike Place Market, you’re always within a short walk to grab a crisp and refreshing brew.

Bonus: get a cup of locally made vanilla soft serve or dole whip pineapple floats with their signature flavors.

Up for dinner and a show? Where the Paramount Theater is the former (and across the street), the Carlile Room is the latter, offering up groovy 60s and 70s vibes with a modern twist from James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Tom Douglas, inspired by singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile.

Known for their plant house menu and sipping bar, the Carlile Room’s Cocktail Culture menu includes Booze Free offerings like cherry soda, peach tonic, and ginger almond soda.

Bonus: every one of Tom Douglas’ many area restaurants have a mocktail menu, including Serious Pie, Palace Kitchen, Seatown Market & Fish Fry, and Lola.

Madrona’s Bottlehouse is a cozy neighborhood wine purveyor (hence the name), but it’s also a great stop for cheeses, charcuterie boards, and a number of unique beverages. Try the peach thyme iced tea, watermelon house soda, an apricot house shrub, or a seasonal house soda. Then, check out the neighborhood’s boutiques and sweets, all within blocks of this cozy eatery.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery is not your average Starbucks, to say the least. In a city famous for its coffee and just blocks away from “where it all started”, Seattle’s coffee giant launched this flagship store with incredible design elements to behold and, between its multiple bars, a front-row view of the coffee roasting process.

Grab a smooth nitro cold brew for a Guinness-esque experience, foamy head and all, or a selection of seasonal offerings like the cucumber mint spritz. Try a flight of small-batch coffees if you can’t make up your mind.

Alongside a menu with almost too many mixed drink options, you’ll also find an irresistible spread of pastries, sweets, and breakfast sandwiches.

In “the Pike/Pine corridor’s living room,” Oddfellows Cafe is an all-day, all-night French and Italian spot perfect for dinner dates and brunch with indoor and outdoor seating.

In addition to their non-alcoholic beverages like an Arnold Palmer, Topo Chico, coconut water, kombucha, and the aforementioned Rachel’s Ginger Beer, Oddfellows boasts impressive coffee offerings. Lattes and bottomless coffee make the list, in addition to cortados and americanos, all from local coffee roasters, Caffe Vita. You’ll also find Miro Tea offerings from Earl Grey to matcha lattes. Odds are, you’ll find something worth sipping on.

Right off an intersection paved in rainbow crosswalks and at the center of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, Cafe Pettirosso is a once “just” coffee shop, expanded to a day and night cafe with an ever-changing and eclectic menu. 

You’ll find a delicious offering of housemade sodas like chamomile rose water sparkling lemonade, blackberry ginger ale, and blueberry orange shrub to enjoy whether you’re sitting indoors or outside.

Pettirosso’s coffee menu, of course, doesn’t disappoint–sip on a cardamom latte or a Mexican Mocha made with Ibarra chocolates alongside a brioche french toast or a seasonal omelette.

Eight Row is Greenlake’s panamerican orchard fare spot with locally-sourced American eats like a rotating weekly brunch menu and an irresistible desserts menu called Sweeties. 

Spotted at Eight Row: pineapple szechuan soda, housemade sodas and shrubs, and local Culture Shock Kombucha.

Spotted just a block away: Green Lake, of course, and its popular park and trails.

In Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood, The Royal Room features live music seven nights a week and a menu of Southern-inspired dishes. Inside, you’ll find a cozy atmosphere, a grand piano, and an all-ages community space inspired by composer Wayne Horvitz and restaurateurs Tia Matthies and Steve Freeborn.

Order their housemade ginger limeades in the Perfect Storm and Moskva Mule, a Magda Rita (limeade, hibiscus syrup and soda), or an Island Breeze (orange, pineapple, cranberry juice, and Orgeat almond syrup).