Sober-friendly bars in Toronto

Posted on | by TRIP!

See our upcoming guide to how to still be social when you’re trying to cut back on drinking!

GOTTEN FROM FAITH AT PIECES TO PATHWAYS: Might be helpful for folks who are feeling alienated from the party scene because of recovery <3

Sober-friendly bars in Toronto

(Last updated June 2017)

This is a dynamic, crowd-sourced* list of bars and pubs in Toronto that overtly cater, in one way or another, to people that do not drink. Its purpose is to serve as a reference for sober people (be they in recovery, temporarily abstaining from booze, or are teetotal) who wish to go on a date or celebrate an occasion with something more adult than a ginger-ale or a shirley temple.

Bars that meet this criteria will:

  1. Have mocktails listed on their menu
  2. Have a good selection of non-alcoholic beers, either in bottle or on draught
  3. Have an interesting alternative to classic bar beverages (e.g. kombucha on tap)
  4. Consistently respond positively to the “surprise me!” request for an off-menu mocktail

At the bottom, there’s a list of sober un-friendly bars, including testimonials from people who had an issue trying to order a non-alcoholic drink. This section may be useful for people in recovery who wish to avoid bars that have been known to be problematic.

If you have a bar to add to the list, a suggestion about the criteria, a correction, wish to vouch for a bar with an off-menu mocktail list, or have any other questions, please send a note to ash.mogg@gmail.com.

Cheers! (pun intended)

*Bunz Helping, Dating, Sober zones on Facebook; Twitter

West end

The Ace

Great off-menu mocktails vouched for by: 1 person

Biermarkt

Large selection of non-alcoholic beer

  • Beck’s Lager
  • Erdinger Alkoholfrei
  • Krombacher Hefeweizen
  • Krombacher Pilsner
  • Krombacher Radler
  • Weihenstephaner Alkoholfrei Hefeweissbier

Burdock

Kombucha on tap

Drake Hotel

Mocktail section called boozeless cocktails, carefully crafted with love

The Gaslight

Great off-menu mocktails vouched for by: 1 person

The Good Son

Great off-menu mocktails vouched for by: 1 person

The Lockhart

Mocktail section on menu

Nightowl

Extensive non-alcoholic drink list, called “drink menu for heroes” <3

East end

Dundas and Carlaw

Kombucha on tap

The Only

Bar on one side, a sweet cafe on the other, and you’re free to bring drinks to either side.

Central

The Clocktower

From a NOW Toronto review, this place has a “a small but thoughtful list of non-alcoholic drinks.”

Bars that may be sober un-friendly

  • The Steady
    • “the bartender/owner (?) has been super condescending to me when i ask for drinks w/o alcohol.”
  • Black Cat Espresso Bar
    • “Bartender/owner would not serve a non-alcoholic drink for anything less than seven dollars (the price of a pint)”
  • Lucky Shrike
    • “I didn’t get the friendliest response at Lucky Shrike when I asked if they had Red Bull (aka the unofficial bar drink of people in recovery haha)”