Where to Celebrate Dry January 2025 in Chicago

Dry January was officially launched in Great Britain in 2013 by Alcohol Change UK to suggest that people spend the first month of the year away from drinking so they can notice the health benefits of a sober lifestyle. It has made its way to the U.S., where, in 2024, 27% of adults who typically consume alcohol said they were “very likely” to participate in Dry January.

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

Even in Chicago, a city where alt-country greats Old 97s once sang that “booze makes no one blush,” the campaign’s success has helped the local craft brewing and distilling scene. Naperville’s Go Brewing makes more than 12 IPAs, porters, pilsners, and other beers, all with an ABV of 0.5% or less. Ritual Zero Proof, based in Ravenswood’s Malt Row, sells whiskey, rum, gin, tequila, and aperitif alternatives, all of which have no alcohol.

Because of Dry January’s continuing popularity, many local restaurants have added spirit-free “mocktails” to their cocktail lists for the month. If you’re sober or sober-curious and are still looking for the flavors and balanced complexity of an expertly crafted cocktail, consider any of the following places.

DineAmic Hospitality has created a host of takes on traditional cocktails and added them to all of their restaurants and bars, which includes such River North, Loop, and West Loop hotspots as Prime & Provisions, Siena Tavern, Fioretta, Le Serre, LYRA, Bar La Rue, and Barrio.

• Pseudo Hugo: Giffard elderflower alcohol-free, peach purée, lime, mint
• Sham Fizz: Ritual gin alternative, cucumber, tonic
• Charlatan Spritz: Mionetto aperitivo non-alcoholic, strawberry, lemon, non-alcoholic brut
• Mock-arita: Ritual tequila alternative, eucalyptus, lemon, serrano pepper
• Mango Mule-ish: Mango, mint, lime, ginger beer
• Cherry Smash: Lavender, lemon, Amarena cherries

Also, several DineAmic restaurants have bolstered that selection with their own creations. Go to Prime & Provisions for the Spiced Grapefruit (Seedlip Spice 94, grapefruit juice, soda, lime) and the Façade (Ritual gin alternative, Ritual aperitif alternative, Giffard elderflower alcohol-free, lemon, tonic). LYRA will have two Greek-inspired drinks to pair with its cuisine. Try the Halara (Amass zero proof, pomegranate, lemon, mint, tonic) or the Cypress (Amass zero proof, pineapple, lime, ginger). Italian-American steakhouse Fioretta adds the Secretariat (Ritual whiskey alternative, mint, lime), Pineapple Punch (Seedlip non-alcoholic spirit, grapefruit, pineapple, cardamom, ginger, lemon), and a trio of non-alcoholic wines.

At the I|O Godfrey, the year-round bar atop the Hotel Godfrey, sample the Mint to Be (choice of peach, strawberry, raspberry açaí, lavender, or cucumber; muddled mint; lime; lemon; Topo Chico), or the Peach Out (blueberry, yucca peach tea, muddled agave, rosemary, club soda, chia seed). Inside another River North hotel, the Talbott, head to Laurel for the Juniper Lane (juniper berry syrup, lime, club soda) or the Yuzu Fizz (mandarin boba, yuzu fizz, club soda). In the Loop,  LH Rooftop in the LondonHouse, at the foot of the DuSable Bridge, is offering the Aperitif & Soda (non-alcoholic bittersweet aperitif cordial, soda, orange) and the One in a Melon (Seedlip garden, Rare Tea Cellar Mallorca melon shrubbery, pineapple, lemon). Adjacent to the Pendry Hotel in the landmark Carbide & Carbon Building, Venteux has the Ginger Sage Refresher (lemon, lime, honey sage simple syrup, ginger beer). 

For a Mexican twist on Dry January, visit Bodega Taqueria y Tequila for the Spiced Mule (Seedlip Spice 94, spiced ginger agave, lime, Owen’s ginger beer), No-Paloma (Seedlip Notas de Agave, spicy agave, Owen’s ruby red grapefruit, lime) or the Garden Lemonade (Seedlip Garden 108, cucumber, lime, hot honey, Sicilian lemonade, citrus rosemary salt). You can also go to Big Star for the Cucumber Pineapple Cooler (Cucumber syrup, lime and pineapple juices, hop water), which is available at all three of its locations.

A trio of the city’s most acclaimed mixology bars have alcohol-free options. Named after the baseball-player-turned-evangelical-Prohibitionist, Billy Sunday in Logan Square offers six house-fermented sodas and a trio of mocktails on its permanent menu:

• Lupine Lady: Lavender-and-thyme-infused verjus, lime, mint, basil, sparkling water
• Thornhill: Three Spirit Social non-alcoholic elixir, chamomile, ginger, champagne acid, orange, rosemary
• Chery, Cherry Coupe: Sawada cold brew, cola reduction, acidified cherry, sparkling water

Wicker Park’s James Beard-winning The Violet Hour offers the Check Engine Light (Ritual aperitif alternative, Lyre’s rosso, coconut cream, orange juice). Lastly, Dearly Beloved has created five alcohol-free drinks:

• Clearly Cultured: Seedlip Grove, probiotic yogurt clarification, lime, Mallorca melon, hibiscus, ginger, rose water
• Oaxacan Cold Fashioned: Bacon-washed Seedlip Notas de Agave, lapsang souchong, chocolate pu-erh, ancho chili agave nectar, orange zest
• Fresh Cut Grass: dandelion honey, grasshopper syrup, liquid chlorophyll, lime, soda
• Life of the Party: tangerine apricot oleo saccharum, scorched fennel, Oddbird Blanc de Blancs non-alcoholic
• Soda Pop: orgeat, oat milk, coconut soda, orange flower water, rose water, hint of lime

Dearly Beloved will also host the city’s first Spirit-Free Cocktail Fest on Jan. 12 from 7-10 p.m. For $25, guests can try eight mocktails created by some of Chicago’s most celebrated mixologists.

The author wants to try every one of these drinks, but will probably remain indoors this January with a nice mug of hot cocoa.