As the two non-drinkers on the Scene's editorial staff, you'd think we might have nothing to contribute to this, the Drinking Issue. But you'd be wrong. Trying to exist in a drinking world as a non-drinker is always an adventure. Sure, you can just get water, iced tea or Diet Coke, but sometimes you want something a bit more fancy. (And you grew out of ordering Shirley Temples decades ago.) Sometimes you want to feel like a real-life adult hanging out with your real-life adult friends, and you want to drink a drink that's served in a pretty glass with a thoughtful garnish, just like the cocktails you see everyone else sipping on.
A number of local places have innovative mocktails to their menu — Husk, Pinewood Social and The Catbird Seat, for example, all have delicious, alcohol-free things. And if you haven't ordered the Water of the Day at Chauhan Ale & Masala House, you are truly missing out on a liquid sensation. It's more a fresh juice than a water, flavored with fruit and herbs like pineapple and mint or blood orange and peppercorns. So incredible.
But socially speaking, your average neighborhood bars and restaurants are still a big part of the life experience. You can't always go somewhere that's taken the time to consider the options beyond the bar shelves. So here's what happened when two non-drinkers went out and asked for something more than just a soda.
The Treehouse
1011 Clearview Ave., 615-454-4201
Mocktails. Ugh. I quit drinking a while ago, but I have a feeling that even the 21-year-old Laura who ordered "SoCo with Diet" or Midori sours on a fairly consistent basis would turn her nose up at the term, and not for its lack of booze. It just sounds so silly. So although my assignment was to order mocktails from neighborhood spots, I couldn't quite bring myself to say the word and instead went the long route: "I want something special, but without any booze. What can you make me?" My request was met with varying degrees of civility from bar staff, and I can't really blame them. It's not that non-drinkers are obnoxious to bartenders — in my experience the exact opposite is true. It's that special requests in general are best reserved for the fancy-pantsiest institutions that are used to self-centered customers. I was like the bar version of Meg Ryan's character in When Harry Met Sally: "I'll have a club salad but with no bacon, extra croutons and extra dressing on the side, please." Still, The Treehouse in East Nashville was more than accommodating to my request for "something special." My bartender was Travis, and he made me a gingery orange-pineapple drink with club soda and a twist of lime. It was so gingery my friend made a face when she tried it — but I loved it with the same love that people overly proud of their ability to consume alcohol (keep an eye on those guys, by the way) get a thrill when they can gulp down liquor without cringing. A strong ginger kick, in my opinion, is the best way to keep a nonalcoholic drink from being mild, and it went great with the octopus I ordered to keep my visit sufficiently adventurous. Thanks, Travis. LH
Fleet Street Pub
207 Printer’s Alley, 615-200-0782
Because one of our co-workers was leaving (sad!), we had a celebratory going-away food and drink fest at Fleet Street, one of his favorite Nashville pubs. Everyone was drinking beer — Guinness Black Lager, Fuller's London Pride, some kind of seasonal strawberry thing — and seeing as how it was a special occasion and Fleet Street had a full bar, I figured surely the bartender could whip up something for us, too, right? A little soda water, a splash of some citrus juice, maybe a squeeze of fresh lime — it wouldn't be hard. Wrong. When we asked for something free of booze the waitress scoffed. "We don't serve kiddie cocktails here," she said. Then she condescendingly offered to make us some juice, like we were cranky 2-year-olds waving around our empty bottle. We ordered water and Diet Coke and when she brought out the Diet Coke, she slammed it on the table. This woman did not like us. MS
Duke’s
1000 Main St.
I'd never been to Duke's before, but I'd heard it's the Five Points answer to all the basic-to-corny crowded bars in the area, and I was pleasantly surprised. If I still drank I'd probably avoid writing about it because it's the kind of place I'd want to keep to myself, with its bare-bones not-trying-too-hard vibe, The Kinks on the stereo and a great spread of mid-range booze. But that's not what I came for. I came to chase the elusive mocktail in its unnatural habitat — the neighborhood bar. My bartender, Tommy, was more than kind and willing to take suggestions when I told him what I was there for, but when asked, admitted he didn't get many of my kind of orders. He mixed orange, pineapple and cranberry juice with club soda, and it was great. But as I sat at the bar between a young tourist from Paris who kept telling me I looked like Steven Tyler and a group of pretty girls with Bettie Page haircuts, I decided that juice with soda was pretty much the most I could hope for in a mocktail. Maybe the Fleet Street bartender was right after all. LH
Two Ten Jack
1900 Eastland Ave. #105, 615-454-2731
Two Ten Jack has some really innovative cocktails on their menu — ingredients include passion fruit syrup, peach nectar, sweet corn and honey syrup and blueberry sage tea — so I was so sad to see the nonalcoholic options listed as just a variety of bottled sodas. When I asked the waitress if it would be possible to get a cocktail without alcohol (like Laura, I hate the word "mocktail"), she was very accommodating and she didn't make me feel like a child. She asked if there was anything I especially liked or didn't like, and I asked her to go easy on the ginger — they have some very ginger-happy bartenders there, she said. Five minutes later, she returned with one of the most refreshing mocktails I've ever had. A fresh sprig of rosemary sat on top of the ice, and it was sweet, citrusy, slightly bubbly and had a very subtle rosemary flavor. It was perfect. And it paired especially well with the salty, hot bowl of delicious ramen I foolishly ordered and ate on the patio on a 90-degree evening. MS
