It’s clear 2020 did a number on folks when the December 31st text message comes in from your best drinking buddy:

“I’m doing Dry January. Want to join?”

Oh, good lord, no. Absolutely not.

I spent enough evenings on the couch with sparkling water and Netflix during the quarantine. Being able to experience a drink made by hands more creative than mine has not yet gotten old and abstaining for a month surely means staying home and missing out on social life. Hard pass.

After my initial recoil, though menus of past nights out flashed in my head. Mocktails and craft sodas have begun to take a prominent place. I’ve skimmed past them, but perhaps it’s time to take a deeper look.

Turns out, Dry January (or whatever the impetus may be for your choice to abstain) no longer means nursing water on the rocks, Diet Coke with lime, or even a basic O’Douls.

Shed those house slippers and prepare to battle chilly winter nights out: there are a multitude of options to drink and like while avoiding both a hangover and the last call siren song of Five Guys or Kay’s Pizza.

A brewery may not be the first locale that pops to mind for a sober Saturday or post-work Trivia Night, but I’ve had more than one friend wax poetic over the craft sodas at Southbound Brewing. You can find some fantastic ones at Fat Radish and Husk too.

If your party is headed for a decadent dinner at the latter in particular, rest assured they can also do fantastic mocktails, playing nicely into the Prohibition vibe with the menu section entitled Amendment XVIII.

Mocktails in general are having a moment in the Hostess City. If you’re headed over to trendy Plant Riverside District, pop by Baobab Lounge or Myrtle and Rose for one of their offerings. Who could say no to the Georgia Kiss or a Cuban Recovery?

The Grove has you set if you’re feeling a City Market rooftop by creating mocktails with names so fun, you won’t feel as if you’re missing out as you order a Members Only or a Here For The Party.

Cruising Liberty Street? Savoy Society has you covered with a NOgroni, a Carrot Colada, and a twist on my drink of choice – an old-fashioned made with yaupon tea. Color me intrigued.

Alley Cat has a well-earned reputation in Savannah for the pride they take in craft cocktails. It probably shouldn’t have surprised me they have an entire page on their novel of a menu dedicated to Low- and No-ABV drinks for “pumping the brakes.” The Jagerita – described as “gooder than hell” – does indeed sound so tasty it momentarily made me reconsider my stance, at least for one evening.

As it happens, there are plenty of options here for a decadent drink without the bite of booze – enough that you may decide to keep this going further into 2021.

Even in spots that may not list a readily available non-alcoholic menu, I’m willing to bet any of your favorites would welcome the challenge to make a drink to your liking.

No guarantees that I’m fully embracing Dry January, but if there’s a sober girls’ night out in my future then I’m happy to toast responsibly to a fresh new year with any of these in hand. Here’s to 2021, friends!

Southbound
107 East Lathrop Ave.

Fat Radish
36 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.

Husk 
12 West Oglethorpe Ave.

Baobab Lounge
500 W River St.

Myrtle & Rose Rooftop Garden
500 W River St.

The Grove
301 W Congress St.

Savoy Society
102 E Liberty #109

Alley Cat Lounge
207 W Broughton Ln.