Dry Bars (and a site update)

I wrote that post this morning about our dinner party and then got in the shower and worried that people might think I was a bad mummy for letting my 10-year-old run a bar…(albeit with lolly money and Sprite Zero on offer..!). And then I thought – no, bugger that! Who says bars have to be all about booze…?

And then I remembered reading recently about the Dry Bars that have been popping up overseas. These are bars which are great alcohol-free social spaces. Fun and cool and comfortable, not lame imitations of the real thing. Just like the real thing in fact, but with no booze on offer.

They’re trending in the UK apparently, check out this one in London .. and there’s a good article here from the USA.

Anyone overseas been to one? Do you think they’d work in New Zealand? I’d love to go to a hip, cool bar with great lighting, funky music, tasty nibbles and a huge array of non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails. And no drunk people. Wouldn’t you?

Also just a quick site update. A great suggestion came in from member MsLSober – why not add a page to the Sober Toolbox which is for tips and ideas on how to deal with the really tough stuff? Taking away booze means we often have to develop new ways of dealing with emotional shit. I know I sure did (and still do). So where do we go and what do we do when the going gets really tough? The new page ‘Managing Feelings’ in up in the Sober Toolbox now.

Love, Mrs D xxx

12 Comments
  1. Seventeen 10 years ago

    The Brink in Liverpool UK is a dry bar and cafe staffed by addicts in recovery, it has a real buzz to it and it makes a great venue for meet ups with my my sober friends.
    http://thebrinkliverpool.com

  2. Megs 10 years ago

    Loving the idea of the recovery walk. That is so cool! How many of us would be there do you think?

  3. Jules 10 years ago

    Wow Mrs D what a brilliant concept. I’d certainly go to one if there was such a bar available. In my small provincial town dominated by unemployment there are way too many alcohol outlets here it’s overkill. What a breath of fresh air to have a non-alcohol bar. I will travel to one for the experience should one start up in NZ. Hehe

  4. hangoverfree 10 years ago

    Off to one that is opening in Manchester in September called The Umbrella Bar and then the following day I’ll be joining the UK recovery walk of 8-10,000 people (and you can read more about it here: http://www.ukrecoverywalk.org/ . I’ll let you know how both goes 🙂

    • Lizzie 10 years ago

      How totally inspiring !! Must find out more about this, my imagination has gone into over drive. Wouldn’t it be so cool to celebrate sobriety in NZ so openly & enthusiasticly.

    • Author
      Mrs D 10 years ago

      Wow cool! A recovery walk, that sounds amazing.. and the opening of a Dry Bar.. boy your country is a few steps ahead of us in your turnaround to alcohol….but we’ll get there

  5. MiaJ 10 years ago

    Fantastic! I want one in Sydney.

    • MiaJ 10 years ago

      Hi Lilly 🙂

    • Lilly 10 years ago

      MiaJ – I want one in Sydney too! And I’d love to know more sober people here as well so hello! 🙂

  6. Nugget 10 years ago

    I think that is a great idea dry bars…
    wow great place to socialise.
    off to a pub now for work as they are a customer.. Good guys to so they already have a coffee brewing for me… But how good would it be to meet friends at a dry bar….

    • Squizzi 10 years ago

      God – fantastic concept – you actually go there and see other people you know who may have made the same lifestyle choice as you but nobody talks about it so how do you know! Or even meeting other people. Like an AA meeting but without the stigma of finding like minded people.

      And what about for all the single sober people out there. That’s not me (married 25 years) but have often thought “how the hell are sober single people meant to meet other like minded people?” Go to a pub that specialises in over 40s. I don’t think so! And those things don’t even get going till well after 11 oclock and and I don’t know about you but I am well and truly asleep by then!!!

      Awesome, awesome, awesome concept. Someone needs to run with that one. They would make a killing!!

      Maybe I should contact some of the key players in Hamilton and see if they would be interested in trialling it.
      I guess another concept could be – having a dry area (or a wet area!!!). A bit like when you were allowed to smoke in bars and you had the smokers area or the smoke free area – you could have one room called the dry room and one room called the alcoholics corner!

    • aprilaries 10 years ago

      Nugget..Oh that’s awesomeness that your customers had a coffee ready for you. Great to have support like that. Mrs D, a dry bar would be great! Meeting people and having a bit of a boogie. NO fights, vomitting or aggro.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Licensed by NZ Drug Foundation under Creative Commons 4.0 2024. Built by Bamboo Creative and powered by Flywheel.

Log in with your credentials

or    

Forgot your details?

Create Account