Best Mocktails in Kailua-Kona, HI
Kona's alcohol-free anchor is ʻawa — the Hawaiian name for kava, a root the islands have been drinking for centuries and which the state formally recognised as a safe traditional food in 2025. There is no dedicated zero-proof cocktail bar on this coast and no non-alcoholic bottle shop. What there is instead is the real thing, grown here. Kanaka Kava has been open since 2001 in the Coconut Grove Marketplace on Aliʻi Drive, a small open-air room a few steps back from the waterfront, founded by ʻAnakala Zach and carried on by his ʻohana — a Native Hawaiian family business pouring ʻawa from its own farm in coconut-shell cups, with traditional plates of kalua pork, squid lūʻau, poke, ʻuala and poi alongside, and open-mic and live-music nights through the week. Twelve miles up the hill in Captain Cook, Around the Kava Bowl has served fresh Hawaiian and Pacific kava since 2019 from the back of the Hoʻo Hui wellness centre in the old courthouse building, and is the cooler, quieter counterpart for a day when Kona is too hot. Both rooms are fully alcohol-free. Be clear on what that means: kava is not alcohol, but it is psychoactive and mildly sedating, so this is a night out without alcohol rather than a guaranteed sober space.
2 verified venues · 1 with named NA cocktails on menu
Named NA cocktails on the menu
These Kailua-Kona venues list specific non-alcoholic cocktails on their published menus.
- ★★★★★?
Kanaka Kava has poured ʻawa — the Hawaiian name for kava — from the Coconut Grove Marketplace on Aliʻi Drive since 2001, and serves no alcohol. It is a Native Hawaiian family business, founded by ʻAnakala Zach and carried on by his ʻohana, and the ʻawa is grown and harvested on their own farm on Hawaiʻi Island rather than imported, served fresh in coconut-shell cups. The kitchen turns out traditional plates alongside it — kalua pork, squid lūʻau, poke, baked ʻuala and poi — in a small open-air room a few steps back from the waterfront, with open-mic and live-music nights through the week. ʻAwa contains no alcohol but is psychoactive and mildly sedating.
Signature NA drinks- Fresh farm-grown Hawaiian ʻawa, served in a coconut shell
- Juice Kava (ʻawa with house POG)
More NA-friendly venues in Kailua-Kona
These venues have NA programs but haven't published a specific mocktail menu we can quote — call ahead or ask your bartender.
What makes a great mocktail?
A great mocktail isn't just a cocktail with the alcohol removed. The best non-alcoholic drinks are designed from the ground up around the flavor profile, mouthfeel, and ritual of a craft cocktail — without leaning on alcohol as a shortcut.
The signal: named drinks on a published menu, fresh-pressed juices, house-made shrubs or syrups, bitters and tinctures for complexity, and increasingly an NA-spirits section (Lyre's, Seedlip, Ritual, Wilderton, and others) used the same way a cocktail bar uses gin or whiskey. The opposite: an off-menu "we can make something" with no specific drinks, defaulting to soda, juice, or sparkling water.
That distinction is why we rank venues by mocktail menu depth and NA Program Strength rather than treating every "mocktail option" as equal. A bar that lists three named NA cocktails on its printed menu is doing the work; a bar that says "we can probably do something" is not.
Frequently asked about mocktails in Kailua-Kona
1 venues in Kailua-Kona serve named non-alcoholic cocktails on their menu. Top picks include Kanaka Kava.
Looking at the whole Kailua-Kona scene?
See every verified NA-friendly venue we list — including bottle shops, restaurants, and bars without printed mocktail menus.
Browse all Kailua-Kona venues →New venues in your area
Tell us where you are and we'll email you when we add or verify a great non-alcoholic spot near you. About one short email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.