Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Bars in Kailua-Kona, HI
Craft cocktail bars and lounges in Kailua-Kona that take their non-alcoholic program seriously. 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 cocktail-style venues listed
Craft cocktail bars with NA programs
- ★★★★★?
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)
- ★★★★★?
Around the Kava Bowl is a fully alcohol-free kava bar in Captain Cook, twelve miles up the hill from Kailua-Kona, serving fresh Hawaiian and Pacific kava since 2019. It operates from the back of the Hoʻo Hui wellness centre — the old Captain Cook courthouse building on Mamalahoa Highway, across from the NAPA auto parts store — and trades on being the cooler, quieter alternative when the Kona coast is too hot. Its own stated purpose is to create and nurture ʻohana through community, culture and oneness around the kava bowl. Posted hours are not reliably published, so call ahead. Kava contains no alcohol but is psychoactive and mildly sedating.
What separates a good NA cocktail bar from the rest?
A great non-alcoholic cocktail bar isn't defined by whether it stocks Seedlip on the shelf. It's defined by whether the bartenders treat alcohol-free drinks as cocktails — built with the same logic, the same balance, the same care for mouthfeel and presentation as the alcoholic side of the menu.
The signal: a printed NA section on the menu with named drinks, an NA-spirits row on the back bar (Lyre's, Seedlip, Wilderton, Ritual, sometimes Monday Zero Alcohol Gin or Wilderton Lustre), house-made shrubs and bitters available for NA builds, and staff who can talk through what's in a drink without defaulting to "we can do something with juice."
The opposite: a generic "mocktail" line item priced at $8 with no description, or worse, a Shirley Temple by default. We rank cocktail-style venues here by NA Program Strength and lead with the venues that have published named NA drinks on their menu.
Frequently asked about NA cocktail bars in Kailua-Kona
2 cocktail-style bars in Kailua-Kona run non-alcoholic programs we've verified. Top picks include Kanaka Kava, Around the Kava Bowl.
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