Andros Taverna

Andros Taverna is the Greek restaurant chef Doug Psaltis opened on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square, and it cooks the way a taverna does - over fire, in volume, with mezze to start and slow-roasted lamb as the centrepiece. Resy singled the room out in its 2022 guide to Chicago's non-alcoholic cocktails, noting that guests who were not up for a night of ouzo had alcohol-free drinks built on Seedlip's distilled non-alcoholic spirits waiting for them. In the years since, the section has grown: what Resy described as two drinks is now a four-strong Zero Proof heading on the printed menu.

The current list prices every zero-proof drink at $14, immediately below the $17 stirred-and-boozy cocktails and level with the low-ABV spritzes, which is the clearest signal a restaurant can send that the non-alcoholic list is not a consolation. The Root and Bloom is the house build, combining Seedlip Grove with tonic and lime for a citrus-forward drink that stands up to charred meat and lemon. The NA 75 pairs passionfruit with Roots non-alcoholic vermouth in a riff on the French 75. Alongside those the bar pours a Ghia Spritz labeled Lime and Salt and a St Agrestis Phony Negroni straight from the bottle, and stocks Grüvi's Golden Lager at $10 for anyone who simply wants a beer with the grill. The restaurant is open from 11am seven days a week and runs to 11pm on Friday and Saturday, with weekend service starting at 9am, so the zero-proof list is available across lunch, dinner and late-evening drinking alike. The rest of the list runs to raki, ouzo and Greek spritzes on one side and Pipeworks pilsner, an IPA and a lemon-and-thyme witbier on the other, so a mixed table has range in both directions without anyone ordering off-format. The room itself is built for sharing - spreads, mezze and a wood-fired grill sent out in waves - which is the setting in which a properly made zero-proof drink does the most work, because everyone is ordering in the same rhythm rather than one person nursing a soft drink through four courses.