Bakaris Pizza & Kava Lounge

Bakaris Pizza & Kava Lounge has operated at 576 Lee Street SW in the historic West End since 2013, which by the standards of this category makes it an institution — the venue describes itself as twelve years strong, and it long predates the wave of alcohol-free bars that opened in Atlanta after 2022. The pairing is unusual and entirely deliberate: a pork-free halal and plant-based pizzeria with an alcohol-free kava bar attached.

The kitchen turns out halal turkey pepperoni and turkey bacon pizzas alongside build-your-own vegan options with plant-based cheese. That combination serves two groups at once — Muslim diners for whom both pork and alcohol are off the table, and a plant-based crowd — and it is the reason the room has the mix it does. It is one of the few places in the city where abstaining from alcohol is the unremarkable default rather than a request the staff have to accommodate.

The bar is entirely zero-proof and built on kava, the South Pacific root traditionally prepared as a relaxant. Bakaris serves traditional ceremonial kava, instant kava shots, tropical kava blends in the kavarita style, and wellness-oriented preparations it describes as being for calm and focus. Ceremonial and instant kava packs are sold to take away. The lounge runs late, and functions as a community and gathering space for Southwest Atlanta as much as a restaurant.

The venue's own FAQ makes the central point plainly, and it is the right one: kava is not alcohol. It is a plant-based beverage with a long traditional history. But it is psychoactive — a mild sedative — and that is worth stating for the same reason. It should not be combined with alcohol or with sedating medication, it can impair driving by slowing reflexes, and heavy or prolonged use has been associated with liver concerns. Unlike several kava bars in the city, Bakaris makes no mention of serving kratom, which is a genuinely different and more contested substance. If that distinction matters to you, it is worth confirming at the counter.

The practical case for it is the food. Most kava bars serve drinks and little else, which caps an evening at an hour or two before someone suggests moving on to a restaurant — and the restaurant usually has a bar. Being able to eat a full meal and stay put is what makes a venue like this work as a whole evening rather than a stop, and it is the reason the West End has kept it going for more than a decade.