Bar + Cart

Bar + Cart opened in the former Khyber Pass Cafe space on Grand Avenue in St. Paul's Macalester-Groveland neighbourhood, a partnership between longtime collaborators Ralena Young and Brian Riess. Young is an accomplished Twin Cities beverage director, and her presence explains why the drinks here run deeper than the elevated-comfort food menu — Coney Island dogs at one end, fresh oysters at the other — would lead you to expect.

The zero-proof list is the reason it belongs high on any Twin Cities list. The Free Spirit menu currently runs six house non-alcoholic cocktails deliberately spread across the flavour spectrum rather than clustered at the sweet end, which is the single most common failing of a spirit-free list. White Fox is the technical showpiece, combining coconut water and orange blossom water with banana, egg white, lemon and cherry-bark vanilla — egg white doing the structural work that alcohol otherwise provides. Up In Smoke goes the opposite direction entirely: coconut water, grapefruit, jalapeño, basil, lime and smoked salt, a savoury and genuinely spicy drink. Between them sit Hibiscus Punch, built on hibiscus flowers with winter spices and citrus peel; Fruit of the Desert, which leans on grapefruit, lime, agave and Jarritos grapefruit soda; Devil in the Garden, using acid-adjusted Concord grape with lavender, lemon and pomegranate; and Lucky Me, a coconut, pandan and lime build. Bottled St. Agrestis Phony Negronis are stocked in both the classic and mezcal styles for anyone wanting the bitter register.

Axios Twin Cities named it the most expansive non-alcoholic list in the metro in its January 2026 Dry January round-up, describing "a cozy Grand Avenue bar/restaurant" with "the most expansive list of nonalcoholic options... ranging from smoky to sweet." Six house builds across smoke, spice, floral, sour and tropical is a complete bar programme by any measure. Open Monday through Saturday, to midnight at the weekend, closed Sundays.