Bar None

Bar None launched on 28 February 2026 in the West Loop, an evening concept from Heritage Hospitality Group that transforms Froth — their daytime coffee cafe in the lobby of The Duncan at 1515 W Monroe Street — into a bar from 5pm to 11pm, Friday through Sunday. Founder Michael Salvatore framed the idea in terms worth quoting: we're not removing something from nightlife, he told Time Out Chicago at launch, we're building something entirely new. The drinks are run by beverage director Luke Nevin-Gattle, whose background is in full-proof rooms including Bunker and Larry's, and the cocktails show it. All five are $13 and built on genuine non-alcoholic spirits rather than juice: a Phony Negroni poured from St. Agrestis, an espresso martini combining Ritual's rum alternative with The Pathfinder, espresso and demerara, Good Vibrations with Ritual gin alternative, Giffard elderflower, pineapple, lime and coconut, a spicy margarita using Ritual agave alternative with Lyre's Italian Orange, jalapeño-agave and Tajín, and a Gold Rush built on Ritual whiskey alternative with aperitif, orange bitters, lemon and honey. Behind them sits one of the deepest packaged ranges in the city at these prices — nine non-alcoholic beers and ciders at $6, including Guinness 0, Athletic's Cerveza Atlética, Best Day Kölsch, Untitled Art Orange Peel Wit and an Original Sin blackberry cider, plus Leitz Eins Zwei Zero sparkling rosé, white and red at $9.

One thing needs stating plainly, because the venue's own branding leads with it and a reader in recovery should not discover it on arrival: Bar None describes itself as a THC-integrated sober lounge, not simply an alcohol-free one. Any cocktail on the list can be upgraded for $4 with a 2.5mg THC microdose, and the bar sells 5mg THC seltzers at $9 as a separate line. None of that touches the cocktails themselves, which contain no alcohol and no THC unless you ask — so the room works perfectly well as a straightforwardly alcohol-free bar, and the drinks list is strong enough to be worth the trip on its own. But it is built around cannabis as a social substitute rather than around abstinence, which suits some people avoiding alcohol and is exactly wrong for others.