Basan

Basan opened in November 2022 in Detroit's historic Eddystone building on Park Avenue, part of a wave of restaurants that filled out The District Detroit around Little Caesars Arena. It's from the Four Man Ladder group — the team behind Brush Park's Grey Ghost and its downstairs bar Second Best — with Chef Eric Lees running a robata-grill-centered menu of Asian and eclectic global small plates. The name references Basan, a mythical fire-breathing rooster, a nod to the live-fire cooking at the restaurant's center.

The "No ABV" category sits on the drink menu as its own section, distinct from Basan's shochu- and sake-driven cocktail list, and it has rotated seasonally rather than staying static: earlier lineups ran drinks like Vanishing Act (oolong iced tea, chrysanthemum, honey, orange blossom) and Holy Shishito (peach, shishito, grapefruit, togarashi); the current menu runs Rise & Shine, Not This Time, My Neighbor Totoro and Our Little Secret. Across versions, the alcohol-free drinks use the same pantry as the cocktail program — togarashi, ube, buckwheat honey, coconut, calpico-style fruit — rather than a separate, simplified syrup-and-juice track. Sapporo NA, a 0.0% Japanese lager, is also on the menu for guests who want a beer instead of a mixed drink.

Basan sits directly across Sproat Street from Little Caesars Arena, pulling a mix of pre- and post-event diners along with its regular dinner crowd. Eater Detroit included the restaurant on its roundup of the best nonalcoholic cocktails in metro Detroit, and Basan has kept the four-drink no-ABV lineup as a fixture of the menu rather than a one-off addition.