Freemason Abbey Restaurant

Freemason Abbey is set inside a church built in 1873, in the historic Freemason district a few blocks from Norfolk's waterfront. The conversion kept the height, the arched windows and the timber, and the result is one of the most distinctive dining rooms in Hampton Roads — the sort of place locals take visiting relatives and book for anniversaries.

That context is the whole argument for its inclusion. A restaurant like this hosts occasions, and occasions are precisely when the non-drinking problem becomes socially visible: a table of ten raising glasses, one person holding a soda. Having a named drink on the list — here the Sparkly Blue Pearl, which Visit Norfolk picks out among the city's mocktails — means the person not drinking gets handed something that looks like it belongs in the toast rather than something that announces their abstinence to the table.

One named drink is a modest programme and the grade says so honestly. This is not a destination for the drink itself, and anyone who wants a genuinely composed zero-proof cocktail should be at Only You or Gershwin's instead. What Freemason Abbey offers is a beautiful room where being the non-drinker is uncomplicated, which for a particular kind of evening is the more useful thing.

The hours help too: 11am to 9pm Monday through Saturday and from 10am on Sunday, so it covers lunch, Sunday brunch and dinner rather than being an evening-only proposition. It is an easy walk from the Chrysler Museum and the waterfront, which makes it a natural anchor for an afternoon in downtown Norfolk. Book ahead at weekends; the room fills with exactly the occasion crowd described above.