Kava Kasa

Kava Kasa occupies a storefront at 962 Cherry Street SE in the East Hills neighbourhood, and is the longest-running kava bar in Grand Rapids — earlier local coverage described it as the first in Michigan, and the bar now describes itself as the only one in the state. Founder Riccardo Schinina came to kava after tearing a tendon in his right arm, and built the business around introducing it to a city that had no reference point for it. The kava is sourced from Vanuatu. The ordering system is explained on the menu for newcomers: choose a kava first — everyday, premium, rare, or extract — then choose a "mana", which is the house term for the sweetener, flavour, milk, soda or add-on that goes with it. The result arrives in a shell with a spoon, and the house instruction is to lift the shell, say "Bula!", and drink it quickly. Sediment at the bottom is ground kava root, which is where the kavalactones are, so sippers are told to stir as they go.

The honest framing matters here more than at most venues in this guide. Kava contains no alcohol and Kava Kasa serves none, which is why it registers as a fully alcohol-free room. But kava is a psychoactive plant, taken for a relaxing and mildly euphoric effect, and it is not a neutral substitute in the way a zero-proof spritz is — some people in recovery avoid it deliberately, and it is stocked here as the main event rather than as a curiosity. Beyond kava the bar functions as a tea house and coffee house, and there is a pizza menu, so it is possible to spend an evening there without drinking kava at all. The hours are the other distinguishing feature: 10am to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 10am to 2am on Friday and Saturday, which makes it one of the very few places in Grand Rapids where somebody who does not drink can still be out at closing time. A kava happy hour runs Sunday mornings from 10am to noon with 20 percent off selected items.