Kaya (Pittsburgh)

Kaya has been on Smallman Street in the Strip District since the mid-1990s, which makes it one of the longest-running restaurants in big Burrito Restaurant Group and one of the few places in Pittsburgh cooking Caribbean and South American food with any seriousness. Marla Beamon became the first woman promoted to executive chef in a big Burrito kitchen when she took it over in 1997. The food is bright and generous — tropical guacamole and queso chorizo fundito at $12, conch fritters at $16, jerk wings at $16, corn and lentil beignets at $14, a tropical paella at $27, jerked half chicken at $27, adobo-marinated flank steak at $32. It opens for lunch and runs late, to 10pm most nights and 11pm on Friday and Saturday, with brunch at weekends.

The zero-proof drinks have their own printed section, headed Zero-Proof Cocktails, and they are all $12 — the same price as most of the room's alcoholic cocktails, which is the tell that they are made rather than mixed. NEXTpittsburgh's summary is accurate: with warm flavours from the Caribbean islands, South America and beyond, Kaya also gives diners zero-proof cocktails to accompany their dishes, and they are built on Seedlip. The Blood Orange Hibiscus Cosmo-Not uses Seedlip Grove with blood orange purée, hibiscus syrup and lime; the No-Jito uses Seedlip Garden with fresh mint, lime and simple syrup. An N/A Margarita on Ritual's tequila alternative and a Honey Hibiscus Spritz on Azzenta sparkling chardonnay round it out, and the margarita and the No-Jito can both be flavoured — blood orange, guava, mango, pineapple or strawberry — which is the closest thing to a build-your-own zero-proof drink on any list in the city. Below that sits a Non-Alcoholic Refreshers section with a Fruit Cocktail Mocktail at $10 and house Kaya Juice at $8 a glass or $22 for a carafe, a carafe being the useful option at a table where you are the only one not drinking. One correction worth noting: a Piña No-Lada appears in older coverage but is not on the current menu.