Krave (Seaboard Station)

Krave is Raleigh's dedicated alcohol-free bar, and since Umbrella Dry Bar closed it is the only one in the city. It trades on North Person Street a short walk from Seaboard Station, and it keeps proper bar hours — midnight Sunday through Thursday, one in the morning on Friday and Saturday — which is what separates a real alcohol-free venue from a coffee shop that shuts at six.

The bar serves kava, and it is worth saying clearly what that means. Kava is a root traditionally prepared in the South Pacific, ground and steeped and served in a shell, and it produces a mild, calming, sociable effect. It contains no alcohol whatsoever. It is nonetheless psychoactive in its own right, and anyone on medication, pregnant, or managing liver health should check with a doctor before drinking it. For people avoiding alcohol it is a genuine substitute for the ritual of a drink in hand; for people avoiding everything, the Triangle's zero-proof cocktail lists are the better route.

Alongside the kava, Krave pours an extensive tea programme — ancient and exotic roots and teas, as the bar puts it — and the room is built for lingering: dim light, ambient and world-lounge music, a deep seating area at the back. It is the sort of place where a group can sit for three hours without anyone ordering a second round of anything, which is precisely the experience the Triangle otherwise lacks. Note that Krave's sister room in Carrboro is a separate venue with its own listing; the Greensboro site is a different business outside this metro.