Polly Bar

Polly opened on Brunswick Street over 25 years ago and is reputed to be the oldest still-surviving cocktail bar in Melbourne — one of the city's first. The room takes its cues from 1920s Paris boudoirs: plush velvety interiors, low lighting, and an atrium out back. The bar team carries decades of combined cocktail experience, and the drinks list runs to more than 20 craft cocktails alongside absinthe, whisky and spirits tastings.

The non-alcoholic program sits as its own printed section on the menu, below the cocktail list. Polly describes its mocktails as "expertly created, with the same attention to flavours that goes into all our cocktail creations," ranging from bright and fresh to creamy and indulgent. The four named house builds are Summer In Fitzroy, Teas Me, Sassy Lassie and Milk Bar — a proper zero-proof list rather than a single token option, which is what makes Polly worth a non-drinker's visit.

Beyond the standing menu, the bartenders will also mix mocktails to taste, and the venue runs cocktail classes, whisky and absinthe tastings, and a high tea with a twist. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 5pm (2pm Saturdays), it's a late-night Fitzroy institution that treats the alcohol-free crowd as more than a compromise.