ROAM by San Chez

ROAM by San Chez occupies 250 Monroe Avenue NW in downtown Grand Rapids and carries the name of San Chez Bistro, the tapas restaurant that has been a fixture of the city's dining scene for decades. The format is more casual and more all-day than its parent, and the drink list reflects that: rather than a short cocktail card, ROAM publishes a wide non-alcoholic range designed to cover a guest from a morning coffee through to an evening meal without ever handing them a soft drink by default. Experience Grand Rapids singles the restaurant out for exactly this, noting that it offers an extensive N/A drink menu that includes warm and cozy favourites like hot teas and house drip coffees.

The non-alcoholic list works in three registers. The first is hot and simple: house drip coffees and a tea selection, which makes the room usable in daylight. The second is the house soda program — horchata, and Italian cream sodas made in house in flavours that rotate, which are the drinks most likely to satisfy a guest who wants something sweet and cold without pretending to be a cocktail. The third is composed zero-proof mixing, best represented by the Rosemary-Elderflower Spritzer, which layers a herbal syrup with lemon, soda and butterfly pea tea; the tea is the interesting part, since it shifts colour with acidity and gives the drink the visual event that a spirit-free build otherwise lacks. Speaking to Grand Rapids Magazine, the restaurant said it was glad to see the city offering more alcohol-free options, to be more inclusive — a framing that puts the program in the context of who gets to feel comfortable at a table rather than in the context of a trend. Its downtown position, a short walk from the Amway Grand and from Max's, makes it a practical first stop on an alcohol-free evening in the centre of the city.