The Stockpot

The Stockpot sits on East Plume Street in downtown Norfolk and works as a cafe and all-day eatery rather than a bar. Its non-alcoholic list runs to four named drinks: refreshers in pineapple mango and blood orange coconut ginger, a lavender basil lemonade, and a cranberry limeade spritzer.

Four named options is a real menu, and the compositions are more considered than the format suggests — blood orange with coconut and ginger is a genuinely interesting combination, bringing warmth and body to something that could easily have been a fruit juice. Lavender with basil does the same job from the herbal side.

But the reason The Stockpot earns its place in a Hampton Roads guide is the clock. Look at the rest of the region's good alcohol-free drinking: Only You opens at 5pm and is closed three days a week, Gershwin's opens at 5pm, Press 626 shuts on Sunday and Monday, Ceremony closes at 7pm. Almost all of it is evening trade. Someone who is not drinking often wants the opposite — a morning meeting, an afternoon between things, a place to sit at eleven on a Saturday — and that entire window is thinly served across the region.

The Stockpot opens at 7am on weekdays and 8am at weekends, and stays open to 9pm on Wednesdays. It is not a night out, and the grade reflects a modest programme honestly, but it is one of the few places in downtown Norfolk where a considered non-alcoholic drink is available during the hours most people are actually awake and out. The schedule varies by day more than most, so it is worth checking before making a trip for a late afternoon. The downtown location puts it within walking distance of Freemason Abbey and the waterfront, so it slots easily into a day spent on foot.