The Local Taphouse

Heavily influenced by the European taverns of the 1930s, The Local Taphouse has been a beer-lover's landmark on Carlisle Street in St Kilda East for years, a two-time winner of Time Out's People's Choice Best Pub in Melbourne. The two-storey room pairs a ground-floor bar of dark wooden floors, leather couches and low green lamps with an upstairs dining area and a rooftop courtyard, giving it the feel of an old English reading room reimagined as a taphouse. It's overseen by manager Justin Joiner, with a food menu from head chef Richard Smith.

The draw has always been craft beer, and that ethos extends to drinkers skipping alcohol. As Broadsheet's guide to Melbourne's best non-alcoholic bars puts it, this is a boozer that is "all about craft beer - even the non-alc variety," so you can still cool off with a few suds, including pours from Heaps Normal and Melbourne's own Hop Nation, plus the occasional European alcohol-free import.

The NA offering is a genuine craft selection rather than a printed zero-proof cocktail menu - it sits within the same beer-forward program the venue is known for, making it a comfortable landing spot for a non-drinker who still wants something interesting in the glass, especially on the weekly curry nights. The kitchen and generous opening hours (from noon daily) round out a neighbourhood tavern that treats alcohol-free beer with the same seriousness as the rest of its list.