The Tatarian

The Tatarian opened at 4024 Tennyson Street in 2018 as, in 303 Magazine's phrase at the time, Berkeley's newest bar, and took its name and its whole design language from the Tatarian maples planted along the street outside. The tree theme runs through the cocktail list, where drinks are named for trees and, in some cases, for the people who defended them. That is how the bar's flagship non-alcoholic drink got its name: Luna is named after the thousand-year-old California redwood that the activist Julia Butterfly Hill occupied for more than two years to prevent it being logged.

Luna is listed on the menu under a plain "NON-ALCOHOLIC" heading at $14 — the same price band as the bar's full-proof cocktails — and it is a properly constructed drink rather than a sweetened juice: skullcap tea, lemon, basil, green pepper, blueberry, balsamic vinegar and egg white, which gives it acidity, a savoury edge and texture. The more distinctive part of the offer is the back bar. Rather than keeping one non-alcoholic spirit for emergencies, The Tatarian stocks several and sells them by the glass, so a guest can order a non-alcoholic pour the way anyone else orders a spirit: CleanCo Tequila Blanco at $12, Lyre's London Spirit at $11 and Seedlip Garden 108 at $12 are all on the list, which also allows the bartenders to build alcohol-free variations of the standing cocktails on request. That is what 303 Magazine's Dorothy Lopez described in the magazine's August 2025 sober-summer guide, recommending "a refreshing variation of the Oyamel with NA tequila or the Luna, a light, citrusy and summer forward mocktail option", and calling the bar "a neighborhood haunt that is sure to become your next favorite go-to". Non-alcoholic beer is covered by Partake IPA at $8, and there is Mineragua sparkling water and bottled Coca-Cola for anyone who wants neither. The bar opens at 4pm on weekdays and 2pm at weekends.