Bartenders raise a glass to booze-free drinks

On the beverage menu at Tacolicious, a hot new Mexican spot in the Marina, there's a section devoted specifically to "Drivers, Kids and Recovering Bartenders."

They're not the only ones who would appreciate the drinks that fall into the category - they're all nonalcoholic - but no matter the audience, the message is clear: These are the libations you can throw back without worry.

Whether it's because of a restaurant's style of food or the lack of a liquor license, more Bay Area restaurants are investing time and energy in creating unusual liquor-free drinks to serve their patrons.

At Hibiscus in Oakland, executive chef Sarah Kirnon features a cooler made from sorrel - the term for a species of hibiscus popular in Jamaica - seasoned with mace, cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf and habanero powder to show off its Caribbean roots. Gather in Berkeley offers pomegranate kombucha on tap and house-made ginger beer. And at Starbelly in San Francisco's Castro district, patrons can get lavender honey lemonade.

"You can go into grocery stores and buy every type of drink - like juice, tea and smoothies," says Deborah Blum, Starbelly co-owner. "We thought, 'Well, why can't you go into a restaurant and get something that's juice based but a little lighter, because you're going to be eating, too?' "

For Blum, bulking up the virgin drink menu at Starbelly was a direct response to the restaurant's decision to stick with a beer-and-wine license.

"I've lived in the Castro for 10 years," says Blum, "so I see the difference between restaurants and bars here. When you offer full liquor, it's a different animal and you get more of a pick-up scene. We really just wanted Starbelly to be a restaurant."

Blum and her partners brought in Lane Ford, who created the much-hyped cocktail menu at Starbelly's sister restaurant, Beretta, to create a nonalcoholic list that would match the seasonally changing menu.

Selections can include a strawberry cooler - the fruit diluted with a little soda - or a ginger lime rickey, made with fresh ginger, lime, soda water and a little sweetener like honey or agave syrup.

More savory selections include tea-based drinks such as jasmine green tea with lemon and sage, or Darjeeling, basil and lime, with a frothed egg white for extra body.

"We're offering something different to people who would normally just get iced tea or water," Blum says.

The liquor license has just kicked in at Nopalito in San Francisco, but until now those craving something fruity were encouraged to select from the Mexican restaurant's nonalcoholic offerings - created, says co-owner Laurence Jossel, "in lieu of those big tubs of agua fresca where you can get melon in January and strawberry in September."

Nopalito offers house-made hibiscus-valencia orange juice, bergamot-mint lemonade and grapefruit piloncillo - a refreshing citrus drink made with cooked Mexican sugar - along with horchata made with local brown rice and organic almonds from Lagier Ranches.

"A lot of people are put off at first that we don't have Coke and Sprite," says Nopalito beverage manager Yasuaki Saito, "but it's all built into the way the restaurant functions."

Everything at Nopalito is made from scratch from organic, artisanal products. "We thought, 'Why not take away bottled beverages and agua fresca dispensers and do our own thing?' It's not just an afterthought, but really high-quality stuff."

Tacolicious co-owner Joe Hargrave points out that bold, fruity drinks are a natural partner to Mexican fare.

"I can't think of a culture where drinks matter as much," he says. "The Mexican table is not complete without generally colorful, bright seasonal drinks."

Hargrave's menu does boast a version of agua fresca - right now it's strawberry ginger - but it's supplemented with other virgin beverages such as Mia, made with cranberry and orange juices and fruit salsa; Silas, made of lemon, lime and mint; and Moss, a sparkling lemonade with passion fruit and pineapple.

The drinks are named after his wife's three children.

"We have the restaurant cocktail culture ingrained in us," Hargrave says, "and as the kids are growing up, we wanted them to be able to get involved with it, too."

The kids may have been the motivation, but if the rainbow of fruity beverages scattered on tables throughout the restaurant is any indication, diners are more willing than ever to experiment with booze-free pairings - even if they're not under 21, driving or recovering bartenders.

For more information about the places mentioned in this story, go to sfgate.com/restaurants.

Inside: The Inside Scoop, plus restaurant reviews E2

Sunday: More on drinks: Our annual picks for the Bay Area's Bar Stars Food & Wine

E-mail Amanda Gold at agold@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle