Bar Palmina: Inside Look at Fishtown's Newest No-Alcohol Bar

One of the hottest new cocktail spots to hit the Fishtown neighborhood serves cocktails with no alcohol at all. Bar Palmina at the corner of Front and W. Thompson is the neighborhood's first N/A bar. Owner Nikki Graziano says it's something sorely lacking in Philadelphia. She wanted a place that felt like a real bar where sober people could hang out. She wanted drinks that actually taste like real drinks and the bar to feel like a real bar. She put up a projection screen to watch the games. Even the drink menu lists drink ingredients as bourbon, gin, and mezcal instead of their actual n/a liquor substitutes.

Yuzu Negroni: gin, bitter lemon, dry vermouth, yuzu, shiso

The concept has been well received. Graziano says "the biggest thing that I've seen just in the week that we've been open is watching sober people bloom where they don't have to worry about a very limited menu or even tasting other people's drinks. Everything in this place is non-alcoholic. You can try your friend's drinks and not have to worry about it. So I would say if you have any sober friends it’s a very nice place to take them."

Owner Nikki Graziano stirs a n/a cocktail

Graziano isn't shy about talking about her own sobriety. At the age of 33 she wound up in the ICU with severe liver failure from alcohol and had to undergo a liver transplant. Since then she's been alcohol free. After a year of sobriety she wanted somewhere to go that had good N/A drinks up to her standards.

D'Argento: rice-washed white tea, cucumber, juniper, yuzu

Feeling an untapped market, she decided to create Bar Palmina, named after her Italian immigrant Grandmother Palmina, who taught her how to cook and tinker in the kitchen. Nostalgic photos and nods to her grandmother are sprinkled throughout the room, such as a dish full of the candy Palmina used to give her as a child. The bar and space is completely DIY. Graziano's partner, Tom Reynolds, a design manager for Urban Outfitters, built the bar from the ground up.

The Lifesaver: lemongrass infused vodka, ginger, coconut

Graziano encourages anyone looking to get sober:
"If it's bad, seek medical help. I don't think there's any shame in it. There's people all over the spectrum who have problems with drinking. It's an addictive chemical. You're chemically addicted to it, so there's not anything wrong with your personality or something. I thought when I stopped drinking I wouldn't be tough. Like, I couldn't keep up with the guys anymore, but that was also delusional. I thought everybody drinks, they already love a fun drunk. Now that I stopped drinking I see a lot of people are sober. Not everyone's drunk all the time. I had a problem."

Rossa Speziato: mezcal, grapefruit, pepper, foamer

The drink menu consists of an assortment of 22 signature and classic recipe n/a cocktails, 11 n/a wines or proxies (products made to mimic wine), 7 n/a beers, and several other juice and soda options. Every ingredient, including bitters, is completely alcohol-free, and everything that isn't an alcohol substitute are housemade or infused from scratch. They don't currently serve food but plans are in the works for zoning for food trucks right in front of the building to feature a rotating selection of food.

Limonhattan: bourbon, bitter lemon, sweet vermouth, bitters

You can catch Major League Soccer and Premier League games live at Bar Palmina during normal operation hours. But this is a Sounders bar, so their games get priority.
 

Bar Palmina: 1306 N. Front St. Philadelphia, PA 19122, (833) 521-3945
Hours:
Monday Closed
Tuesday - Thursday 2 PM - 10 PM
Friday - Saturday 2 PM - 11 PM
Sunday 11 AM - 3 PM

Photos by Drink Philly