More and more diners are looking for alcohol-free craft beverages beyond soda and lemonade while dining out.“When you see a little corner section of the menu for mocktails, it’s just not at the forefront,” Williams previously told Restaurant Business. So instead, Williams created a menu equal to the booze menu to drive interest—as well as sales—among the alcohol-free crowd.
Punch Bowl Social offers its guests not one, but two beverage menus when they sit down—one the traditional alcohol list and the other a boozeless menu divided into four sections: From The Juicer; Boozeless Craft Beverages ; Sodas, Fizzes & Fresh ‘Ades; and Soda Jerk. “It shows we take it seriously. … It lets our guests know that it’s not an afterthought and a ton of work went into it,” he said. Operationally, it doesn’t hurt either. Drinks are priced from $5 to $7, adding a boost to check averages.
This cocktail approach to the boozeless menu means there can be a lot for guests to digest when they sit down, so Punch Bowl Social trains servers to present both menus and give a preview of the boozeless one to gauge interest.