The Rise of Non Alcoholic Bar Drinks: How One NYC Bar Approaches NA

Oddball, a new cocktail bar in Alphabet City, Manhattan, has already gained recognition for its non-alcoholic offerings alongside its standout alcoholic menu. The bar opened in November 2025 and is already booked most nights on Resy (though they still welcome walk-ins)! 

Across the country, and especially in New York City, more bars are including an NA section on their cocktail menus. But very few bars treat non alcoholic bar drinks with the same seriousness as their cocktail programs.

Oddball is one of them.

Toast sat down with beverage director and longtime NYC bar veteran, Logan Rodriguez, to discuss how he approaches the cocktail menu at Oddball, and specifically, how he built a non-alcoholic program that stands on equal footing with the rest of the list.

Oddball, bringing out-there flavors down to earth

Led by Rodriguez (ILIS, Smithereens), alongside partners LaTeisha Moore and Philip Reichenberger, Oddball’s debut menu, Odd Couples, plays with high-contrast ingredients brought into unexpected harmony. Before diving into non alcoholic bar drinks, it’s important to understand how Oddball approaches cocktails as a whole.

From day one, the team made a conscious decision not to overextend. In a city where some menus stretch dozens of drinks deep, Oddball’s debut list is intentionally focused. The goal isn’t volume as much as it is clarity.

“I believe that really focusing your energy into a small number of cocktails that have a strong conceptual distinction is way more important,” Rodriguez says. “Choice paralysis is real, and I see it happen.” For him, a cocktail menu should feel curated, not crowded. Each drink needs a reason to exist. Each one should have a distinct personality and point of view.

Rather than overwhelm guests with an encyclopedic list, Oddball keeps things tight and intentional. “On the drink side, it’s really better to feel like everything has its own color, its own approach, its own identity. And biting off more than you can chew is very, very real. We were adamant that we’re like, let’s just take it one step at a time.”

PC: Jeff Brown

That philosophy does two things. First, it keeps the creative vision sharp. Second, it ensures the team can execute every drink at a consistently high level. And crucially, that same discipline applies to their non alcoholic bar drinks.

At Oddball, NA isn’t a secondary list tacked onto the bottom of the menu. It’s built with the same conceptual clarity, the same technical rigor, and the same commitment to balance. By limiting the menu and sharpening its focus, the team creates space to give zero-proof drinks the attention they deserve.

For bars looking to elevate their own NA offerings, that’s the first lesson: treat them like cocktails from the very beginning.

The challenge of non alcoholic bar drinks

Designing a great NA cocktail is more complicated than simply removing the spirit. “Alcohol has this bracing nature,” Rodriguez explains. “You get used to it, and it is really unpleasant for people initially, a lot of the time. And when you're doing an NA, it's a little hard to counterbalance the sweetness and the acidity with something that has a similar nature.”

That sharpness is what makes a cocktail feel complete. Without alcohol, drinks can easily become too sweet or flat.

Rodruigez acknowledges that non alcoholic spirits have come a long way in recent years. He notes that some are genuinely complex and thoughtfully made, and they’re only getting better. Oddball sometimes uses certain zero-proof products when they add value. But Rodriguez and his team don’t rely solely on bottled replacements to create structure.

Instead, they build sharpness through technique:

• Layered acids

• Lacto-fermented ingredients

• Tea infusions

• Bitter syrups

• Salinity from whey or brine

These components create the tension that alcohol normally provides. Rather than trying to mimic gin or tequila directly, the bar often recreates balanced bitterness. 

At Oddball, non alcoholic bar drinks are built from the ground up to stand on their own, not as substitutes, but as fully realized cocktails without alcohol.

Acknowledging non alcoholic bar drinks as part of hospitality

For Rodriguez, the NA program isn’t just about flavor. It’s about respect. At Oddball, the team understands that zero-proof cocktails may not represent the largest share of sales. That doesn’t make them less important. If anything, it raises the stakes.

Rodriguez sees non alcoholic bar drinks as an extension of hospitality itself. They’re a reflection of how seriously a bar takes every guest who walks through the door.

That philosophy shapes how Oddball trains staff and designs its menu. Guests who don’t drink, whether for health, allergy-related, or personal reasons, shouldn’t feel like an afterthought or an inconvenience. They should feel included.

“When people have restrictions, whether it’s alcohol-related or allergy-related, it’s really important to make them feel understood or seen or cared for. At the end of the day, it’s just drinks. It’s just a bar. But in the grand sense, it’s reflective of how you approach everything in the world.”

At Oddball, accommodating NA guests is seen as a creative opportunity; a challenge to build something complex and satisfying without relying on alcohol. And when that challenge is met successfully, it becomes a rewarding part of service.

Pricing non alcoholic bar drinks

Pricing non alcoholic cocktails can be tricky. On one hand, zero-proof cocktails often require just as much labor as alcoholic ones. Some NA spirits cost nearly as much as traditional spirits. Ferments, specialty syrups, and acid blends require prep time and skill. From a cost perspective, charging the same price can sometimes make sense.

But Rodriguez wrestled with that approach. “I’ve seen places that charge the same amount,” he says. “Part of me just never really is okay with that.” He understands the economics, especially in New York. “Once you really get into it, you’re like, okay, I see. If we made X amount more, we’d be in a better position. There’s no shame in that.” 

Still, guest psychology matters. “If you’re somebody who doesn’t drink, you may not necessarily be used to spending the money that is now the norm for cocktail pricing. It’s pretty brutal.”

At Oddball, alcoholic cocktails sit at $18. The NA cocktails are priced a few dollars lower, intentionally. Rodriguez recognizes that alcohol naturally drives repeat ordering in a way non alcoholic drinks often don’t.

“Drinking alcohol naturally has this emotion to it, where people continue. For NAs, I don’t know if it’s as normal to have multiple non-cocktails unless you’re purely curious. A lot of people are just here to be with their friends.” The solution is to strike a balance. Price them accessibly enough that guests feel encouraged to explore more than one, while still respecting the labor and ingredient cost behind them.

For bars looking to improve their non alcoholic programs, pricing isn’t just about margins. It’s about understanding behavior and designing your menu accordingly.

Training staff to care about NA

Oddball’s culture plays a role in the success of its non alcoholic bar drinks. Rather than treat NA as secondary, the team approaches it as part of core service. Many staff members participate in Dry January or moderate their drinking themselves, which fosters empathy.

Rodriguez emphasizes that guests should never feel isolated. “To feel like you’re not isolated as a member of a group — that’s important. It can be really hard if there’s nothing there for you.”

For bars looking to replicate Oddball’s success, this is key: NA must be woven into service culture, not siloed.

Sustainability behind the bar

Oddball’s NA innovation is also rooted in sustainability. “But we try to do things just in time,” Rodriguez says. “Right now, we’ve been fermenting a lot of Sungold tomatoes. We’ve been fermenting tomatillos. We just fermented serranos. We made a huge batch of turmeric tepache using pineapple skins.”

Food waste becomes an opportunity. “We try to use waste from other parts of prep. Joe from Acid Spirits wants waste — he wants to turn it into things.”

The philosophy extends to composting and kitchen collaboration. “We try to compost as much as possible if it doesn’t find a home. Using pineapple skins for tepache — sure. These things will find multiple uses until they become waste.”

That same intention guides brand partnerships. “We focus strongly on working with smaller producers, more ethical brands, and brands that source sustainably. It’s an active choice to be careful and mindful when you work with bigger brands. They’ve got to be friends that we respect. Brands with creative merit and ethical practices.”

PC: Jeff Brown

Why Oddball uses Toast

Oddball needed a POS that also aligned with its sustainable values. “Toast is my preferred POS,” Rodriguez says. “We made a point to switch to Toast.”

Toast Go® 3 supports paperless transactions, a sustainability win, and simplifies service.

“The handhelds are great. It allows for paperless transactions. Printing copies that get thrown away always felt silly. With Toast, we also like the ease of having gratuity and closing out already done. There’s no sitting down with papers. And we’re able to have guest feedback built in.”

For operators building a modern NA program, seamless operations matter just as much as creative drinks.

What other bars can learn

Oddball opened in November 2025. Within months, it’s already being recognized for its non alcoholic bar drinks, not because they’re trendy, but because they’re intentional. As Rodriguez puts it: “We’re doing things in layers. The energy is casual and retro, there’s humor in the menu and design. But we’re taking the process very seriously.”

The blueprint for bars looking to replicate their success:

• Treat NA with the same technical rigor as cocktails

• Price thoughtfully and transparently

• Train staff to see accommodation as hospitality, not an inconvenience

• Build sustainability into prep and partnerships

• Keep menus tight and concept-driven

• Invest in systems that support operational efficiency, like Toast

Rodriguez sums up his mindset simply: “I always feel like there’s more work to do. I always feel like we can have a better menu.” That humility, combined with creativity,  is exactly why Oddball’s non alcoholic bar drinks are already setting a new standard in New York City.

And if the broader industry follows suit, what feels innovative today may soon become the norm.