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How we rate venues

The Dry Score is a one-to-five rating for the quality of a venue’s alcohol-free experience. It’s not about whether a place serves alcohol — it’s about how well they serve people who don’t drink. The rubric is published here in full.

The Dry Score scale

1/5

Basic

Standard soft drinks only — a lime & soda or virgin mojito if you ask. The alcohol-free experience is an afterthought.

2/5

Some options

A few NA options using commercial spirits (Seedlip, Lyre's) or simple mocktails. Better than most, but not a destination for it.

3/5

Dedicated section

A dedicated NA section with 3+ thoughtful options. House-made elements — not just commercial mixers. Someone here actively cares about non-drinkers.

4/5

Excellent

A creative NA programme with 5+ options, house-made ingredients, equal presentation and pricing to alcoholic drinks. You'd come here for the NA drinks.

5/5

World-class

NA is core to the venue's identity — full parity with the alcoholic menu, house-built programmes, zero-proof pairings. These are rare.

How we collect data

Every venue in our directory goes through a multi-step verification process:

  1. Discovery — We identify venues through curated research, local recommendations, and industry contacts.
  2. Menu analysis — We review current drink menus for NA cocktails, spirits, and creative non-alcoholic options.
  3. Review mining — We analyse guest reviews that mention non-alcoholic experiences for real-world signal.
  4. Scoring — Each venue is scored across criteria including: number of NA options, use of named NA spirits, house-made elements, dedicated menu sections, and zero-proof pairings.
  5. Human review — Every score is reviewed by our team before publication. We err on the side of caution.

Something wrong?

Menus change, programmes evolve, and we might have missed something. If you think a venue’s score is off — or if you know a place we should add — we want to hear from you.

Submit a Correction