Umbrella Dry Bar offers non-alcoholic cocktails with a twist in downtown Raleigh🍸

Dry January doesn't have to end just because the month is over.

Co-owners Meg Paradise and Kevin Barry recently opened Umbrella Dry Bar, the first non-alcoholic bar in downtown Raleigh.

"It came to me over two years ago in a lucid dream," Paradise said. "It was wild."

Now, that dream is a reality.

During her two pregnancies, Paradise said she realized how much she enjoyed not drinking.

"That was kind of my first glimpse into longer stretches of not drinking," she said.

She said those long stretches of sobriety allowed her to see things more clearly.

"I was like, 'You know maybe this isn't for me, maybe this isn't really the person I want to be,'" Paradise said. "It kind of opened my eyes to a lot of different things."

After baby number two, Paradise said she was focused on her health. She decided to start a personal experiment and stop drinking.

"I felt so good," she said. "I felt incredible."

Paradise said she was inspired by the book, "Quit Like A Woman," especially the chapter that talked about how great it would be to have more social spaces that didn't revolve around alcohol.

Then she got an idea.

"I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning, and I was like, 'I really want this to exist,'" Paradise said.

She asked herself, "What should I call it? What keeps you dry?"

Thus, Umbrella Dry Bar was born.

Two weeks later, she formed an LLC – and the rest is history.

"I just looked it up, and I figured it out," she said. "This is very much brand new to me."

Paradise said the intention behind Umbrella Dry Bar is for it to be very elevated and adult while still being playful and fun. She said she didn't want it to feel too stuffy or serious.

"I want them to feel like it's really approachable and accessible," she said. "It can be really challenging when you are trying, for any reason, not to be drinking because [in] our society and our culture, a lot of things revolve around alcohol.

"Just to find a place where you can go and you don't need to be thinking about it is really important."

Paradise said despite there being no alcohol, the menu is rather extensive.

"So you know any choice is going to be a good one," she said. "Your body is going to be happy."

She said the physical benefits are just one positive aspect of not drinking.

"It leads to so many more things," she said. "This is just one tiny aspect.

"It's just a really amazing domino effect."

Paradise said she hopes people will have an open mind when they go to Umbrella Dry Bar.

"Hopefully it has a really incredible impact on many people, whether small or large," she said.

Umbrella Dry Bar is located at 14 W. Martin Street in Raleigh.