Would you eat at a restaurant that didn't serve alcohol?

[Yearn]

If a restaurant served only soft drinks and alcohol-free beers/wines/cocktails would you eat there on an evening? Even on a Friday/Saturday night. No BYOB either.

YABU - Yes, I would eat there even on a weekend night.
YANBU - No, I wouldn't eat there on an evening.

I would go if someone invited me, but it wouldn’t be my first choice or anywhere I’d take friends.

It's not something I would generally choose, but if it was the choice of a good friend, or the food was absolutely exceptional exceptional couldn't be recreated at home, then I'd go.

Didn't take long for the po-faced "well if you can't have a meal without an alcoholic drink you may have a problem" to pop up, did it?

Going out for an evening meal is a treat. Part of that treat is a glass or two of wine, or a beer or two. Lunch and breakfast are obviously a different matter. I wouldn't rule out a restaurant without a licence but it would depend what they were offering instead. Just water and coca-cola is lazy and boring and shows they haven't really thought about what food they are selling and what drinks might go with that.

One the nicest restaurants I’ve been to - really beautiful Indian sub-continent food is no-alcohol. Really not a problem.

I don't drink so obviously makes no difference to me!

Wouldn't worry me as I have to drive to our nearest restaurants anyway. No buses in evening and taxi is expensive.

I have been to various restaurants in Asia that don't serve alcohol. It's ok, but these days generally for me going to a restaurant is a special occasion, therefore a nice glass of wine is important.
It might be popular with a certain demographic though.

I do like a glass of wine at a restaurant, but if it was a well-reviewed place with nice food then of course I would go. It's not essential for having a good time.

I don't drink, but I'd pretty sure I'd never eat in your hypothetical restaurant, because I'm always accompanied by someone who does.

I would if the food was amazing. We had to eat alcohol free at various points over last 18 months ( Scottish restrictions) and it was amazing how much cheaper the bill was. Not sure I'd get DH along though unless it was lunchtime.

Since this is mn I should probably make it clear that we frequently go out to eat lunch and don't drink any alcohol. I wouldn't feel the need in a burger place, cafe or similar. Food doesn't automatically equal alcohol, but some times and places definitely do and for me, a nice evening in a restaurant means a nice glass of wine.

Some where casual - no a problem at all. Our brilliant local Lebanese doesn't serve alcohol but has a range of completely random soft drinks so I always enjoy a pot luck drink!

Some where fancy - I'd expect a glass of wine ta.

It's fairly narrow-minded to absolutely categorically consider this a deal-breaker and you'll miss out on a lot of good food.

The majority of the time of course I prefer to have alcohol with a meal and the majority of places will allow for this - with BYOB if they don't serve it themselves.

However if you go to smaller places that serve immigrant/local communities you'll find many that are fully dry, either for cultural reasons or because they're not much more than a cafe with only a couple of tables, and they don't have a licence. But the food is so glorious that it's worth it and you don't care.

In fact the best restaurant I've eaten at in London this year - easily, hands down the most incredible food - didn't serve alcohol. I didn't know whether BYOB was allowed (no one else was drinking alcohol) but it didn't matter - we drink their homemade ginger beer which was as incredible as the food.

And obviously if you travel to Muslim countries you'll have to eat out at a lot of places where alcohol isn't permitted. Honestly, it's fine, you'll survive, the food is still delicious. Really not sure why it'd be a deal-breaker.

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon

My favourite restaurant doesn’t do dessert.

I’m generally too full to care.

Say what now? No alcohol, no problem. No dessert? No way!!

I like a nice glass of wine with dinner but I often just have a soft drink if I'm driving or with friends who are on soft drinks. Wouldn't bother me either way.

Of course, I don't drink alcohol so I wouldn't even notice.

Why the question op?

there is a restaurant very close to me with a "dry bar"
I do often eat out and not drink alcohol, but the option of it not being available should I feel like a glass of wine puts me off - I've not eaten there.

It's been there for about five years, so must be doing OK.

Yes, definitely, in fact I have done. It was a Moroccan place and the food was lovely. I don't "not drink" but I very often don't choose to drink on a particular occasion anyway, and for me, if you fancy a particular kind of food, and not having alcohol is part of that experience, that's an acceptable trade-off.

Yes. I don't really drink anyway so it wouldn't bother me in that respect.

However I do think it would put a lot of people off if you couldn't even BYOB. For many people, alcohol is part of the night out and people enjoy pairing their wine or beer with their food.

I know from a couple of good friends who own restaurants that they only make money on selling drinks, not on the food.

You have either picked them up incorrectly and they actually meant they make the biggest profit on drinks, not food, or they are really bad business people. That's not normal.

I would because I rarely drink, as a business plan I don't see it being successful

I absolute would as long as the food was good.

Do I like wine? Yes.

Is it a dealbreaker? No.

Also yes a restaurant serving no alcohol wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I don't drink anymore though:

I don’t drink so this wouldn’t be a problem for me. But if the food was really good and I suggested it to a friend only to have them turn it down because it didn’t serve alcohol, I’d think that was a bit sad.