{"id":204664,"date":"2026-04-21T13:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204664\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:17:09","slug":"going-dry-what-does-the-nationwide-reduction-in-drinking-mean-for-nyc-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204664\/","title":{"rendered":"Going dry: What does the nationwide reduction in drinking mean for NYC bars?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fewer people are drinking alcohol across the US, including the nation\u2019s most traveled-to city<\/a>: NYC.<\/p>\n

The national consumption of beer, wine and spirits hit a 90-year low last year, per a survey<\/a> by the Gallup Poll Social Series. The results found that 54% of Americans in 2025 occasionally consumed alcohol. The drinking rate has also been steadily decreasing since 2022, as the poll reports that \u201cthe figure fell to 62% in 2023 and to 58% in 2024.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here in NYC, the restaurant beverage industry, as well as bars, clubs, and liquor stores, have been feeling the effects.\n<\/p>\n

Robert Sarabia, bartender at Kingston Hall in the East Village, started to notice the decline in drinking within the last two years. The colonial Jamaica-themed bar is located on 2nd Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets, and opened in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore people are ordering mocktails,\u201d said Sarabia.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Kingston Hall is known for its buy-one, get-one happy hour, and pool table. But Sarabia says he\u2019s noticed more customers coming in to order a soda or water, rather than a beer or cocktail, and use the pool table.<\/p>\n

Businesses in other neighborhoods are feeling the difference as well, like TESSA in the Upper West Side. The sultry, modern American eatery sits on Amsterdam Avenue, between 76th and 77th Streets, a short walk from the American Museum of Natural History and the Beacon Theater.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bar<\/a>Bar bottles on the Upper West Side.Photo by Nia Watson<\/p>\n

Both a bar and restaurant, many of its customers stop in for pre-show food and drinks, according to TESSA\u2019s beverage director Zack Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring COVID, everything slowed down,\u201d said Lee. \u201cPeople\u2019s willingness to spend money decreased.\u201d About a year or two ago, though, was when Lee started to notice more and more customers requesting non-alcoholic beers, which was telling for a bar-heavy restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to drink but want low alcohol by volume,\u201d like a negroni without the liquor, said Lee. But TESSA has been making efforts to counter the decline in drinking. Lee says the owners have been encouraging him to research and expand on the mocktail options, in order to meet the demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus is the neighborhood,\u201d said Lee. \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen a hit for sure.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cRestaurants already operate on very tight margins,\u201d said Andrew Rigie, Executive Director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, over email. \u201cSo when operating costs continue to rise and higher-margin items like alcohol see declining sales, it puts even more financial pressure on restaurant businesses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The health shift, the younger generation and the future of drinking<\/p>\n

According to the Gallup poll, the nationwide drop \u201ccoincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one\u2019s health,\u201d particularly among young adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201csober curious\u201d movement is increasingly trending among Generation Z. It\u2019s a lifestyle shift that aims to \u201cchallenge drinking culture and norms, improve health and wellbeing\u201d and \u201ccreate sustainable, less risky alcohol habits,\u201d according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One local bartender says he\u2019s noticed such a generational change.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the bigger factors I\u2019ve noticed is less young people coming to bars,\u201d said Oscar Tsukayama, who has bartended for years at bars, distilleries and restaurants in Brooklyn and Manhattan.<\/p>\n

And overall, younger generations\u2019 growing concerns over health coincide with the expanding global wellness industry. It\u2019s an industry that McKinsey and Company estimates<\/a> \u201crepresents more than $500 billion in annual spend, growing at 4 to 5 percent each year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For others, the shift away from social drinking relates more to a preference in other recreational substances. As Kantor Global Monitor reports<\/a>, this younger demographic is \u201c21% more likely [than the global population] to opt for mood-enhancing food and beverage ingredients instead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here in New York, marijuana use is higher among those 18-44 than among older age groups, per NYC Health data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aside from the growing health and wellness consciousness, as well as the role of weed legalization in NY, another major motivating factor for the decline in drinking is economic: the financial burden.<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/a>Happy hour in the East Village.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe price of cocktails has increased substantially,\u201d said Tsukayama, who currently bartends at Festiv\u00e1l Caf\u00e9 on Second Avenue and 61st Street. \u201cAt my spot in Brooklyn, $17 was the average price for a cocktail, and now in the Lenox Hill area, our cocktails run for about $20.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compared to customers in their 30s, he has mostly noticed those in their 20s primarily go to the bar for activities, birthdays or special events, rather than just casual drinks. He says that the financial pressure may contribute to that difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this younger generation is drowning in debt, how do we expect them to show up for these cocktail prices, especially if we don\u2019t have another promise of an event or community for them?\u201d said Tsukayama.<\/p>\n

Drinking culture is a significant part of NYC\u2019s nightlife scene. So there is uncertainty about what the decline in drinking, or in younger generations\u2019 low rates of drinking, could mean for the future of the nightlife industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith less money going to the bars (aka 80% profit from each drink), I assume there will be more cover fees at the entrance, or maybe a bigger emphasis on the food service and thus more expensive\/overpriced food,\u201d said Tsukayama.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he is optimistic about the future: \u201cBest case scenario, I hope it\u2019ll lead to bars being more like performance venues, and hopefully have more live music and hopefully dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fewer people are drinking alcohol across the US, including the nation\u2019s most traveled-to city: NYC. The national consumption…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[8110,47210,81004,81005,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-204664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-alcohol","9":"tag-drinking","10":"tag-dry","11":"tag-dry-lifestyle","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-queens","16":"tag-queens-headlines","17":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}