One of the more interesting trends in American nightlife since the pandemic has been the proliferation of non-alcoholic (NA) or “dry” bars. Perhaps it’s a post-pandemic hangover, or just millennials cutting back on alcohol as they reach middle age, but even Gen Z adults aren’t imbibing the way previous generations did.

Whatever the reason, northeast Ohio native Molly Cheraso noticed the new movement and decided to bring the trend home to Cleveland. “I knew this idea was going to be popular because people are looking for something new and different and after the pandemic, they really want to explore a new relationship with alcohol,” she says.

After two years of testing out her idea, Verbena Shoppe, Café, and Dry Bar is poised to open in Ohio City this summer on West 29^th Street and Church Avenue in the space previously occupied by Cleveland Tea Revival, which now operates as an online shop.

Verbena will be a café by day, serving the food and tea that Ohio City residents have come to love at Cleveland Tea Revival. In the evening, however, the lights will get dimmer, bartenders will replace the baristas and non-alcoholic beer and wine will be served alongside “free-spirited” non-alcoholic cocktails like margheritas and gin and tonics.

Although the wines and beers have 1% alcohol, some of the alcohol-free bases for the mixed drinks have caffeine, and others contain herbs like ashwagandha and valerian root to alleviate stress and promote relaxation.

All these bases are tasty on their own and are also available for purchase on-site.

Molly Cheraso owner of Verbena Shoppe, Cafe & Dry BarWith a background in finance and banking, Cheraso did ample homework before she decided to plunge into the restaurant business. She spent most of 2022 traveling to see how other dry bars were doing and held pop-up events around Northeast Ohio.

While she got lots of positive feedback, it was at an event at City Goods in Ohio City in January, when she realized she had found the right home for her spirit-free venture. “It was the first Saturday after the holidays, so there was great foot traffic, and it was such a diverse mix of people from the suburbs and the neighborhood and I just knew that I wanted to do this somewhere in Ohio City,” Cheraso recalls.

She asked around to see if there were any leases available and within a week she got an email from Amber Pompeii, the owner of Cleveland Tea Revival in Hingetown. Pompeii weathered COVID-19 by transforming her tea house café into a to-go operation, so by the time she heard of Cheraso’s interest, she was ready to relinquish her lease.

Yet Cheraso still wasn’t so sure she wanted to have a bricks-and-mortar business. Her original vision had been for an online retail undertaking. Even though her research had taught her that people wanted to taste the products before buying them, the idea of going into the restaurant business was daunting.

Luckily, working with an experienced restauranter like Pompeii, and taking over an existing space, felt like a kismet. She purchased Tea Revival’s business LLC and its menu, received guidance from Pompeii on running the shop, and Cheraso began to redesign the space.

What can we expect when Verbena opens this summer? Cheraso says she originally wanted to call her bar “Free Spirit,” which sounded kind of wild and fun, but the name was already in use. After some more research, she settled on Verbena—in Spain, literally an outdoor summer party—which is exactly what Cheraso envisioned for her café, bar, and shop.

The predominant colors throughout are cool green, with pendant lighting, and a sleek upscale aesthetic to go along with the craft cocktails. There’s a patio in the back to enjoy the summer nights and there will be a variety of entertainment at night including tarot card and poetry readings, comedy shows, book club nights, and more. One of the bars she visited in New York City has already added five more locations, and Cheraso is hopeful that Cleveland is ripe for the same kind of success.