CHICAGO — This time of year, with Dry January in full swing, it’s hard to ignore the sobering (pun intended) stories and stats on alcohol consumption. According to a 2025 Gallup poll, a record-low 54% of Americans reported that they consume alcohol. It was the third consecutive year the poll found declines in Americans’ reported drinking. For the first time, a majority of Americans say drinking in moderation — one or two drinks a day — is bad for their health.

But it’s not just average consumers who are questioning and changing their relationship with alcohol. Folks on the other side of the bar are too. Those in the hospitality industry are especially vulnerable to the downsides of drinking with easy access to alcohol, spirit brand-sponsored trips, alcohol-focused conferences and a social life that often revolves around bars.

With some 18 years of working in restaurants, including in her current role as bar director for Creepies and Elske, Monica Casillas-Rios knows all too well the allure of alcohol — the good and not-so-good. While she has always tried to be conscious of her drinking, taking off months here and there, she realized a few years back that she needed to rethink her frequent outings to bars, restaurants and after-hours clubs.

“I couldn’t keep doing that financially and physically,” Casillas-Rios says.

Six months ago, she committed to not drinking beyond the cocktail tasting research required to do her job. When she tastes wine, she always spits.

“As beverage professionals, this is how we make our living, but there’s also a matter of how responsible are we being to ourselves,” she says.

It was about a year and a half ago when Abe Vucekovich started questioning his relationship with alcohol.

“I realized there had been some real consistency to my drinking that I didn’t love, including how early I was starting,” says Vucekovich, who was one of the creative cocktail forces at influential bar the Violet Hour. More recently, he helped open Meadowlark, but his focus now is on Friends of Friends, where he is co-owner.

After abstaining from alcohol for a year, Vucekovich has been dipping his toe back in slowly, albeit with no plans to dive fully back in.

“I need to realize where my threshold is and I’m trying to be very gracious with myself with that process as it’s messy,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of other operators and bar people who have either cut drinking out completely or cut back.”

That’s something Natalia Cardenas has also experienced.

“I’m hearing so many industry people share their journeys of scaling back or cutting out alcohol altogether,” she says. “Honestly, that’s something I had never heard before and every day I hear about more and more.”

Cardenas got her start behind the bar first in Miami, followed by stints at Chicago’s Purple Pig and Balena. Working in spirits was never her dream, but she fell in love with the people in the industry and the history and storytelling behind wine and spirits. The travel possibilities were a plus too.

For Cardenas, health issues led to her alcohol aha moment. Eventually, her doctor recommended eliminating alcohol.

“It became increasingly harder to do my job working for a liquor supplier as there were many company outings and gatherings where alcohol was flowing,” she says.

Cardenas stepped away from the industry in 2024 as she didn’t know where she fit in anymore.

In early 2025, she found her way back with Pathfinder, a hemp-based nonalcoholic spirit company where she is the Midwest regional manager and sells to retail, restaurants and bars. The experience has been enlightening, says Cardenas.

“We’re at a crossroads of what’s actually happening and what people are consuming and what society deems is acceptable in a social setting,” she says.

Kevin Canchola’s career in hospitality has run the gamut from bartending at the Pump Room and the Langham, Chicago, to being a brand ambassador for Moët Hennessy and William Grant & Sons. His relationship with alcohol has been equally varied.

“There were times where I’d spent months not drinking,” he says.

While working as a brand ambassador, where drinking is often an unspoken part of the job with an expense account to go along with it, Canchola began questioning his career choice.

“I maintained as much sobriety as the job would allow, and that made me resent drinking because while I would no longer overdo it, I would still feel some of the aftereffects the next day and I wouldn’t feel as sharp as I wanted to be,” he says. “I was trying to live up to these brands and represent them accurately, but in doing so, I wasn’t representing myself.”

Canchola felt conflicted in trying to represent these brands while not consuming alcohol. For a while, he kept his drinking — or lack of drinking — habit to himself.

In May he took a firm step to stop drinking, he says.

At his current gig working with Casa Lumbre, an incubator for small spirit brands based out of Mexico, Canchola is particularly excited about Almave, a new nonalcoholic blue agave spirit that’s distilled like tequila minus the fermentation process, where it would become alcohol. Like some other NA spirits, Almave does contain minute amounts of alcohol.

“For the first time, I’m excited about Dry January because I get to do my job and I’m not hindered by anything,” he says. “I get to celebrate with friends and maybe give them a peek into sobriety if they care to try that.”

Casillas-Rios considers herself fortunate to have stepped into a strong NA program at Elske, including a nonalcoholic pairing menu, when she joined five years ago. She has leaned even more into those offerings at both Elske and Creepies.

“The category of nonalcoholic is growing so much that it is a disservice to not put it on your menu,” she says.

In her role at Pathfinder, which includes an amaro-like NA spirit and a canned NA Negroni, Cardenas’ renewed interactions with the operators and bartenders she has known for so long have revealed some interesting changes in the NA world, especially when it comes to verbiage.

“Mocktail” is out due to its child-like reference, while “nonalcoholic” has its naysayers because it sounds negative and “non-fun” says Cardenas. “Alcohol-free” has its fans. “Spirit-free” seems to be gaining popularity with industry folks, but that wouldn’t necessarily apply to Pathfinder as it goes through a fermentation process with botanicals and a distillation to build flavor and dimension, so it’s technically a spirit. (Confused yet? All of this doesn’t even include the various terms for the different levels of alcohol consumption, ranging from “sober-curious” and “damp” to just plain “sober.”)

“There are so many terrific alcohol-free options these days with different wines and spirits that operators can have more nuanced cocktails to cater to their guests,” says Cardenas, especially important at a time when bars are seeing declines in patrons as their drinking habits change.

For those looking to extend their Dry January endeavor further or simply cut back, these industry experts have plenty of tips.

“People need to look within themselves and see what role alcohol plays in their life and whether it works for them,” says Casillas-Rios. “Your relationship with sobriety is incredibly personal, but at the end of the day, we all want something better for ourselves.”

“I wish it sounded more poetic, but just speak up,” says Canchola, who also recommends finding a friend who’s damp or sober.

“Have conversations with retail operators, bartenders and servers,” says Cardenas. “If you’re open with them, I can almost guarantee they’re going to disclose that they’ve cut back themselves so they can give you the right direction.”

“The biggest thing for me was pursuing therapy and other mindfulness things in my life that were not reliant on drinking,” says Vucekovich, who admits the journey isn’t without challenges. “Drinking can make you think of yourself differently, so when the beer goggles come off, it’s a bit raw to sit with your feelings.”

But there are plenty of benefits of not drinking too.

“I never realized how much of a morning person I was until I really stopped drinking,” says Casillas-Rios. “At the end of the day, though, it’s my livelihood. I still enjoy working in it, but I think a lot more of us have to take on that role of being advocates, not only for providing a good experience when it comes to people that are drinking, but also providing a good experience when people are not.”

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