It’s a little too late for coffee and definitely too early to go home. Not so long ago, the time of day gave us a fairly clear idea of where to go and what to order. Coffee belonged to the daytime, cocktails to the night. Today, those boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred. Cafés stay open longer, tea houses invite DJs in, bars expand their alcohol-free menus, and a good night out is becoming harder to fit into a single category.
An evening without a single definition
For years, “going out for a drink” was a convenient kind of social shorthand. It could mean a date, a catch-up after work, a few hours with friends or the beginning of a much longer night. It was never only about what was in the glass. A drink also came to define a certain kind of occasion.
Today, that shorthand is losing some of its obviousness. Alcohol may still be part of the evening, but it is increasingly less likely to be its default. This is particularly true among younger generations, whose approach tends to be more flexible. One day you might order a cocktail, the next something alcohol-free, without attaching much significance to either choice.
That does not mean stepping away from social life. If anything, it means broadening the idea of what a night out can look like. We still want to stay late at a concert, let dinner run on or spend hours around the same table. What is changing is what sets the pace of the evening. Music, food, interiors and company increasingly take centre stage, while what happens to be in the glass matters a little less.
And that is precisely why interesting things are starting to happen on the other side of the bar too...
Flavour without the substitute label
Only a few years ago, the alcohol-free section of many menus tended to play it fairly safe. Today, it is increasingly treated as a category in its own right, developed with much the same care as a classic cocktail list.
Kombucha, cold brew, speciality teas, infusions, fermented lemonades and original blends built around herbs, fruit, spices or tonics are becoming commonplace. They can be tart, bitter, herbal, dry or surprisingly complex. And flavour is only part of the equation: temperature, aroma, texture and presentation matter too.
As a result, alcohol-free drinks are becoming less interested in imitating something they are not. They are developing a character of their own. You can pair one with food, order one at the bar or simply choose it because the combination of ingredients sounds interesting.
There is no need to look far for good examples. At Warsaw’s Loreta, Paganini combines an alcohol-free aperitif with grapefruit, cherry, pepper and kombucha, while Paradise takes a more exotic route with passion fruit, tonka bean and ginger beer. At Spirit Bar in Łódź, the 0% menu explores more complex and unexpected pairings: blackcurrant with chocolate and lemongrass, falernum with salt, or tomato with caper brine. At Nifty in Poznań, the range is just as broad, stretching from sloe and lemon to basil and mint with 0% sparkling wine, as well as floral and botanical notes of rose, orange and tonic. Increasingly, the choice no longer begins with “alcoholic or alcohol-free?”, but simply with what we happen to feel like drinking.
It is an interesting sign of change. Alcohol-free options are no longer relegated to the margins of the menu. The way hospitality thinks about flavour without alcohol is evolving: it is becoming a fully fledged experience rather than a separate category intended for a particular group of guests.
The city needs places in between
This shift is visible beyond bars too. More and more venues resist simple labels such as “somewhere for coffee”, “somewhere for dinner” or “somewhere for drinks”.
A café can dim the lights in the evening, change the playlist and take on a completely different atmosphere from the one it had that morning. A tea house can invite a DJ or host a listening session. A restaurant does not necessarily have to empty out as soon as the last orders are placed. A place can change character throughout the day, and the way we use it changes along with it.
As a result, city nightlife is becoming less centred exclusively around bars and clubs. You can come for the food and stay for the music, meet over tea or simply let dinner stretch naturally into the late evening.
What we need is not necessarily another category of venue. Perhaps what matters more are places flexible enough to accommodate different ways of spending time. Places that do not require us to decide, before we even walk through the door, whether we are there for coffee, dinner or a drink.
A hotel that becomes part of the city
Hotels are increasingly becoming part of this picture too. Not simply as somewhere to return to once the evening elsewhere has come to an end, but as one of the places where the evening itself can happen.
At PURO, restaurants, bars and shared spaces are not designed exclusively for hotel guests. They are used by people staying for the weekend as well as locals stopping by for dinner, a drink, an evening with friends or an event. As a result, the distinction between “hotel guests” and “people from the city” starts to matter less.
The idea takes on a slightly different form in every city. In Kraków, MAK brings together a bakery, café and wine bar: in the morning, it draws people in with speciality coffee and freshly baked goods; in the evening, with natural wines. HINT in Wrocław runs from breakfast until late, while its orangery and seasonal garden make it feel just as natural on a slow day as during a longer evening. In Poznań, Nifty combines a restaurant, café and bar, taking on a more relaxed, music-led character as the evening unfolds. Warsaw’s Loreta switches into night mode on Saturdays with DJ sets, Spirit Bar in Łódź opens onto views of the Poznański Palace and Manufaktura, while INK Bar in Gdańsk draws guests in with river views, music and signature cocktails.
In this way, PURO becomes a contemporary urban living room: a place open to different times of day, different needs and different ways of spending time. Alcoholic and alcohol-free menus, music, lighting and interiors are not separate additions, but elements of a wider experience – one worth coming back for even without a suitcase.
The new culture of going out is not about replacing one set of habits with another. It is more about the fact that one model of the evening is no longer taken for granted. The city still gives us plenty of reasons to stay out a little longer. It simply tells us less and less about what exactly should be on the table when we do.
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