Summer House star Carl Radke gave Us Weekly an exclusive sneak peek of his Soft Bar days before the store opened on Thursday, September 18.
Radke, 40, let Us sip on a few drinks — including the Mint Condition and the Bitter Beginning — while describing his latest venture as a “mindful consumption bar and cafe.” In addition to serving soft cocktails, Soft Bar also offers functional drinks and cafe beverages like coffee and matcha.
“Soft Bar is for everybody,” Radke explained. “We, obviously, love our sober people — we want our sober community to come — but we also want people that are looking to take a break, people that are sober curious, people that don’t know how to describe their relationship with alcohol. I think this is a great place to stop for an hour, 20 minutes and just experience a non-alc drink and see if they are for you.”
Radke noted that he “set out to create” something that is for “everyone,” which he hadn’t necessarily seen elsewhere.
“There are some bars out there that are sober bars,” he shared. “I’ve gone to them, but I do feel like … Even me going there, I feel like, ‘Am I welcome here?’ Some of it feels very exclusive, and I wanted to be inclusive here.”
The Summer House star, who has been open about his sobriety journey on the reality TV show, admitted that he “absolutely” doubted whether opening the New York-based endeavor would become a reality.
“I was breaking down at one point. It’s stressful. There’s a lot of moving parts. There’s things out of your control,” he said, citing construction, the city and tariffs. “There’s been moments where, yeah, you have doubts, like, ‘Oh, s***. Is this gonna work? Is it going to get open?’ But, like a lot of my life, it’s all about one day at a time.”
As for those who have doubted his new chapter with Soft Bar, Radke shared that it’s “usually a good sign” if there are people talking about the concept — whether it’s positive or negative chatter.
“I’m very lucky that yes or no, it’s been people talking about it. I think what I’m doing, yes, it’s a newer thing. Did I invent anything? No. I’m just taking what I really believe is needed and I’m adding some of these ingredients to it,” he shared. “I’m also trying to amplify it because I really believe we need a space that doesn’t serve alcohol, that’s cool, it’s elevated, that you can come any time of day and hang out and have a great experience.”
He continued, “People that doubt that, I’m never going to win you over. But I think what we’ve delivered and what we have right now — I hope anybody that’s doubted it, come on in, my drink is on you. If you don’t like it, that’s cool. But, here we are.”
Radke is also quick to say that they aren’t serving “mocktails” at Soft Bar, but rather intentional soft cocktails.
“The soft cocktail program we have here is really intentional. It starts with specific ingredients. [One of our bartenders] Jamie does a lot of pre-batching and prep work before the drink even reaches your hand — it’s advanced bartending,” he said. “So either milk- punching, fat-washing, clarifying our drinks with different ingredients and filtering them, he’s also adding on additional functional ingredients.”
Some of the drinks include mushroom supplements — “There’s no psychedelic mushrooms included in any beverages,” he confirmed to Us — or other health benefits. Circling back to the Mint Condition, which tasted to Us like a basil tea with hints of grapefruit and vanilla, contains NAD, which is a coenzyme that helps your metabolism.
“We’re trying to add these more therapeutic, functional ingredients that you might find at, like, a Whole Foods supplement section,” Radke said. “A lot of people take daily vitamins or other supplements. We’re taking some of those supplements and applying them to our non-alcoholic drinks — you’re getting something that’s actually functional and providing health and benefit to you.”
Something else fans may not realize that the space is open early — meaning you can stop by for a coffee before work or even make Soft Bar your office for the day.
“When I originally talked about this idea on Summer House a couple years ago, it was a sober sports bar. I didn’t have that idea fully baked out yet. I went back and worked on it because it wasn’t necessarily the best idea. So I wanted to build a foundation, build a brand, and really work on the drinks and what we’re all about,” he said, noting that the conclusion was combining non-alc culture.
To watch Radke’s mixologist make Us a soft cocktail and learn more, watch the video above. Soft Bar is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. The store is located at 200 Banker Street in Brooklyn, New York.