A new sober bar — one of few establishments in the Twin Cities dedicated solely to non-alcoholic beverages — is now open on St. Paul’s East Side, with proceeds going toward youth wellness programs.
The bar, called Club Throw Down, is open from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with drinks created by SIPS Drinkz, a local beverage company run by Danyelle Powell.
Even though no alcohol is served, the bar is still ages 21 and up. It’s an adult space, just a redefined one, founder Felicia Henderson said.
“I don’t drink — but I like to have fun, I like to feel free, I like to hear loud music,” Henderson said. “And I’m corny, so it’s going to be stuff the rest of the world might think is corny, but it’s going to be fun as hell.”
On the schedule: Dance nights, live music and open mics, karaoke every Saturday.
The small space is adorned simply with floral decor and gold accents — a compromise for Henderson, who can usually be seen sipping from a yellow mug or pulling her yellow keychain or yellow iPhone from her yellow purse. Friends had talked her out of making the sober bar yellow, too, so gold felt like a good and perhaps sneaky workaround, she joked.
As non-alcoholic drinks grow in popularity, more producers and restaurants are offering options for customers who are sober or prefer not to drink. Local breweries are creating great N/A options, and bottle shops like Marigold and Zero Proof Beverage House are opening up around the Twin Cities. And while a variety of restaurants serve N/A options, just a few — including vegan cafe Hi Flora! in Minneapolis and now Club Throw Down — are fully dry.
‘Every aspect of what it takes to live a better life’
The building that houses Club Throw Down is home to a variety of Henderson’s other initiatives, too, primarily Yoni Treats Wellness Center.
There, she offers a variety of alternative treatments including yoni steam, a practice sometimes called vaginal steaming; reiki, a type of energy healing; and other herbal detoxification remedies. Henderson is a reiki master, a certification that requires several levels of training.
Other wellness practitioners work in the building, too, and Henderson has created a “resource tree” to help visitors find providers who meet their needs.
Another part of the building is dedicated to a teen safe haven and the relatively new Restoring Humanity Resource Center, where Henderson offers support, mental health and past trauma counseling and necessities including clothing to local teens. Funds from Club Throw Down go to support this work, she said.
To Henderson, the sober bar is a natural match with the rest of her wellness practice.
“The goal is to create a full-functioning healing space where we can have every aspect of what it takes to live a better life,” she said.
Much of Henderson’s work is informed by her efforts to address her own physical and mental health challenges.
She experienced abuse as a child, she said, and is a suicide attempt and self-harm survivor. When she was growing up in Chicago, therapy wasn’t presented as an option, she said. A tattoo across her collarbone reads, “My story isn’t over yet.”
Within a short time span about five years ago, she developed cervical cancer and had an ectopic pregnancy, and surgeons removed the right half of her reproductive system, she said. She has also been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome. But when doctors recommended a hysterectomy and said she would be unable to have more children, she became concerned that surgery alone wasn’t sufficient to build more holistic wellness.
So she declined the procedure and discovered yoni steam, she said, and within a year, became pregnant again and safely delivered a healthy baby, her third of four children. Through various wellness practices, she has also been able to manage her panic attacks and reduce medications for mental health, she said.
“Everything I’m doing stems from a part of my journey of healing,” she said. “I have survived all that to be able to help other people overcome their trauma, too, in the ways I learned to do it for myself.”
People often remark to Henderson that she keeps herself busy, she said, and it’s true: She birdwatches every morning. She runs several parallel wellness businesses, with two toddlers at home. She gives her personal phone number to the youth in her orbit. She saw a need, and within the past couple months or so, created a sober bar from scratch to fill the gap.
“If we’re going to gripe about something, we might as well do something about it,” she said. “There’s no point in complaining or seeing an issue with things that we’re not willing to be a part of changing.”
Club Throw Down: 1440 Arcade St., Suite A, or search “Club Throw Down Sober Bar” on Facebook
