Amada Bets on Interactive Cocktails and Zero-Proof to Reinvent Its Bar

Here's a question every operator should be asking their bar team right now: are guests leaving talking about what was in their glass? At Amada, the answer is now the whole point.

Chef Jose Garces' flagship Spanish tapas restaurant has rolled out a reimagined beverage program at its Philadelphia and Radnor locations, betting on interactive tableside presentations, expanded alcohol-free options and a refreshed happy hour. It's a program built to earn attention before the first sip—and it lands squarely inside three of the most durable trends reshaping the beverage industry.

Cocktails Designed to Be Watched

The new menu treats every stage of the cocktail as part of the experience, pairing premium spirits and house-made ingredients with refined glassware, enhanced garnishes and theater at the table. The signature pours read like a tour of modern Spanish bar culture:

• El Avión — Amada's take on the classic Paper Plane, finished with a Manchego garnish.
• Tónica Amada — a classic gin tonic presented with a tray of fresh citrus and seasonal botanicals for guests to finish tableside.
• Vermuteo — inspired by Spain's traditional vermouth culture.
• Banana Carajillo — Amada's interpretation of the classic Spanish coffee cocktail.
• Queimada — a flaming punch prepared tableside for larger parties, built for spectacle and, notably, requiring a 24-hour advance order.

The program also deepens Amada's house-made sangrias, Spanish-style Gintonicas and traditional vermouth offerings—hallmarks of Spain's vibrant bar scene.

"In Spain, meals are meant to be shared," said Jose Garces, chef and founder of Amada. "That spirit of Spanish hospitality has shaped Amada since we first opened our doors, and this beverage program is a natural extension of that vision. We wanted every drink to reflect the same level of care and intention that guests have come to expect from our kitchen."

Zero-Proof Gets a Real Seat at the Table

The refresh also expands Amada's spirit-free lineup, including La Sin-Gría, an alcohol-free take on the restaurant's signature sangria. It's a small line item with a big signal: zero-proof is no longer an afterthought garnish on the menu—it's a category with its own craftsmanship and margin potential.

"Every cocktail on this menu was crafted to complement the food while bringing its own personality to the table," said Shannon Hall, vice president of beverage and innovation for SPB Hospitality. "We wanted it to stand alongside the food, not simply accompany it. Guests should leave talking about what's in their glass just as much as what's on their plate."

A Happy Hour Built to Fill More Days

The reimagined bar extends to happy hour, now available Sunday through Friday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Guests can pair the new cocktail lineup with wine, beer and a selection of tapas, and the expanded Friday availability adds more occasions to gather over drinks and small plates—a smart move for capturing the shoulder hours that operators fight to fill.

Why It Matters

Amada's play is a case study in three levers every food and beverage operator can pull without reinventing the kitchen:

• Experience drives check and buzz. Tableside finishes and a flaming Queimada turn a drink into content and conversation. The 24-hour advance requirement on the Queimada isn't friction—it's demand engineering and prep control rolled into one.
• Zero-proof is a growth line, not a courtesy. A crafted spirit-free sangria like La Sin-Gría lets a restaurant serve the sober-curious and designated-driver guest at a real price point—protecting per-head spend that used to walk out the door with a club soda.
• Happy hour is a scheduling tool. Extending value pricing across Sunday through Friday, with expanded Friday hours, targets the slow windows and builds a repeatable gathering habit.

The through-line is authenticity as strategy. By anchoring the whole program in Spanish drinking traditions—vermuteo, gintonicas, carajillo—Amada gives the theater a story, which is what keeps experiential beverage from feeling like a gimmick. For operators weighing their own beverage refresh, that's the takeaway: customization and spectacle land hardest when they're rooted in a point of view guests can taste.

Amada opened in Philadelphia in 2005 and is the flagship of James Beard Award-winning Iron Chef Jose Garces, with locations in Philadelphia, Radnor and Atlantic City. For more on how brands are cashing in on the booming spirit-free category, see our look at MEDASE Cocktails and the rise of zero-proof retail and how Play Playground Nashville is betting on non-alcoholic dirty soda.

Is your bar treating cocktails and zero-proof as an experience or an afterthought? Tell us what's working on your beverage menu in the comments.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.