Chris Marshall has a rather unique establishment in Texas. He runs a bar, which isn’t all that unusual, but the fact that it doesn’t have any alcohol is quite unique.
There is a movement that you may or may not be aware of known as being “sober-curious.” 38-year-old Marshall opened the bar in 2017 to help people socialize but to do so without the use of alcohol. It’s the first establishment of its type found in Austin.
Sans Bar “combines the best parts of a bar—the music, the connection—in an environment that’s truly inclusive of everyone,” according to an interview with Marshall in Southern Living.
Marshall was in his 20s when he decided to live a life without alcohol. It happened when he started having difficulty controlling his use of alcohol and ended up in rehab when he was 23. Not only did he find himself sober, but he also found himself needing a connection.
In an interview with ABC News, Marshall said:
“When I went to treatment, I was all alone. And I think that my main motivating factor was that feeling of loneliness. And when I got into rehab, the first thing I heard was someone tell me, ‘You don’t ever have to feel lonely again.’ So this space that we’re sitting in today is a direct result of that very real statement that someone made to me 15 years ago. Telling me that I didn’t have to be alone, that I didn’t have to live alone.”
Even though he had limited funds, he took his $200 and rented a room in the back of the hair salon. He then started building the alcohol-free bar that he owns today.
It wasn’t long after he opened his doors that people started showing up. He said, “People were showing up when we were literally outside because they got the vision of what I was creating. It was not about the drinks — and people come for the drinks — but they stay for the community.”