Yes, Gen Z drinks now, but they’re doing it their own way

A summer night at Surf Lodge—Montauk, New York’s famed music venue and it-girl hotspot—looked like any other in July. Hundreds of Hamptons-goers were sipping drinks and dancing at the waterfront venue to blaring DJ sets, trying to catch the perfect Instagram shot.

But with Gen Z crowding the dance floor lately, the drinking scene has started to shift. Nights have been wrapping a little earlier, drinks are more slowly paced out, or even swapped out for nonalcoholic options.

“Gen Z is interesting because they still celebrate and they have fun. It’s just a new balance and a new way of approaching drinking,” says Jayma Cardoso, Surf Lodge’s owner and hospitality mogul, whose other ventures include New York City’s Goldbar and the Surf Lodge winter spinoff the Snow Lodge in Aspen.

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