Roanoke's new Panera Bread restaurant won't sell it. Neither will the Ukrop's Super Market, under construction nearby. And the Cracker Barrel north of town on Interstate 81 doesn't sell it either.

They're dry. No wine or beer or liquor.

The concept of teetotaling food purveyors, while common, contradicts what some consumer experts see as a marketing must-have.

All this results in a strategic dichotomy, and some area businesses are torn about which way to go.

Consider the large black slate board hanging above the counters at the Wildflour Cafe in Roanoke's Towers Shopping Center. The top corner of the board is decorated with a medley of purple flowers. In the opposite corner is a picture of a French-looking baguette, with two glasses of red wine and a bottle sitting in the forefront.

But Wildflour doesn't serve alcohol -- not yet at least. Its owners say they plan to start selling it this fall.

Beer or soda, water or wine, shots of espresso or tequila?

Roanoke has 57 restaurants that serve wine and beer or mixed drinks, but several eateries that are entering the Roanoke Valley in the coming year are not planning to serve alcohol. Their addition and the presence of others locally leads to the question of whether selling alcohol is essential to the restaurants' success, or if no booze is actually a draw.

For example, the Richmond-based Ukrop's Super Market, slated to open in Roanoke in 2007, will house the company's signature cafe in addition to groceries.

The cafes typically have salad bars, stir-fry, hamburgers and sometimes a coffee bar.

And though they are open until 10 p.m., following the same operating hours as the stores, the company hasn't felt pressure from other retailers to sell alcohol in its stores or in its cafe, said Bobby Ukrop, president of the grocery chain, which is also closed on Sundays.

"It's just something that we don't plan to do," Ukrop said about the company's decision not to sell or serve alcohol. "It's not an issue."

Ukrop added that the cafes often attract families looking for a full dinner. They serve kids' foods, such as pizzas and burgers, and have worked to make the cafe a place where "everyone can get what they want," Ukrop said.

But a grocery industry consultant cautioned that the pressure for Ukrop's to sell alcohol in its stores could grow fiercer.

"Virtually everybody else uses beer and wine as a draw," said Jeffrey Metzger, publisher of Food World, a grocery industry publication. "As these markets become more overstored [with other grocery chains], more competitive or more diverse, it will become a greater factor."

And while selling alcohol is not necessarily the driving force behind some restaurants' success, it certainly helps sales and traffic, said David Henkes, a spokesman for Technomic, a restaurant industry research firm in Chicago.

"People don't necessarily go to restaurants for the alcohol, but they stay away from a restaurant if it doesn't have alcohol," he said.

About 15 percent of a restaurant's revenues come from alcohol sales, according to a report by Technomic.

Even so, a restaurant that serves alcohol is not necessarily growing its business faster, Henkes added.

For Panera Bread, which has recently announced attempts to appeal to nighttime diners, alcohol isn't on the radar. The chain will open a Roanoke County location at the end of July.

"People are going to come because of the quality of our food, not necessarily because of the beverages we serve," said Kelly Jackson, spokeswoman for Blue Ridge Bread, which owns the Panera restaurants along the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The company, Jackson added, is looking to expand its menu to more dinner-friendly choices, such as flat bread pizza.

Customers in the area echo some restaurants' nonchalant attitude about serving alcohol. In fact, most customers make their dinner reservation based on alternative criteria.

"I don't care one way or the other," said Donny Fields, 30, from Roanoke.

Fields added that if he wanted to drink he would actively seek a bar-type setting, or go to the local Texaco.

"I can buy a six-pack for 5 bucks," he joked.

Cracker Barrel also focuses its dining efforts on an experience separate of alcohol. The chain serves Southern-style cooking in a down-home kind of atmosphere with rows of rocking chairs on the front porch, often appealing to travelers and families. Serving alcohol would disrupt that image, said Jim Taylor, a spokesman for the Tennessee-based restaurant chain.

"We have always been seen as that convenient and trustworthy place to stop along the interstate," he said. "Travelers and alcohol don't mix."

Plus, the kind of food served at Cracker Barrel generally doesn't mix with alcohol.

"People have come to expect our brand to provide the overall experience of a home-cooked meal," Taylor said.

Loyalty and ambiance aside, there is no getting past the fact that currently, according to Technomic, food costs are 35 percent while alcohol costs are only up 20 percent to 25 percent for some restaurants.

That might make it more difficult for eateries to stay ahead of the profit game by offering just root beer floats.

For Wildflour, alcohol may be the key to an all-around dining experience.

Customers expect a glass of wine with a $12.99 dinner entree, not a $5.99 special, said co-owner Teal Stephens.

"We often find that people say that they really enjoy our food and atmosphere but had we had the option of a glass wine or cold beer they would have been more apt to choose us as an evening dining location," Stephens said.

Other eateries have tried a similar move at some locations but not at others.

At Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in downtown Richmond, baristas can serve you a latte or a beer.

The chain has experimented with serving alcohol at its Richmond store, but it doesn't plan to bring beer or wine to its Roanoke Valley locations, said Hunter Johnson, vice president of Mill Mountain.

"Honestly, we feel like we should be selling as many different types of nonalcoholic drinks, because that's what we are. We're not a bar," he said.

In fact, the chain has introduced several new nonalcoholic drinks in some local Mill Mountain shops recently.

Those options give customers such as Rhonda Chattin of Roanoke a more relaxing experience. Chattin likes to drink red wine, but she said she doesn't choose a restaurant based on whether it serves the beverage.

"With alcohol comes a louder audience," she said.

For other local restaurants, staying alive without alcohol on tap might be impossible.

Barry Caldwell, manager of Awful Arthur's at the Towers Shopping Center, is not averse to stopping alcohol sales. But, he said, paying rent might be impossible without the money that comes in from brewskies and mixed drink sales.

"Wine, beer and liquor, they're big moneymakers."