Refreshment on tapRefreshment on tap

Following in the footsteps of bars and coffeehouses, some restaurant operators are enjoying the ease of service, consistency and cost advantages that come with serving trendy beverages like cold brew and nitro coffee, iced tea, kombucha and house sodas on draft.

The role model is draft beer, which of course has been an industry mainstay for longer than anyone can remember. The boom in craft beverages over the past decade has opened the floodgates for premium wines and cocktails, as well as popular nonalcoholic beverage, on tap.

For example, nitro cold brew coffee from a local vendor on draft is a hit at Mill Valley Kitchen, a California cuisine restaurant in St. Louis Park, Minn. Nitro coffee is cold brew that is infused and propelled with...