Local coffee places and bars; like minded people rock up all the time. Met lovely people just today; gonna meet them in an a few weeks for a hike. Never worked for me for focused envs, for instance the gym: too much whining about sports/health and not stuff I actually like.
Embarrassing / dumb q, but how do you actually get to talking with them in a meaningful way? I can imagine with repeats, it's easier to build up rapport, but I don't think I've ever hit it off so strongly with someone at a coffee shop that we exchange info after one interaction (mine here aren't super social fwiw)
Alcohol is a double-edged sword because it breaks down barriers. It's your call what you do with the information and experiences it provides. It isn't too bad if you're careful.
You can take all that as a way to level up and be more sociable in sober settings like coffee shops. It translates to everywhere. People aren't different when they're sober apart from being slightly more defensive due to stress. That's actually a pretty good conversation starter if done in a non-confrontational way. The main skill is just learning to be genuinely interested in other people. It's easy to mimic this and return the favor when you've seen enough of this kind of attention given to you.