To-go cocktails could be on California restaurant menus for the next five years.
The California State Legislature on Thursday passed Senate Bill 389, which would allow restaurants to sell mixed drinks, cocktails and wine with a takeout meal until Dec. 31, 2026. It passed the State Assembly on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday.
The bill now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature ahead of the Oct. 10 deadline.
Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat from Napa, authored the bill. It limits customers to two drinks per meal, with size restrictions, and delivery purchases are excluded.
"Restaurants have been hit hard by the pandemic and the ability to sell carry-out cocktails has been critical to ensuring they can survive," Dodd said Thursday in a statement. "Making this permanent will ensure their recovery, protecting jobs and our economy. I thank my fellow legislators for supporting this important proposal."
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control first allowed restaurants to sell to-go drinks last March at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, later allowing breweries and wineries to do the same if they partnered with another restaurant to sell food. The department's regulatory relief was set to expire at the end of this year.
The California Restaurant Association supported the bill, and Senior Vice President Chris Sutton said in a statement provided by Dodd’s office that the legislation will keep in place "what has been a successful trial project" as the restaurant industry attempts to rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A survey commissioned by the National Restaurant Association found that 78% of restaurant owners who sold alcoholic drinks to go were able to rehire employees they’d laid off, according to Dodd's office. Overall, 62% of restaurant owners were able to bring back laid-off employees.
Bars that don't serve food aren’t included in the legislation. Ben Bleiman, President of the San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance, told Eater on Friday that California bar owners met with Dodd to discuss early drafts of the bill but later heard bars weren't included.
Bleiman told the outlet the final "bill is not a cause for celebration."
"COVID is not gone by any means," he said. "A lot of people have gotten comfortable ordering cocktails for their home. We're now cut out of that economy completely."
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