Businesses in MA Can Serve Cocktails To-Go for a Few More Months

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  • 8 Jan, 2024  |
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1 Businesses in MA Can Serve Cocktails To-Go for a Few More Months

When the pandemic hit hard in 2020, temporary laws were passed in a handful of states that allowed alcohol to be purchased to-go. Normally, with a few exceptions, alcohol must be consumed on the premises where it’s purchased.

Thanks to these temporary laws, many restaurants started offering alcoholic beverages to-go so customers could get their favorite drinks with their meals. The temporary laws applied to bars as well, even if people were only purchasing alcohol without food. The purpose was to help establishments maintain revenue in a time when sit-down dining was banned.

During the pandemic, sixteen states also permitted restaurants and bars to deliver alcohol to a person’s home. Usually, restaurants only deliver non-alcoholic drinks, and these laws are set to expire (if they haven’t already) in most states. This could be a good thing since it’s been said that home alcohol delivery is actually responsible for many people developing alcohol addiction during the pandemic.

Now that the pandemic is behind us, lawmakers are starting to phase out these laws, but not all states have made the transition back to normal yet. In some states, alcohol can still be purchased to go – at least for a little bit longer.

Alcohol to-go is winding down

Massachusetts is one state that passed a law temporarily allowing alcohol to be taken to-go, and three years later, many restaurants and bars are still selling to-go drinks. Businesses have no reason to stop since the law is still in effect, and in fact, it’s not set to expire until March 30, 2024. The temporary MA law was extended for another year to give restaurant and bar owners time to recover from the damage done by lost sales during the pandemic.

It takes time for business owners to reestablish a customer base of regulars who will come in for a meal and have some drinks. Many of their regulars are happy to return, but they still need to drum up new business to maintain revenue. In MA, it’s a little harder to market alcoholic beverages because there’s a 40-year-old ban on happy hour price specials and other deals that would be considered standard marketing practices.

For the last four decades, MA law has prohibited time-limited alcoholic drink specials, free drinks, unlimited drinks for a specific time duration, and drinks provided as prizes. There are also many other restrictions, which is why Massachusetts business owners need to consult an alcoholic beverage attorney before making any changes to the way they serve alcohol, no matter what they hear about new laws. The industry is heavily regulated and complex, and all it takes is one mistake to ruin a business.

Some states are keeping alcohol to-go

Maryland ended takeout cocktails in July 2023, and most other states have returned to normal alcoholic beverage laws. However, in some states, alcohol to-go has become a permanent thing. For instance, Michigan’s governor has signed legislation legalizing to-go alcoholic beverages permanently. Michigan’s temporary law was set to expire in 2026, but now it’s been woven into state law. The governor made this decision because businesses have been greatly benefiting from to-go alcohol sales.

Even though the pandemic is over and people can dine in once again, many are still choosing to get food and drinks to go. For many, ordering to go has become a way of life and they don’t actually want to dine in all the time. While considering keeping this law, the governor noted that offering liquor to go has been an additional source of regular revenue for businesses and there haven’t been any major issues. If the law is phased out now, it will really hurt their revenue since so many customers have now come to expect and even prefer to-go alcohol.

How is alcohol served to go, anyway?

You might be wondering how establishments are even serving alcohol for takeout customers. It’s actually pretty genius. Most businesses use plastic half gallon or gallon bags that have a resealable cap. It’s not going to tempt anyone to drink and drive since the container doesn’t make that easy. There is a seal that gets broken when the cap is opened, and there’s no way to puncture the bag with a straw like you would a juice pouch. If the seal is broken, it’s considered driving with an open container.

People really like their alcohol to go

Now that so many people have gotten used to mixed drinks to go, they’re going to have a rough time when the temporary laws disappear. It’s not an easy solution, but those who have gotten used to getting alcohol delivered or getting cocktails to go will just need to learn how to mix their own drinks. It’s really not that hard, and most will embrace it once they realize how much money they’re saving by making drinks at home.