CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — If there’s anything that soared because of the pandemic, it was the idea to offer cocktails to-go.
The New York Restaurant association surveyed hundreds of people, and a majority of them want states to keep the take-out and delivery rule, even once life gets back to normal.
Georgia is one state that has permanently adopted the ordinance and now, others are following suit. It’s a move industry leaders say will help businesses recover from the economic toll of the pandemic.
Georgia representative and restaurant owner, Kasey Carpenter, says the alcohol sales were critical for restaurants’ survival.
“Restaurants did everything they could to survive during this time. And obviously losing in house alcohol sales were were was very, very difficult because of the margins that are in those products,” said Carpenter
He added, “And then you also I think we’ve seen that, even if, as we’ve eased out of the pandemic, that there’s been a fundamental shift towards takeout for a lot of people. And so to capture those sales that you otherwise would not have, it’s kind of really important for, for states to follow suit and continue this trend.”
Twenty states have already passed legislation to continue allowing to-go cocktails, with 15 others considering permanently legalizing them.
However, some liquor stores have voices opposition to keeping to-go alcohol legal since it may hurt their businesses — which were also impacted by the pandemic.
“I think it’s always a challenge to balance the winners and losers and regulation. But at the end of the day, you know, a lot of our laws do not match up consumer trends. And we’re always behind the eight ball from a state from a nation versus what you know where society is…And at the end of the day, I mean, the pandemic showed people bought liquor. So the liquor stores have done fine through the pandemic, I think that restaurants are the ones that need neither left or right,” said Carpenter.
Watch the full interview in the player above.