The last shoe finally dropped on restaurant alcohol sales. Takeout and delivery cocktails will be legal in Virginia as of Friday for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
“All Virginia restaurants that remain open are now takeout or delivery only,” Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday. “Allowing them to sell mixed beverages with takeout or delivery orders will help them augment their revenue streams so they can continue to operate and employ Virginians.”
“As of midnight, Thursday, April 9, mixed beverage restaurants, limited mixed beverage restaurants, distillers and limited distillers with an agreement with ABC will be able to sell product samples and cocktails to go or for delivery, subject to limitations imposed by Virginia ABC,” wrote the ABC on its Twitter account after the media conference.
The governor also announced that ABC license renewal fees for restaurants would be deferred by 90 days past the original expiration date, for businesses with licenses expiring in March, April, May and June.
Takeout and delivery liquor will come with a few restrictions. Distilleries can deliver only two mixed drinks, for a maximum of 3 ounces of spirits. They can, however, also deliver entire sealed bottles of liquor.
A mixed beverage restaurant can sell two cocktails with each takeout or delivery meal ordered, up to a maximum of four cocktails per order. Also, containers must be sealed with a lid: No sippy cups or straws allowed. The establishment must also ensure that takeout customers know to put their drinks out of the drivers reach.
Sales go only until 11 p.m. And, of course, recipients must be 21 years of age or older.
Northam’s announcement follows a weeks-long daisy chain of changes to Virginia’s alcohol laws, as legislators struggle to find solutions to the massive drop in restaurants’ revenues during the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, restaurants temporarily gained the ability to deliver wine and beer to houses, and distilleries gained the permanent right to deliver bottles of booze. On Monday, distilleries gained the right to ship to customers all over the state.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, mixed beverage service has been a subject of forceful lobbying from the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, which supported the change to allow restaurants to serve mixed beverages.
Reaction from local bars and restaurants, however, has been somewhat mixed.
Adelaide Rooney, co-owner of Norfolk’s Taphouse Grill, says that when she first got the news, she was thrilled she’d be able to make a little extra through liquor sales. But upon reflection, she was dubious the Taphouse would make much additional revenue on to-go cocktails.
“They’re throwing us these little scraps here and there, but it’s not going to pay the bills,” Rooney said. “Much of what makes drinking liquor at a restaurant in Virginia is the atmosphere. Without that, it is just more expensive liquor at home.”
Rooney also worried about her legal liability if customers got drunk. Gary McIntyre, co-owner of a number of restaurants, including El Diablo Loco in Hampton and Kismet in Newport News, echoed this concern.
“What if somebody gets in a wreck, and they’ve got a cocktail and a bag of food they purchased from us?” McIntyre mused.
On the other hand, McIntyre said, New Orleans offers to-go liquor, including drive-through daiquiri spots, and hasn’t experienced significant chaos.
He also notes his El Diablo Loco restaurant has already done a lot of business with a takeout margarita made using agave wine instead of tequila.
“It’ll probably work out OK,” McIntyre said. “I imagine most people will buy them with tacos: ‘Tonight we’re having tacos and enchiladas and a margarita.’ I can see that happening. … I think out of boredom and sheer novelty, it’ll generate a significant amount of business.”
For Four Eleven York in Norfolk, co-owner Malia Paasch sees it as a chance to expand their already broad delivery options for springtime alcohol drinks. In addition to their sangria and wine cocktails, they plan takeout and delivery margaritas, likely both as a virgin fresh-juice mixer and with tequila already added.
They also plan an idea that they’d been kicking around for their bed-and-breakfast hotel adjacent to the restaurant.
“We are planning to offer bottled cocktails,” she wrote. “It’s something we have been wanting to do for a while now.”
Matthew Korfhage, 757-446-2318, matthew.korfhage@pilotonline.com
