To-go cocktails with limits closer to reality in Georgia as Senate bill passes
Cocktails-to-go edged closer to becoming a reality in Georgia with passage in the state Senate Friday, March 5, of a measure allowing restaurants to sell curbside alcoholic beverages in tightly sealed containers with takeout food.
Sponsored by Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, the bill would permit Georgians ages 21 and older to buy up to two mixed drinks in togo cups with a maximum 3 ounces of liquor in each, or about two shots-worth. Georgia already permits to-go sales of beer and wine.
The drinks would have to be kept in cups without any holes for straws and sealed so securely it would be easy to tell if the cup has been opened before the purchaser arrives home. To-go drinks would also have to be stored in a glove box, locked trunk or behind the back seat while driving.
To-go drinks could not be sold on their own: Customers would have to buy food along with a takeaway alcoholic beverage. Third-party delivery services like Uber Eats, Doordash and Grubhub also could not bring cocktails to someone’s home due to legal liability issues, Brass said.
“One thing we learned from the pandemic is our hospitality industry was hit very, very hard,” Brass said from the Senate floor. “All we’re simply trying to do here is give them one more tool here to bounce back.” “That tool is going to be a screwdriver,” he added. “And that screwdriver is going to be to-go.”
The measure passed 36-10 and now heads to the state House of Representatives.
Supporters have hailed legalized to-go drinks as a way to help struggling restaurants prop up sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has pummeled the food-service industry in Georgia over the past year. Nearly 4,000 restaurants have closed in the state during the pandemic, with $5 billion lost in sales and around 100,000 employees left jobless, according to Karen Bremer, president of the Georgia Restaurant Association.
Opponents who have long resisted expanding alcohol sales on moral and practical grounds worry allowing motorists to take home cocktails could worsen traffic safety, spurring more drunk driving and potentially fatal car crashes.
Brass’ bill follows a separate law change passed last summer that allowed restaurants, supermarkets and liquor stores to make home deliveries of beer, wine and distilled spirits, subject to the approval of local voters.
See Rock City Inc. (SRC) has presented a check in the amount of $12,899 to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga for the 2020 season of the Enchanted Garden of Lights.
The donation amount varies annually based on attendance and ticket proceeds from the holiday event. The grand total from the beginning of this 20year partnership is now more than $240,000.
“Our team was so very excited to be able to bring the magic of Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights to our guests in 2020,” said SRC President and CEO Susan Harris.
“Safety was a priority for us, and it has been so gratifying to learn how to share our place and experience in a safe way. And, by being able to host the event, we have also been able to continue our longstanding partnership with the Ronald McDonald House,” Harris said. “It was a very encouraging and hopeful end to a challenging year!”