There aren't that many silver linings to the nation's coronavirus lockdown, but people in some parts of the U.S. have found one: cocktails to-go.
In places like New York and Texas, officials carved out exceptions to alcohol beverage laws to allow bars and restaurants to sell beer, wine, and mixed drinks to take-out customers.
The benefits to customers are obvious. To restaurants and bars struggling to stay open for food delivery and pick-up, the ability to add high-margin cocktails and mixed drinks to the check has provided a crucial revenue stream.
"For a small mom-and-pop shop like me, allowing this has been the number one positive decision that the state has made during the crisis," said John Solo, owner of Cantina Taco & Tequila Bar in White Plains, New York. "It's been life-saving. It's helped us keep our lights on."
New York was ahead of the curve when it came to allowing alcohol pick-up during the shutdown. The same March 16 state order that mandated the closure of all dining rooms and bars carved out an exception for “new off-premises privileges for licensed businesses with on-premises privileges.”
This meant newly-quarantined residents could still swing by for a cocktail or mixed drink, as well as leftover bottles of beer and wine that otherwise would have languished on shelves.
Alcohol typically makes up between 20 to 30 percent of restaurant sales, but it's often an even larger share of profits, because prepared food is lower-margin and more labor-intensive.
Solo said the breakdown is closer to 80 percent food and 20 percent alcohol for his business, which continues to focus more on food, but the higher price point of the drinks has helped pay for the rest of the operation.
"What the $10 margherita does is chop down my food costs, because the margins are a little better," he said. "All of a sudden, I can pay the extra employee. I can pay my rent."
Over the weekend, downtown White Plains, which is known for its strip of high-capacity bars and restaurants, saw a number of masked patrons picking up margheritas and White Claw Hard Seltzers and walking the sidewalks with them while police cars patrolled nearby.
But contrary to appearances, New York is not going the way of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, normally known for revelers pouring into the streets while enjoying happy hour at any hour.
"The new guidance for sales 'to go' and for 'delivery' mandate that the alcoholic beverages must be sold in sealed containers," said a spokesperson for the State Liquor Authority. "The Alcoholic Beverage Control law does not specifically address open container laws, as open container laws are typically local ordinances."
That hasn't stopped customers from White Plains to downtown Manhattan from drinking on-the-go or sitting down at the park with a made-to-order cocktail.
Barbara Sibley, the owner of La Palapa in the East Village, said her business had to adapt quickly to customers who were consuming their beverage soon after picking it up.
"We realized we needed to tell the bartender what cup to put it in," she said. "Is this a cup that people are going to drink fairly soon, like a Solo cup with a straw, or like a soup container full of a frozen margarita that people are going to stick in the freezer."
She said that it does seem that the New York Police Department has been laxer on people drinking outside, but it's hard to tell from the vantage of the pick-up window.
"If somebody takes a sip out of their take-out bag, it's not the end of the world," Sibley said. "Am I going to allow a massive happy hour on my sidewalk? No."
For her, the main advantage in offering alcohol is that customers get the full experience of going to the restaurant. She said restaurants with a roughly equal focus on food and drink have done the best because customers want to meet all of their needs at one establishment.
As for whether restaurants would like to see less restrictive open container laws in the future, the industry, for now, is focused on the small gains that have come with to-go sales.
"The restaurant industry is thankful that the State Liquor Authority instituted these new rules for to-go alcohol sales," said Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, in a statement. "It allows restaurants to have an additional revenue stream during this difficult time and allows patrons to get the craft cocktails, wine or beer that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to enjoy. Our restaurants are following the regulations put in place and ensuring that customers are not consuming any alcoholic beverages on-premises.”
Other states have attempted to pass similar provisions as New York, but opponents have expressed concerns over ripple effects such as more public drinking and drunk driving.
The North Carolina legislature on Monday axed a proposal to allow mixed alcoholic drinks for takeout and delivery as part of a $1.5 billion relief package, due to pushback from lawmakers who worried the allowance would cause a surge in drunk driving and public drinking. Proponents argued that the mixed drinks would be sealed and all laws around drinking and driving would remain in place.
The local restaurant industry, which was banking on the rule change for some financial relief, lamented the reversal.
“A much needed pro-business, consumer choice COVID relief provision got stuck by a small minority,” Isabel Villa-Garcia, director of government affairs for the NC Restaurant and Lodging Association, tweeted on May 2.
With the politics of booze often getting mired in age-old liquor laws, coronavirus has produced a hodgepodge of temporary rule changes elsewhere that defy the usual political divides.
New Orleans, for instance, is now subject to some of the strictest rules in the country. While local bars and restaurants have long been able to sell "walk-tails" or mixed drinks in to-go cups, new state rules have banned the selling of sealed cocktails for curbside pickup and delivery.
Juana Lombard, the commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, said the agency is looking into the option but said "we can’t put the public at risk.”
In some places, the move has proven so popular that officials are considering making drinks to-go a permanent thing even when the coronavirus crisis ebbs.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has hinted that his state may continue to allow to-go alcohol sales indefinitely.
"From what I hear from Texans, we may just let this keep on going forever," he tweeted.
