Cocktails to-go? Tacoma officials push state to loosen regulations during coronavirus
As it stands, Washingtonians aren’t allowed to purchase mixed drinks and cocktails to-go with their takeout orders.
Some government officials in Tacoma want to relax those rules amid Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 emergency order.
Tacoma City Council members want restaurants and bars statewide to be able to serve cocktails in a closed container, such as a cup with a lid (no straws or sipping holes) with to-go orders.
Not allowing businesses to sell mixed drinks to-go is costing them thousands, according to Tacoma City Council officials.
“There are hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, sitting on the shelves of restaurants and bars across our city that can be put into play,” Tacoma City Council member Robert Thoms said. “...This allows them to take something they’ve already spent money on and allow them to put it into play as they try to stay focused on keeping their businesses alive.”
Thoms talked to many businesses in Tacoma that wanted looser regulations, he said.
In a council meeting Friday, Thoms sponsored a letter to send to Inslee and state legislators, asking them to direct the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) to allow for businesses to sell mixed drinks with to-go orders.
All nine members of Tacoma City Council signed the letter, which the Washington Hospitality Association supports based on member requests for such a change.
““Including mixed drinks in the temporary modification would allow businesses to utilize available stock they have on hand, and would give them another tool to stay open and employ staff during this economic crisis,” the letter stated.
State Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, whose district includes southwestern Pierce County north to University Place and Anderson Island, agreed that small businesses could use the extra support right now.
“We know that a portion of small businesses aren’t going to make it,” she told The News Tribune in a phone call last week. “How do we fill that stop-gap to make sure we do as much as we can?
“We have to be flexible in our rules and regulations right now and not get caught up with how we did something for 20 years,” she said.
When reached by The News Tribune, spokesperson Brian Smith said the LCB immediately responded to Inslee’s emergency order by allowing to-go sales of spirits, beer and wine that are factory-sealed, including cocktail kits, to help businesses.
“A kit, if you’re not familiar, is mix in a cup, jar, or similar container. The spirits are in sealed minis. So, it’s pretty close to a mixed drink. Restaurant sales of spirits to-go is something we’ve never allowed before,” Smith said in an email.
The LCB stopped short of allowing mixed drinks to-go, citing the public safety risk of “providing an easy opportunity for drivers to drink cocktails on their way home.”
Thoms said that allowing to-go mixed drinks doesn’t mean people will be driving around with cocktails in cups with straws — it would still have to be sealed in some way.
“There is no presumption that if you give it to them in a to-go cup that they’re going to have it in their car,” Thoms said.
HURTING RESTAURANTS WANT THE BOOST
For many restaurants, selling cocktails to-go is a no-nonsense tool to combat the current crisis.
“Simply put, allowing to-go cocktails would allow us to increase revenue for small businesses,” said Samuel Kirbawy, general manager of Moshi Moshi, a ramen bar in Tacoma’s Stadium District whose owner signed the City Council letter. “I would be able to bring back more staff. This is already practiced in many other states.”
Others have already found a way to make the “cocktail kit” idea work, albeit in a batched form rather than one cocktail per cup.
Moctezuma’s, the Mexican chain with four South Sound restaurants, has been bottling margaritas in 750-milliliter bottles with a self-seal cap, keeping with open-container laws.
“The opportunity to sell cocktails to-go has really been a game-changer and allowed us to be able to bring our team members back in to begin working again,” said chief operating officer Sean Drought in an email.
He and owner Bernie Garcia also signed the letter.
The large-format bottles — as opposed to 50-milliliter minis, equivalent to a 1.5-ounce pour — are also more environmentally responsible, he said, and a better value for customers.
Any opportunity to boost revenue during this difficult time matters, said Black Fleet Brewing co-owner Kyle Maxwell, whose partner Caitlyn Byce signed the letter, too. The brewery only sells its own product in its taproom, but in this crisis, camaraderie knows no bounds.
“The bottom line is we want these mom-and-pops to not only survive but be able to flourish afterward,” said Maxwell. “We are a part of the hospitality industry, and we are a small family-owned business ourselves. We are just trying to help support other businesses that are like ours.”
At The Mule Tavern, owner Sam Halhuli said the ability to sell single cocktails to-go could inch the bar near its original margins, but overall, at this point, it wasn’t make-or-break.
Since March 17, he has transformed his bar into a supply store, selling bottles of housemade syrups to make classic cocktails at home. When LCB permitted full license holders to sell sealed bottles of booze, he was thrilled to be able to send customers home with a bottle of his Old Fashioned syrup and a bottle of bourbon. The project has allowed him to bring back most of his small staff.
Joking that cocktails to-go would negate his efforts to promote “stay-at-home, drink-at-home” culture, he added, “I prefer our system; it feels cleaner.”
Other states that have limited businesses to delivery and takeout amid the coronavirus pandemic have allowed for the sale of to-go mixed drinks, including New York and California.
In California, pre-mixed drinks or cocktails must have “‘a secure lid or cap’ (without a hole for sipping or a straw)” and must be sold with food, reported the LA Times.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 1:01 PM.
