Alcoholic drinks to be sold on-the-go: State law permits to-go sales of alcoholic beverages

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida was one of many states that allowed businesses with proper licensing to sell alcoholic beverages in to-go containers, in an attempt to sustain local business during the unprecedented effects on the world last year.

The sale of alcoholic beverages to-go, however, is something that will remain in effect - as the recently signed Senate Bill 148, the Beverage Law, will be allowing businesses and restaurants to indefinitely sell alcohol to-go, while adhering to the guidelines produced by the bill.

The new law became effective on July 1 of this year.

According to the abstract of a recent study conducted by Elyse Grossman, Sara Benjamin-Neelon and Susan Sonnenschein, a total of 832 people (84% female, 85% White, and 72% between the ages of 26 - 49) reported consuming 26.8 alcohol drinks during the 30 days in the study.

One-third of the study’s participants (34.1%) reported binge drinking and 7.0% reported extreme binge drinking.

Participants who experienced stress related to COVID-19 (versus those who had not) reported consuming more drinks.

Reasons for increased drinking during the pandemic included increased stress (45.7%), increased alcohol availability (34.4%), and boredom (30.1%).

Participants who reported being stressed by the pandemic consumed more drinks over a greater number of days, which raises concerns from both an individual and public health perspective.

Florida was the fourth state with the highest COVID-19 cases.

When Florida COVID-19 cases increased, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an emergency state order on March 17, 2020 that stated Florida would suspend on-premise selling of alcohol for vendors licensed to sell, while granting permission for off-premise alcohol sales.

Specially licensed vendors still kept their eligibility, the drink sale just had to be accompanied by a meal.

This change was specified for businesses whose revenue from alcohol sales made up over a half of their total profits.

The suspension lasted until July 2021, following the amendment for businesses with licensing to begin on-premise selling and for businesses without proper licensing to continue serving off-premise.

When Florida entered Phase 3 of the state’s COVID-19 reopening plan in September 2020, all bars, restaurants and nightclubs were allowed to open and function, while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

If the following requirements are met, qualified businesses may now sell or deliver alcoholic drinks to customers, even after the end of the pandemic:

The sale or delivery must be accompanied by a food purchase within the same order The vendor must be licensed as a public food service establishment The charge for the sale of food and nonalcoholic beverages must be at least 40% of the total charge for the order, excluding the charge for any manufacturer-sealed containers of alcoholic beverages included in the order Sales and deliveries of the alcoholic beverages may not occur after the vendor stops making food on the licensed premises for the day or after midnight, whichever is earlier

The law also requires the to-go drinks to be packaged and sealed in a container by the licensee or its employee.

The drink must be placed in a secured container or bag that shows evidence of tampering of any kind, and the container will be required to have a dated receipt for the entire meal attached to it.

To-go drinks transported in a vehicle must be locked in a trunk, or another area behind the last upright seat of the vehicle; cocktails must be no more than 32 ounces.

Gadsden County is filled with businesses that took advantage of the opportunity to engage in off-premise alcohol sales after the July 1 bill signing.

Owner of Quincy’s LR’s Sports Bar, Rudolph Evans, speaks about his businesses experience with to-go drinks and how receiving the to-go alcohol privilege has helped a lot of businesses, including his sports bar.

“Getting the opportunity to still serve alcohol during the pandemic and the reason behind it was extremely thoughtful. We didn’t decide to open back up until everyone felt comfortable and were vaccinated,” said Evans. “Once we reopened, everything picked up for us. The law applying to restaurants that also serve drinks places some businesses that only serve drinks, in a position that may not be able to take the same advantages as the restaurants that promote both but I’m still grateful for the opportunity.”

Local restaurants in Havana like Oscars, famous for their brick oven pizzas, paninis and fresh pasta salads, decided not to comment on the new law because of their business not being drastically affected negatively or positively.

WB’s Sports Bar & Grill in Chattahoochee also decided not to comment for personal business reasons.

Oriana Plummer - Gadsden County News Service

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Alcoholic drinks to be sold on-the-go: State law permits to-go sales of alcoholic beverages

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ONE OF US: Cecelia Madry

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