To-Go Cocktails On Track To Stay In Georgia - Even After The Pandemic Ends

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling restaurants have been able to sell cocktails to-go.

Thanks to state legislators, that could become a permanent service, even in the highly-anticipated, post-pandemic days.

On Monday (March 1), the Georgia Senate Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities gave a unanimous green light to a bill that would legalize to-go beverages. It’ll head to the senate floor for a vote next, Eater Atlanta reported Tuesday (March 2). Pennsylvania, Michigan and other states have already approved similar measures.

Senate Bill 236 aims to “allow food service establishments licensed to sell distilled spirits for consumption on the premises to sell mixed drinks for off-premises consumption in approved containers under certain conditions,” the bill reads.

If the bill passes, customers will be able to buy “two mixed drinks per entree ordered.” Drinks will have to be accompanied by a food order and “a sales receipt with a time stamp that indicates the date and time of such purchases.”

Drivers who pick up their to-go orders with cocktails should place the drink in “a locked glove compartment, a locked trunk, or the area behind the last upright seat of a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a trunk,” the bill reads.

Local chefs told Eater that the legislation is “a long time coming,” and would be “an enormous help to businesses.”

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