The D.C. Council is reportedly considering making some pandemic-era alcohol rules a new fixture of the local dining scene.
Barred in DC reports that the provision, in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget, would make restaurants’ newfound ability to offer beer, wine and cocktails for delivery and takeout permanent. It would be a shot in the arm for struggling restaurants that have seen business drop precipitously during the coronavirus crisis.
With dining rooms closed, table service restaurants lost their main profit driver: alcoholic drinks. Both D.C. and Virginia have responded with emergency rules allowing restaurants to let customers carry out beer, wine and cocktails in sealed containers, or to have those adult beverages delivered.
Making such rules permanent can help the industry recover, and perhaps avoid the worst of the “restaurant apocalypse” that some predict could result in 20% to 40% of U.S. restaurants closing for good.
Do you think Virginia lawmakers should make the temporary takeout and delivery drink rules permanent?