Are To Go Cocktails Here to Stay? The Current Legislation State by State

Cocktails to-go, one of the most exciting beverage innovations that launched from necessity during the pandemic, has become a beloved (and revenue generating) custom in many cities and towns across the country. Convenient for consumers who miss the quality mixology from their local haunts, to-go beverages also provide an appropriate accompaniment for the elaborate take-out meals many folks have come to rely on (or splurge on) when they dine out less often. Now more and more states have made permanent the formerly temporary legislation allowing to go cocktails.

Cocktail Formats

Restaurants, bars, and pop-up cocktail delivery services have gone all out to create appealing offerings for carry out cocktail service.  In January 2021 Ocean Prime introduced Cocktails to Go, featuring favorite drinks that varied from location to location. Guests can take home Bubbles and Berry, Pineapple Picante, and a Black Orchid prepared by Ocean Prime’s award-winning mixologists and served in branded mason jars.

Cocktails to Go at Ocean Prime

In Chicago’s River North, Three Dots and a Dash offers tropical quaffs for pickup like the Down Periscope, a tequila-based cocktail with mango, guava, pineapple, and orgeat, while in Portland, OR, Blank Slate Bar offers a variety of cocktails including classics like a Daiquiri, Paper Plane or Last Word, in returnable jars with a refundable deposit, complete with ice and fancy garnishes on the side.

At Concord Hill in Williamsburg, the bar produces custom personalized bespoke batched cocktails to celebrate occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings, and or give as a gift.

Economic Relief

During COVID-19, more than 35 states began allowing restaurants and/or bars to sell cocktails to-go as an economic relief measure via executive orders or other temporary measures. Since then, 16 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation to make cocktails to-go permanent, and 14 other states passed legislation to allow cocktails to-go on a temporary basis. 

Each state has specific rules in place regarding customer pick up and delivery, the use of third-party delivery services, and regulations around the number of cocktails that can be purchased and how much food needs to be ordered. In some states, like IL, single servings of wine are included.

On September 9, 2021, California was the latest state legislature to pass a bill, SB 389, to extend cocktails to-go, which allows cocktails in sealed containers to be sold until December 31, 2026. The bill is expected to be signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Legislators from across the country argue that the economic impact of selling cocktails to go helps restaurants struggling with pandemic recovery to survive. Liquor store lobbyists have opposed the legislation, citing the competition as harmful to their bottle business, and such arguments prevented New York’s legislation from passing successfully.

Lisa Hawkins, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the Distilled Spirits Council, a trade association for the spirits industry, explains why the continued legislation is so important to the health of the restaurant industry. “Restaurants have started to reopen but have not recovered,” from the impact of Covid-19. To-go cocktails “truly provide a stable source of income during this difficult time” to establishments faced with roadblocks like the Delta variant, staff shortages, and upcoming winter weather.  “Restaurants are the heart and soul of our communities,” continues Hawkins, “where people gather and celebrate.” This legislation allows these beloved haunts “to recover and get back on their feet.”

Beyond recovery, owners like Jason Burrell, proprietor of The Long Room on Chicago’s North Side, are finding other beneficial outcomes, like time to create, market, and innovate. “Our bottled cocktails to-go definitely saved us, but also helped us segue and dip our toes into cocktails a little deeper. We expanded our cocktail list, decreased our beers on tap and made room for more carbonated cocktails on tap now that we are open, because when we weren’t we learned how to do those. It was a fun exercise that played out in a really great way.” They also see expanded interest in cocktails to-go by consumers as an additional revenue stream going forward. “I don’t see why we can’t keep a few pre-mades in the cooler for hand-selling to folks beyond ‘I don’t wanna go out because of Covid.’”

State Legislation

States that passed legislation to make cocktails to-go permanent

26 states plus the District of Columbia have made COVID-era cocktails to-go measures permanent. Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusets, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

States that passed legislation to allow cocktails to-go on a temporary basis:

California (expires December 31, 2026), Connecticut (expired June 4, 2024), Illinois (extended to August 2028), Maryland (local option – expired June 30, 2023), New Jersey (TBD), New York (expires April 9, 2025), Tennessee (expired July 1, 2023), Vermont (expired July 1, 2023) and passed legislation to allow cocktails to-go on a temporary basis.