Cocktails to go? Bill that could be lifeline for bars, restaurants may be reintroduced

CHARLOTTE — COVID-19 has been very tough on bars and restaurants, but a lot of states have thrown those businesses a lifeline specifically tailored to help them get through the pandemic.

Some states allow bars to sell takeout drinks like how restaurants can with food.

[Here’s what NC’s new modified stay-at-home order means for you]

“They have always treated me like family,” said P.K., a patron at Tommy’s Pub on Eastway Drive. “They have treated a lot of people like family.”

Tommy’s has been a neighborhood watering hole since 1977.

“I’ve been doing bar, service industry since I was 15,” owner Jamie Starks said.

Starks bought the bar three years ago, and the business had always been good to him -- until COVID-19 hit.

“It’s been tough,” Starks said. “It’s been very tough.”

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a modified stay-at-home order Tuesday which put more restrictions on the service industry. Restaurants must close by 10 p.m. and no alcohol sales are allowed after 9 p.m.

“The hospitality industry has really taken it on the chin,” said Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Raleigh.

Chaudhuri proposed a bill over the summer that would allow bars to sell takeout alcoholic drinks. The House approved the measure, but Chaudhuri said that social conservatives in the Senate killed it.

He said he’s going to fight that battle again, and that there will be an effort next session.

“Yes, absolutely,” Chaudhuri said. “We will introduce this bill. I think a bill of this kind, which shows support for small businesses, will be at the top of our agenda.”

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and industry lobbying groups said that more than 30 states and the District of Columbia changed laws to allow takeout drinks in response to the pandemic.

That could be a lifeline for many in North Carolina.

“We want to be the forward-thinking, forward-moving, forward-acting-state, yet we still allow ourselves to be restricted by old antiquated laws,” Starks said.