“I think it’s a good idea," Felix Guerra III, owner of Guerra’s Krazy Taco said. "Obviously it’s going to help. How much it’s going to help that’s what is going to matter.”
Guerra told the News-Sun about 25 percent of his carryout orders include cocktails. He added that maybe when customers realize to-go cocktails are permanent, they will order to-go cocktails more often.
“It’s probably going to help a lot of people,” Mindy Hogan-Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Tavern said. “There’s a lot of small mom and pop restaurants that are really struggling right now and hopefully this will give them a boost to help keep their doors open and pay their bills.”
Hogan-Taylor added that she is concerned “how responsible that is - allowing customers to take open containers in their cars.”
Hogan-Taylor said in early April when DeWine approved to-go cocktails as an executive order to help bars and restaurants stay in business during the shutdown, her customers were ordering to-go cocktails frequently. In recent months, sales of to-go cocktails have slowed.
“I’m very fortunate that this pandemic has not really affected us much businesswise, but I know there’s plenty of people that are struggling," she said. "Hopefully this will help them.”
Kathleen Griffith, co-owner of Bogey’s at Rocky Lakes offered a different opinion. "No, I don’t think it will help because our people drink here and they usually don’t get them to go,”
House Bill 669 allows bars and restaurants with full liquor licenses to sell full-proof cocktails to-go, with a three drink per meal limit. Food delivery services can deliver alcoholic drinks as long as they register with the state.
The bill also provides a temporary expansion of outdoor patio space to include adjacent sidewalks and parking areas.
As the number of coronavirus cases increase and the cold weather moves in, eliminating outdoor seating, Guerra and Hogan-Taylor said that they are expecting to-go cocktails to increase.
“We’re going to need that extra revenue to try to hang on. Its not as easy as people have thought,” Guerra said. “When you’re used to getting 100 percent business and you’re down to 40-45 percent it’s tough to make everything go.”
“If we all just hang together and do this thing right, I think we will be okay,” Guerra added.
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