ROANOKE, Va. – It has been weeks since anyone in Virginia has been able to sit down and have a drink inside of a restaurant. Now, Gov. Ralph Northam is now allowing restaurants to bring those drinks directly to the customers.
Northam ordered Virginia’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) to allow restaurants to serve mixed drinks with delivery and pick-up orders. The order takes effect Friday.
“It seems like a very bold move, but it will be very beneficial for the restaurants that are still open that are able to serve liquor off-premise," said Aaron Deal, who owns Roanoke restaurant The River And Rail.
Deal found a way around the prior restrictions by selling customers the ingredients for their specialty cocktails, but with directions for the customer to buy the matching liquor themselves. He said the ability to sell full-fledged mixed drinks could become a tremendous opportunity for restaurants still struggling for business due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“There is a clientele for it,” Deal said. "We’ve seen craft cocktails boom in the last couple of years, especially right here in Roanoke.”
While Deal looks forward to the potential of the loosened restrictions, Vanessa Haislip has the opposite stance. Her daughter, Melissa, died at the hands of a drunk driver, and Haislip worries the availability of mixed drinks could create more risk on the road.
“Is Gov. Northam saying it’s okay to drink and drive, because that’s the message that I got,” Haislip said. “I want him to sit down and look at me in my eyes and tell me that no one will drink and drive when they pick up that mixed drink.”
The cocktails do come with restrictions. All drinks will be sealed, customers must order food for every two drinks, and there is a cap of four drinks per order.
Deal is optimistic this can be the lifeline some restaurants need right now.
“Seeing the Governor put something in place that allows us to generate more revenue, which equals more jobs for people to have here, and us not having to close, I can’t tell you the importance that brings,” Deal said.