There's no question about it: alcohol to go sales have helped restaurants survive the COVID-19 crisis.

Booze, Beer and other alcohol takeout options have been a lifeline for our Cali BBQ restaurant and others in California.

That salvation was thanks to regulatory relief from the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency which, among other changes, has allowed certain licensees to sell sealed alcohol to go containers with food orders.

Our Cali BBQ Craft Cocktails and Beer Growlers To Go have been a huge hit with our guests. When we had our popular Tiger King Growler, some people even dressed up like characters from the Netflix documentary to pick theirs up.

Being able to continue selling alcohol during the coronavirus pandemic has helped us retain many of our amazing staff members during an incredibly difficult time for the restaurant business.

But the lifeline is still temporary. If the people of California want establishments like Cali BBQ to be able to continue selling alcohol to go with food, then it'll take a legislative push to permanently change the law.

"I think everybody's had to adjust," California Alcoholic Beverage Control spokesperson John Carr said about the COVID-19 pandemic and public safety related shutdown orders on our Digital Hospitality podcast. "This has been unbelievable, I mean, we all had this just dropped on us and then we had to immediately ask ourselves, what can I do? What can I do to serve my community in the best way possible? How can I do it safely?"

"Because all of us want to see people get back to work. We want to see businesses reopen. It's just that we have to make sure that we're all cognizant and doing everything we can to keep people from getting this terrible disease that spreads. And there's no vaccine yet. So we have to do all these things to keep people safe."
"It's definitely been a huge challenge," he added. "And I know it's been a huge challenge to the hospitality industry. You've felt it by like a tidal wave."

 
Booze To Go In the US:
Restaurant owners and others involved in food and drink service have been making concerted efforts to change their states' respective laws.

For some restaurants, being able to sell cocktails, beer, wine, and other drinks to go and for delivery, has helped them stay in business. If that were to suddenly change back to how it was before the regulations were rolled back, it could mean disaster for some who now rely on drink sales to stay afloat.

Cocktails and alcoholic drinks to go have helped struggling business all over the country.

In a May 5, 2020 Eater article by Jaya Saxena called "It's Maybe Time to Make To-Go Cocktails Legal" the influential online publication raised an important question: Why hasn't it been like this the whole time?

And why can't we continue allowing people to pick up alcoholic drinks to go with food indefinitely.
"It seems to be working quite well, both for businesses and customers; businesses get to offload more product at a time when every penny counts, and customers get to enjoy mixologist-quality cocktails at home," the Eater article states. "And it raises the question of why the hell it hasn’t been like this the whole time.