Drinks to-go are here to stay under law signed by Mills

Photo / Pixabay.com To-go sales of alcoholic drinks that started during the pandemic can continue permanently under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Janet Mills.

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By Renee Cordes

Maine retailers and selected distilleries that started selling alcoholic drinks-to-go during pandemic shutdowns can extend the curbside cocktail hour as long as they like under a new Maine law.

Gov. Janet Mills signed L.D. 201, “An Act to Make Permanent the Ability of Certain Retailers and Distilleries to Sell Liquor for Off-premises Consumption and Cocktails for On-premises Consumption,” on Monday, according to a spokesman for the governor's office. State lawmakers in the House and Senate passed the law last week.

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Somerset, makes permanent the ability of certain retailers and distilleries to sell alcohol, including wine by the glass and malt liquor (growlers) for off-premises consumption. The bill also allows the sale of cocktails for on-premises consumption at distilleries and small distilleries.

Maine companies that started selling drinks-to-go during the pandemic include Vena’s Fizz House, which closed its Portland bricks-and-mortar bar and mixology shop on Fore Street during the pandemic. Vena's is now readying a new location on Congress Street in a renovated church.

“We made a full pivot to our product line/online sales and mixology classes during the pandemic and that is what has kept us afloat,” Johanna Corman, co-owner of Vena’s Fizz House, told Mainebiz.

HospitalityMaine, the state’s nonprofit trade group representing restaurant and lodging operators, pushed for legislation in 2020 to give an emergency source of revenue to struggling restaurants in the midst of pandemic shutdowns and restrictions.

“I’ve heard from countless folks in the hospitality industry that this was a financial lifeline for restaurants," said Nate Cloutier, HospitalityMaine’s director of government affairs. "It helped keep the doors open during the toughest days of the pandemic.

Last year, L.D. 1751, sponsored by state Sen. Louis Luchini, D-Hancock County, extended the privilege that "passed as an emergency and is in effect today because of the change," according to Hospitality Maine.

Mills agreed and allowed for beer and wine with meals to go, later extending that right to the sale of curbside cocktails.

Cloutier said that L.D. 201 puts Maine in line with more than 30 other states "that are capitalizing on the economic potential and have made alcohol to-go permanent."