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At least three local restaurants will continue offering to-go cocktails now that a change in state law permanently allows their continued sale.

Other restaurateurs  say the trend never took off at their establishments, and at least one expressed fear over liability should an opened to-go beverage find its way into underage or driving hands.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin in March signed two identical General Assembly bills – House Bill 688 and Senate Bill 635 – which repealed the July 1, 2024, sunset of a 2021 law originally intended as a temporary measure to boost business at restaurants that had shuttered during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing businesses already licensed by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority license to sell mixed drinks to offer them in to-go containers for off-premises consumption.

The ABC Authority first issued rules for legal to-go cocktails in 2020 in response to then-Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order declaring a state of emergency. The General Assembly codified to-go cocktails in 2021 with an initial sunset in 2022, followed by a reauthorization vote extending the measure through mid-2024.

The 2024 law makes permanent the legal sale of up to two 16-ounce to-go cocktails per meal, or a maximum of four drinks, provided each is sold in a closed container marked with the phrase “contains alcoholic beverage.”

The law further extends until July 1, 2026, the legal delivery of to-go cocktails by third parties licensed by the ABC Authority, such as DoorDash and Grubhub. The ABC Authority stipulates that the delivery driver must be at least 21 years old and have his or her vehicle registered to deliver mixed beverages or cocktails.

“All of my restaurants have been taking advantage of the law,” said Randy Pack, who co-owns the Smithfield Station restaurant, hotel and marina on South Church Street, the Surry Seafood Co., and three restaurants in Suffolk.

“This has been a popular feature with guests who order to-go meals, as well as guests who wish to take a cocktail home,” Pack said.

Taste of Smithfield on Main Street also confirmed it will continue offering to-go cocktails.

Virginia ABC regulations stipulate that to-go cocktail containers “should not” contain a straw or sipping holes.

“The drinks must have lids and a sticker over the straw hole if there is a straw hole,” Pack said.

Julie Hess, who handles catering and special events at Red Point Taphouse, said to-go cocktails were never all that popular to begin with at the 2021-founded craft brewery, also located on South Church Street. Wharf Hill Brewing Co. on Main Street also confirmed it had stopped offering to-go cocktails.

“People do order the growlers,” Hess said, referring to Red Point’s airtight, take-home beer containers, but “I don’t think that’s as prevalent as it was” during the height of the pandemic.

The Smithfield Inn on Main Street also confirmed it offers cocktails only for on-premises consumption.

To-go cocktails’ “liability issues have not been tested,” said Bill Wandersee, general manager of the Smithfield Inn, adding “Most of our patrons prefer to stay and enjoy themselves here.”

According to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data, alcohol was a factor in 5.4% of the state’s 2023 collisions. Virginia saw the same percentage of alcohol-involved collisions in 2019 before to-go cocktails were legalized.

The initial 2021 law had required the ABC Authority to convene a working group to study the sale of to-go cocktails. The group, which included roughly 40 stakeholders, met six times that year to study the economic benefits and public health and safety considerations, concluding in its report that “the initiative was monitored closely by Virginia ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement and very few incidents of non-compliance are noted.”

“Our recommendations include continuing the cocktail to go privilege for an additional two years and collecting compliance and other data during that period,” the group concluded in October 2021. “We further recommend statutory modifications to license third party delivery entities and greater stringency in the types of containers that may be used including “tamper evident “ containers.”

According to a joint news release from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association, Virginia is the 26th state to permanently allow to-go cocktails.

“Virginia consumers, restaurants, bars and distilleries can all toast to the fact that cocktails to-go are here to stay in Virginia,” said Andy Deloney, senior vice president and head of state public policy at DISCUS, in the release. “During the pandemic, cocktails to-go were a critical source of revenue for many businesses, and now, the increased convenience and stability they offer is permanent. We applaud the Legislature and Governor Youngkin for supporting Virginia businesses and consumers by making cocktails to-go permanent.”