Monday was last call for all bars across Louisiana and the end of dine-in restaurant service for the foreseeable future, part of the latest state rules to slow the spread of coronavirus. But officials also relaxed some regulations for how restaurants can sell wine and beer as they struggle to survive.

Louisiana restaurants are permitted to continue take-out, curbside pick-up and delivery, and packaged wine and beer can be included with these offerings.

The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control drafted new rules for to-go alcohol sales based on a bill passed last year that allows wine and liquor stores and restaurants to deliver booze. These were expanded to apply to restaurants offering take-out and curbside sales during the coronavirus restrictions, ATC Commissioner Juana Lombard said.

Sales of liquor and draft (rather than packaged) beer or wine are not addressed in the rule changes, she said. Rules from the delivery legislation also now apply to take-out and curbside pick-up. Customers must buy food to buy alcohol under these measures, for instance, and the beer or wine must be in factory-sealed containers.

On Tuesday, the West End restaurant Sala was gearing up to give bottled wine sales a try for its curbside pick-up service. The first day of the state’s ban on dine-in service coincided with Sala’s long-running half-price wine promotion anyway, said proprietor Joe Riccobono. He was glad to have anything positive to promote to potential customers.

"We have customers who know us for wine nights on Tuesdays, so maybe they’ll keep coming,” he said. “I hope the state comes up with much better plans for how we’re going to make it through. But right now, something like this, if it helps me squeeze out just a little more business and keep some staff on board, I’ll try it.”

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Measures enacted to limit physical contact and combat the pandemic have been especially brutal for the hospitality industry. Bars are closed across the board, along with many other types of businesses where people typically gather.

Restaurants have been permitted to operate under the new restrictions to ensure residents still have access to food, Lombard said. Permitting alcohol sales may also help limit residents’ exposure to other people.

“If they’re stopping for food, the restaurant can put a bottle of beer or wine with the order, and that means people don’t have to go multiple places,” Lombard said.

Similar allowances are in place in other states that have closed bars and banned dine-in restaurant service.

Louisiana restaurants have been allowed to apply to deliver alcohol since last summer. Few had sought permits, Lombard said.

Now, though, with delivery among their only remaining options, the state is trying to make it easier for restaurants to acquire the alcohol delivery permit.

Lombard said the usual $250 fee has been cut to $100 and that the office is fast-tracking applications for approval within 24 to 36 hours. Restaurants can apply online, via email at atc-attorneys@atc.la.gov or in the ATC’s Baton Rouge office, which Lombard said is configured for social distancing methods (the New Orleans office is closed).

Just what difference selling wine and beer will make for a restaurant’s bid for survival remains to be seen, though some in the business say it is at least another way to appeal to customers.

Restaurants in the Link Restaurant Group have retooled their menus for online ordering with bottles of wine and cans and bottles of beer included in the choices.

“I don’t think this will be big boon for us, but what I’d hope for, is that people will decide to support our local restaurants and say, tonight, let’s have Herbsaint at home or Peche at home; let’s try to re-create that experience at home. ... They order food, they order wine,” said company founder Donald Link.

Louisiana daiquiri shops with drive-thru service, meanwhile, are still permitted to operate the drive-thru portion of their businesses because these are set up for limited contact between people.

“Bars are closed in the interest of public safety, drive-thru daiquiri shops are in a unique situation because their permits allow for drive-though service,” said Lombard. “Since drive-through is allowed by the order and because they exist as drive-through, they continue to be authorized.”

The state's breweries and distilleries are permitted to keep making and selling their product, though their tap rooms and tasting rooms have been closed as part of the ban on public gatherings.

She said the question of whether brewers can sell their packaged products directly from the brewery remained a “gray area.”

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