Local restaurants, liquor stores await Albany decision on drinks to go

New York lawmakers meet this month to finalize a state spending plan for 2022-23 due April 1, and included in the debate is a proposal that would allow restaurants to again offer the ‘cocktails-to-go’ permitted under an Andrew Cuomo pandemic executive order that expired eight months ago.

Governor Kathy Hochul made waves in January when she announced the proposal that make permanent the chance for restaurants to sell alcoholic takeaway drinks when accompanied by food-to-go orders and after the State Liquor Authority would establish rules and regulations on the practice.

The proposal pits restaurants against liquor stores – a public policy debate last seen when lawmakers allowed restaurants to seal unfinished bottles of wine for diners to take home after their meal. Restaurants say cocktails-to-go is an important post-pandemic lifeline, liquor stores say the plan “will threaten the livelihood of thousands in our industry.”

Wayne Carrington owns Oneonta’s Autumn Café and B-Side Ballroom with his wife, Rebecca, supports the governor’s plan but does not believe the discussion demands a zero-sum outcome.

“This is not about territory,” he said. “This is about community. Restaurants serving to-go drinks and liquor stores co-exist for the better of every community.”

He said to-go cocktails made a big difference for the Autumn when pandemic rules prohibited in-person dining. That experience, in turn, changed diners’ habits.

“It helped us to be more buoyant through some really tough times,” he said. “People still aren’t necessarily comfortable being among crowds. Take-out lets us meet the customers where they are.”

“Offering food and drink to go lets people enjoy the food and beverage experience they get from dining at their favorite restaurants,” he said. “We need to get municipalities behind this effort as they look to bring new energies to their downtowns. We can get the downtown food and beverage experience out to people who want it but who now want to enjoy it in a whole new way.”

Cooperstown restauranteur Brian Wrubleski, who owns and operates Mel’s 21 with his daughter Alexandra Gunther, said the proposal would be a boost for restaurants and downplayed the threat to retail liquor stores.

“It’s a convenience item” he said of the drinks-to-go. “When somebody orders something for me to deliver and they want a cocktail to go along with it, they’re not going to order an entire bottle of the stuff like they’d get from the liquor store. The convenience was the main feature the whole time.”

“Anything to help the industry along right now would be appreciated,” he said. “This would definitely be helpful.”

Representing liquor stores throughout New York, the state’s Metropolitan Package Store Association nonetheless blasted the budget proposal.

“In sharp contrast to the assumptions of some persons, the pandemic has been responsible for major losses in many of our businesses with a typical neighborhood wine and liquor store seeing foot traffic down 35-50 percent and double-digit sales losses for a sizeable number of our stores,” the association said in a prepared statement. “The proposed legislation would take what remains of these small businesses, their regular customers, and hand them over to another industry that is not being compelled to follow the same burdensome regulations for nothing in return.”

Dominick Purnomo co-owns Yono’s and dp An American Brasserie in Albany and is a board member for the state’s restaurant association. His close proximity to the Capitol puts him in a leading role advocating for the permanent change to the law and thinks this year’s state budget is the strongest vehicle for the chase.

Pointing to a poll showing 78 percent of New Yorkers support the effort, he said he has had conversations with liquor stores who tell him to-go drinks are “peanuts” and not the industry’s chief concern.

“They’re afraid that this is a slippery slope toward wine in grocery stores,” Mr. Purnomo said. “They don’t want to see stores that have licensed restaurants on-site to get the chance to sell drinks for customers to take off-premises.”

“Restaurants are going to charge more than retail for a bottle at the end of the night,” he said. “This is not a thing where we’d be competing with the mom-and-pop liquor store. This is if you want a Chianti to go along with the Italian dinner you’ve ordered to take out. A margarita with your tacos.”