So I went into Rite Aid last night (I had not been in a drug store since moving to California - I always did everything, including prescriptions, in supermarkets) and I was surprised to find BOOZE! In a DRUG STORE! A place to be HEALTHY!
I grew up in Massachusetts, where the supermarkets and convenience stores couldn’t even sell BEER. You had to go to the “package store” which was closed on Sundays. You could still buy liquor by the drink, but only after 1pm on Sundays. No happy hours in bars though, could cause more drunk driving accidents (or so the logic goes).
Across the border in New Hampshire you could buy beer in regular stores, but all liquor sales are through state run stores. And there was no restriction on Sunday sales.
I understand that in Louisiana they have DRIVE-UP liquor stands?? WTF???
So what are the crazy past or present liquor laws in your state or municipality?
Phouchg
Lovable Rogue
phouchg Well born and raised in CT, and I had to get used to the Blue Laws. No Liquor or beer after 8pm everyday and nothing sold on Sunday! Sucked. Then I moved out west to Arizona for Grad school and I get liquor or beer any time I want, including drive thru package stores and booze being sold in Pharmacies, especially Walgreens…
One more thing mention a package store to someone from out west…They will look at you like you have a third eye…Some reason they don’t know what a package store is.they call them liquor stores…It is soo damn funny. Also, go to a deli and ask for a ‘Grinder’ they’ll have absolutely no clue what you want. A sub or hoagie is what they call it in the west!! Hahhaahah
Liquor and strong beer only sold at liquor stores-- only three-two beer is allowed in supermarkets or similar stores (Minnesota, bless their hearts, took the term ‘liquor store’ literally).
The liquor stores themselves are only open 'til 8:00 p.m. weeknights and 10:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays-- Sundays they’re closed outright… better stock up the day or night before if you’re having people over for the game Sunday.
Bars and restaurants must stop serving alcohol by 1:00 a.m… no exceptions, even when the Super-Bowl is here.
What else? Hmmmm… Offhand I can’t think of more. We’re so used to this shit that you don’t notice how restrictive and backwards we are until we travel someplace else. Then, when you’re outside of the confines of our moral, righteous, state, you realize how much they need a complete, and thorough, enema.
Well here you can only buy alcohol in a hotel. But many hotels have expanded into big leisure/bar/club/pub/restaurant complexes, so there’s plenty of choice.
And you can only buy alcohol to take home if you have a special license.
I’m in California & our Thrifty store which sold liquor was bought by Rite-Aid, it’s not a drug store but part of the store is an RX, just like Longs.
Recently my city made a law that makes a larger fine for underage kids caught with alcohol in a private home than in public, which makes no sense. I asked a lawyer in my church about the kids drinking the communion wine, which is watered down port wine, & she said that we must have a freedom to do that.
New York – Hard liquor and wine is sold in liquor stores – independently owned, but licensed by the state. The regulation of them has loosened over the years; they may not be able to sell anything before noon on Sunday, and there may be limits to the hours of operations. Used to be, they couldn’t take credit cards, but now they do.
Beer is sold in supermarkets and convenience stores. You need a license and can’t sell beer before noon on Sunday.
Wine can also be sold at a winery (there are quite a few in NY state).
Bars and restaurants require a license to sell liquor (they also used to need a license to use margarine instead of butter). Hotels fall under this, since they’re selling it in a bar or restaurant.
The noon on Sunday is a vestige of the blue laws that no one has had the energy to change.
About 10-12 years ago, we went on a “fishin” trip to Wyoming. The only place to buy beer in this small little town was the bar. It was very strange going into a bar and asking for a 12 pack to go. In Colorado all liquor, beer, wine, sold in a bar must stay on the premise. So it felt like I was doing something wrong walking out of a bar with beer.
The first time I stopped at one, we were in Gonzales on our way to a Sunday afternoon in New Orleans. We pulled up to the menu sign with the speaker:
Speaker: ba-blaw-ba-blaw-blaw-blaw pop hiss ORDER?
Us: We’d like three Daquiris please.
Speaker: ba-blaw-ba-blaw-blaw-blaw pop hiss? Beep squeak twenty five cents extra.
Us: Sure, sounds great.
Speaker: Pull through.
We got up to the window, and the clerk handed us down three huge styrofoam cups. Like big-gulp huge. When we asked what the extra 25 cents was for, he explained that since it was before noon on Sunday, doubles were only 25 cents extra.
Good thing we had a sensible driver.
Years before that, I remember going to a drive-through liquor store. We pulled inside the building, gave them our shopping list (we were getting ready for a party), and waited in the car while they collected our order, rang it up, and loaded it in the trunk for us. I haven’t seen a drive through liquor store like that for years. I still don’t see anything wrong with them, other than I prefer to browse the aisles myself most of the time.
Up until a few years ago, beer was limited to 3.0 alcohol content.
Some counties are dry, but allow “brown-bagging” in restaurants. My parents were once told that yes, they could bring their own wine, but the bottle had to be kept under the table so as not to offend other guests.
Packaged liquor is sold only in state licensed liquor stores. The state controls the brands that are available. No liquor sales on Sunday. Liquor stores close at 10:30 p.m.
Restaurants can serve mixed drinks on Sunday, but not before noon, and mixed drinks must be removed from tables by 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. Beer and light wine is served according to local law, usually 1-2 a.m.
Some counties allow unrefridgerated beer sales only.
Some counties are dry, period. No beer, no liquor, ever. Have a nice day, ya’ll come back to see us now, ya hear?
Pennsylvania: any alcoholic beverage for carry-out stronger than beer (including wines) only available from a state-operated store; no liquor sales on Sunday; case beer only available from beer stores, which are also closed on Sunday; limit of two six-packs when when purchased from a bar for carry-out.
Greatest oddity: special dispensation for carry-out wine sales from outlets other than state liquor stores, but only for wines made in Pennsylvania. Which means, I’m sorry to say, some truly crap wines indeed.
BTW, Wyoming allows (or used to allow) drive-up liquor stores as well. Used to be one in Evanston that gave hats out to their regular customers. Ready for the name?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Beaver Liquors.
Well, I currently live in NY, so I got the laws RealityChuck described, i.e. sucky ones. But I am from VT originally, and I gotta say, sucks to live anywhere’s else.
Beer and wine can be sold in grocery stores from 6:00 AM until midnight.
Hard liqour is sold in state licensed stores. These stores carry beer, wine, and liqour, and can sell it from 8:00 AM until 2:00 AM the next day.
The laws don’t change on Sunday, either. So the longest you will have to go without buying alcohol is four hours. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
(BTW, I believe that restaurants and bars fall into the liqour store catagory, as I have been in some and seen alcohol purchased after midnight.)
Michigan seems to have pretty laid-back liquor laws. Nothing before noon on Sundays, of course, but other than that you seem to be able to buy any kind of liquor/beer/wine in any sort of store, provided they have a liquor license. I think that there are places that only sell beer and/or wine, not hard liquor, but there are enough other places to buy liquor that it dosen’t seem to matter. Also, you can pretty much buy liquor/beer/wine anywhere until 2 in the morning, although some stores around here stop alcohol sales at midnight. I’ve been at several parties where last-minute runs were made at about 1:30 to stock up. Plus, there were bars in my town that would open at 7 in the morning in case you couldn’t make it longer than five hours without booze.
When I hear about dry counties, special stores for liquor, limits on the percentage of alcohol in beer, it just confuses me. People put up with this crap?
The weirdest thing to me is the strange signs that some states have to have in establishments that sell booze - in Arizona, where I used to live, every place had a sign about alcohol being unhealthy for unborn children. What’s the point?
Utah. My first New Year’s Eve went something like this - I go to Smith’s to pick up some champagne. Hmmmm, something is wrong with this picture. IIRC, I could get beer at the market, but had to go to the state liquor store for wine and other spirits. Of course, the nearest state liquor store was many miles away, and only open until some ridiculous time (maybe 10 PM). My theory about state liquor
stores (at least in Utah) is that they want to make buying liquor a public action, for all to see. Oh my, what happens
if someone from your ward sees you in the parking lot? Shame on you that you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner.
“Private clubs” in Utah. You have to be a “member” to order
a drink in any bar/lounge/club. That involves a yearly fee, or being sponsored by someone else who happens to be sitting there. As far as I could tell, it was not enforced whatsoever. We all “sponsored” perfect strangers, and no one ever said anything about it.
How are the Olympic visitors going to react to these restrictive laws? Look for some quick (but temporary) changes in Utah when it comes to liquor laws.
Sadly, yes we do. Lubbock, Texas, is a college town, with about 25,000 students in the population. And yet, Lubbock county is dry. Well, dry in the sense of “no package liquor sales.” You can get alcohol at restaurants, and there are plenty of bars, but you can’t buy a six-pack. If you order a bucket of iced longnecks, the bartender will open all the bottles before sending them out to you.
If you want package liquor, you have to go out to the Strip, a row of liquor stores just outside the county. At night, they’re lit up like Las Vegas, and they all compete actively for your business; some offer multi-lane “drive up and someone will take your order and load it in your car while you wait” service. Anyway, if you want alcohol in Lubbock, you gotta go to the Strip.
Every now and then, the question of package liquor sales in the city comes up, and they put it on a ballot. And every time that happens, all the local Baptist ministers rally their flocks, who baa baa their way to the polls and vote it down. Personally, I think it makes more sense to have beer available at the local Allsup’s than to force someone to drive 15 minutes out to the Strip and possibly toss back a few on the drive home, but that’s just me, I guess.