I heard a radio ad today for some bar, and they said they had the longest legal Happy Hour, from 4p to 9p. I live in Ohio, but does anyone know if there are actually laws in any states regarding the timeframes on which you can have a Happy Hour?
I mean, why would there be a law saying you can only serve 1/2 price beers and 1/2 price appetizers for only so many hours? I realize that there is a law against GIVING beer away, a law regarding state minimum pricing, and a law about how late your bar can stay open, but is there really a law about a time limit, or is this just a cheesy gimmick?
Here’s a quick look at which states (including Ohio) do, and which don’t, recognize the concept:
http://www3.madd.org/laws/law.cfm?LawID=HOUR
Illinois permits all-day liquor sales promotions, but doesn’t allow “happy hours” per se:
http://www.state.il.us/lcc/HAPPYQA.HTM
New York has also attempted to curb binge drinking:
http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1999/sep/09-09-99/news/news29.html
Not surprisingly, Utah also frowns on excessive consumption of alcohol:
http://sbi.utah.gov/liquor/faqs.html
For my Google search, I used the string
- “happy hour” + “law” +“state”
…hello, I am new here, but thought I’d just add something. I’m not sure about the law’s in question-but in NZ while alcohol sales are encouraged-it is illegal to serve intoxicated patrons. In Happy Hour situations, or “Open Bar Tab” Functions-control of the flow of alcohol is indeed difficult. The law, I would imagine, would be designed to stop “all night” Happy Hour’s-where the drinks would flow and the Bar’s revenue would go up-but the amount of drunk patron’s would also increase…
IIRC, MA made Happy Hours (lower priced drinks for a limited time) illegal a few years back.