As long as we are having a round of “bizarre liquor laws in US states”, I’m kind of curious. Do any package / brown bag states still exist?
Some of the southern states used to fall into this category. The law stated that hard liquor could not be sold by the drink, but only sealed in its original packaging, hence “package states”. The term “brown bag” came from the practice by resturaunts and so on, which could not legally sell you a mixed drink, of allowing patrons to bring their own bottle in in a brown paper bag, and selling them drink setups (they wouldn’t let you bring in your mixer). I remember bars in South Carolina used to serve mixed drinks by bringing you the setup along with one of those little airline bottles of booze, which you could open and mix yourself.
I believe that it’s that way in NYC. My brother said that a cab driver refused to let him in his cab until my brother finished his energy drink, as it wasn’t in a bag. I also noticed that when I bought an OJ one morning, the person who sold it to me made sure to put it in a brown bag.
You’re discussing a different situation.
You’re thinking of the law some states have that designates any alcoholic beverage not in a case, container, pack or brown bag as an “open container” in public. Even if the stupid thing is sealed.
I had to contend with this in North Carolina in the early '90s when I worked at a convenience store. Policy said we brown bagged any beer not in case, etc. Allegedly the plastic bags didn’t count, due to transparency.
Different from a bar that can sell you a bloody mary mix but not the liquor to make it an actual bloody mary, which is what the OP referred to.
Back when Minnesot had ‘dry’ counties, there were places that were called a ‘bottle club’. This was a restaurant that also functioned as a private club.
You bought a membership in the club, and then you purchased a bottle of liquor, marked it with your name, brought it to the restaurant, and gave it to them to store. Then when you and your guests came to the restaurant for a meal, you could order the mixer for your drinks, and they would take out your bottle and bring it to the table, so you could add that to your drinks.
Officially, you had to add the liquor, not the restaurant employees. And they couldn’t sell you a bottle of liquor; you had to go to a liquor store (in a ‘wet’ county) to get that. (But, actually, if your bottle ran out while you were dining, the restaurant manager often had one of their own they could sell to you.)
Effectively, you paid an annual membership fee for the convenience of having them store your bottle of liquor on the premises, for you to use when dining. Not as ‘tacky’ as walking into a restaurant carrying a liquor bottle, and no risk of a problem with the ‘open container in a vehicle’ laws.
In Texas (or at least around here, Dallas/Fort Worth) some restaurants aren’t licensed for beer and wine, but you can bring your own. It doesn’t seem to be necessary to hide it in a bag.
I don’t know if it was officially legal, but years ago there was a Chinese place in Vancouver (the Green Door, if anybody remembers) that let you do the same. There everybody did use a paper bag.