Good news for restaurants who were selling alcohol to go to try and stem the COVID-19 revenue bleeding. On Thursday Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 148, which authorizes restaurants, or vendors of alcoholic beverages also holding a public food service license, to sell or deliver alcoholic beverages prepared by the vendor in sealed containers.
The bill extends additional sales options, commonly referenced as alcohol-to-go, that are similar to measures implemented by emergency orders of Governor DeSantis during Florida’s state of emergency related to COVID-19.
“Alcoholic drinks to-go became an important source of revenue for restaurants that were trying to survive during the pandemic,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “This law is an important measure to continue the positive economic impacts of a temporary order.
Here’s the actual law…
CS/SB 148: Beverage Law
Authorizing certain food service establishments to sell or deliver certain alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption under certain circumstances; revising provisions that authorize a restaurant to allow patrons to remove partially consumed bottles of wine from a restaurant for off-premises consumption; revising requirements for the sale of alcoholic beverages by certain vendors; authorizing certain vendors to deliver specified alcoholic beverages under certain circumstances; specifying that certain alcoholic beverages are not open containers for the purposes of the prohibition on possessing open containers of alcoholic beverages in vehicles, etc.