METHUEN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Restaurants need all the take-out customers they can get during the coronavirus pandemic and the state dine-in ban.
Since alcohol can be up to 30 percent of restaurant sales in some cases, Methuen State Sen. Diana DiZoglio is offering emergency legislation that would allow restaurants to sell you take-out beer and wine with your order.
"There are already take-out provisions in place in Massachusetts that allow for that wine bottle to be re-corked and to be sealed and to be taken home with that patron, so there are already ways that this can be done," DiZoglio told WBZ NewsRadio Thursday.
She says take-out booze legislation could help a restaurant industry that is hurting.
"This is about protecting our small restaurants and making sure that they can survive through this emergency and through this shutdown," DiZoglio said. "A lot of these local restaurants are really fearful that they aren't going to be able to re-open once this is over, when all is said and done."
It isn't unprecedented—New Hampshire, New York, and Illinois have all done it. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu issued the order to allow take-out alcohol Wednesday.
WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports
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