FREEHOLD, N.J. – A pandemic-era change that allowed New Jersey restaurants and bars to sell cocktails to-go is no longer temporary. Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation Friday making the popular COVID-era rules permanent just days before they were scheduled to expire.
The new law, Senate Bill 4384, gives eligible New Jersey restaurants, bars and other licensed businesses continued authority to sell certain alcoholic beverages for customers to take home. It also allows qualifying businesses to deliver certain alcoholic beverages and expands options available to craft distilleries.
- New Jersey’s cocktails-to-go provisions are now permanent after beginning as a temporary response to COVID-19.
- Restaurants and bars with qualifying licenses can sell sealed mixed drinks to-go and deliver certain alcoholic beverages under the law.
- The temporary privileges had been scheduled to expire Sept. 1 without action by the governor and Legislature.
“Cocktails to-go worked, customers liked it, and small businesses told us it was another way to bring in revenue,” Sherrill said. “Today, we’re making it permanent.”
What New Jersey Restaurants and Bars Can Now Sell To-Go
The legislation permanently codifies rules first adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic when restaurants faced severe restrictions on indoor dining and needed other ways to generate revenue.
Under the new law, businesses including restaurants, hotels and bars holding qualifying retail consumption licenses may sell alcoholic beverages in their original containers for off-premises consumption.
They may also sell mixed alcoholic drinks for customers to take away, provided those drinks are placed in closed and sealed containers.
Delivery remains another option.
Licensed businesses can deliver sealed mixed alcoholic beverages as well as malt beverages such as beer and hard seltzer in their original sealed containers. Deliveries may be handled by the licensed business itself or through licensed third-party delivery services.
The legislation does not simply create unrestricted alcohol delivery. Businesses remain subject to New Jersey’s alcohol licensing requirements and safeguards governing the sale and delivery of alcoholic beverages.
Pandemic Workaround Became Popular With Customers
Cocktails-to-go emerged as a lifeline for parts of the hospitality industry when COVID restrictions sharply reduced or eliminated traditional indoor restaurant and bar service.
Even after dining rooms reopened, customers continued using the option.
“Cocktails to-go helped restaurants and bars keep business moving during the pandemic, and they have continued to be a convenient option for customers,” Sen. Vin Gopal said.
Gopal said making the rules permanent gives hospitality businesses another source of revenue while maintaining safeguards surrounding alcohol sales.
National Restaurant Association figures cited by the governor’s office suggest alcohol availability can influence where customers order food for delivery. In states allowing alcohol-to-go, 79% of wine drinkers, 77% of beer drinkers and 74% of cocktail drinkers surveyed said the option made them more likely to choose a restaurant for delivery.
Sen. Declan O’Scanlon said the policy proved itself during one of the restaurant industry’s most difficult periods.
“During the pandemic, this commonsense policy helped restaurants survive one of the toughest periods in their industry’s history,” O’Scanlon said. “I’m proud that the flexibility we gave these businesses will now be permanently available to them with the signing of this law.”
Craft Distilleries Get More Flexibility Too
The law also makes significant changes for New Jersey’s craft distilleries.
Craft distillery licensees may sell mixed drinks for consumption on their premises when those drinks use distilled alcoholic beverages manufactured there.
They can also sell mixed drinks made with their own distilled spirits for off-premises consumption when packaged with a tamper-evident seal.
Distilleries may additionally sell their own spirits in original containers alongside food or nonalcoholic beverages that customers can combine at home to make mixed drinks.
For restaurant and bar owners, the permanent law removes an approaching deadline that could have ended a revenue stream they have used for years.
“Making cocktails to-go permanent is a meaningful solution for New Jersey’s hospitality industry,” New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association President and CEO Daniel Klim said. “This law preserves a popular and convenient option for customers while providing restaurants and bars with an additional revenue stream.”
Instead of disappearing Sept. 1, cocktails-to-go have now become a permanent part of New Jersey’s post-pandemic restaurant landscape.
New Jersey’s cocktails-to-go rules are now permanent.
The provisions were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and had been scheduled to expire Sept. 1 before Sherrill signed Senate Bill 4384.
Restaurants can continue delivering certain alcoholic beverages.
Qualifying license holders may deliver sealed mixed drinks and original, sealed malt beverages themselves or through licensed third-party delivery services.
Craft distilleries are included in the new law.
Qualifying distilleries receive additional flexibility to serve and sell mixed drinks made with spirits manufactured on their licensed premises.
Sources: New Jersey Governor’s Office press release announcing the signing of Senate Bill 4384.
