Alabama Overturns Margarita Pitcher Ban Amid Public Outrage (UPDATE)

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Let this day be known as the day fun won. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) has decided to overturn its ban on serving margarita pitchers, a spokesman for the board told Patch on Thursday, after outrage swept the nation this week.

From this day forward, ABC spokesman Dean Argo said in an email, "Alcoholic beverages 'customarily' served by pitcher are now allowed. In other words, margaritas, piña coladas, and some other frozen drinks can be served because they are traditionally served by pitchers."

However, Argo said, "other mixed cocktails traditionally served in single, high ball or shot glasses are still prohibited."

Here's his explanation as to why the board did an about-face on the pitcher ban this week:

"Over the last year, many licensees have asked the agency to revisit the rule. As you know, practices, industry and technology change over time. While the agency legal and compliance minds have been discussing the possible change, our inspectors have continued to hold licensees to the code. After due consideration, the agency updated its interpretation and policy and determined that a strict interpretation is 180 degrees from current practice by many licensees."

Patch has reached out to Taco Mama to inquire as to whether its former menu will be restored in full glory, now that the freedom to group-drink on the cheap is ringing throughout the land. We'll update this post if and when we hear back.

Original story, published July 12, below.

Has the famously overbearing and fun-killing Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) finally gone too far?

A statute written into state law years ago that effectively bans all Alabama bars and restaurants from serving pitchers of margarita — or pitchers of anything, for that matter — has been revived in recent months, Patch has learned.

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Will Haver, founder and CEO of beloved local Mexican-food chain Taco Mama — especially beloved for its $18 to $22 pitchers, or $9 to $11 on Taco Tuesdays — said he was approached a few months ago by representatives for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

"They came in and told us we couldn't be serving pitchers," Haver said. "They were very gracious about it. It wasn't a bad conversation. But they said we could risk losing our liquor license — and in our business, that's our livelihood."

Taco Mama has since removed all eight pitcher deals from menus at the chain's five locations across Alabama, including a brand-new outpost on the outskirts of Birmingham.

Here's the exact text of the statute:

"It shall be unlawful... for any person to fortify, adulterate, contaminate, or in any manner change the character or purity of alcoholic beverages from that as originally marketed by the manufacturer, except that a retail licensee on order from a customer may mix a chaser or other ingredients necessary to prepare a cocktail or mixed drink for on-premises consumption."

And the punishment? Anyone who serves mixed drinks in a pitcher could face a $100 to $1,000 fine and months of jail time (per violation), according to Alabama penal code.

Dean Argo, a spokesman for the ABC, did not immediately respond to calls and emails from Patch.

But here's what he told AL.com about the board's rationale:

According to ABC's Dean Argo, a rather nice gentleman tasked with explaining ABC's silliness, the alcohol in a pitcher tends to settle over time. "The person who is poured the first or second drink may receive only a .25 to .5 ounce of alcohol," he noted, "where a person receiving the third, fourth or even fifth pour may receive much more alcohol than mix."

The way Taco Mama's CEO sees it, though, these dangers are easily avoided by using frozen margarita machines — which "require a system that gyrates and agitates the alcohol to keep it spread evenly throughout the liquid" — and/or by serving pitchers right after they're mixed, so there's not enough time for all the alcohol to rise to the top.

Going forward, Haver said he hopes state officials can find some way to rewrite Alabama's anti-pitcher law to specifically target restaurants that keep pre-made drinks "sitting around in a tea urn."

In a sassy piece for AL.com, columnist Cameron Smith ripped into the ABC and its overlords:

It's more evidence that Republicans in Alabama aren't nearly as opposed to needless government control as they like to sound. The ABC and its hundreds of private leases are a cronyist giveaway from the word go. It's one of the poorest-kept secrets in Montgomery. The ABC doesn't even have their own law enforcement anymore, and each of the agency's functions can be performed by other agencies or the private sector. Eliminating the ABC isn't radical policy; the majority of our fellow states do quite well without one.

The head of of Taco Mama took a slightly more diplomatic approach in a phone interview with Patch.

"They're just trying to keep people safe," Haver said of ABC officials.

But "from our side," he said, "we're just trying to make people happy — and pitchers of margaritas make people happy. So hopefully we can find some common ground."

Photo by Rod Herrea/Flickr