MA Coronavirus: State May Let Restaurants Sell Takeout Liquor

BOSTON, MA — A state lawmaker and several Massachusetts business groups are asking Gov. Charlie Baker to allow restaurants and bars to sell takeout liquor as a way to stop financial losses.

Restaurants across the country have closed their dining rooms and switched to a takeout-only model in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. On Tuesday, the restaurant data company Black Box Intelligence released survey results showing that 60 percent of national restaurant chains are already planning to close locations.

On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said restaurants and bars in that sate could sell takeout beer, wine and liquor. Massachusetts State Sen. Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) sent a letter to Baker Tuesday that was also signed by the heads of chambers of commerce and business groups urging him to follow Cuomo's lead.

Nationally, restaurants saw a 2.8 percent decrease in revenue during the first week of March, according to Black Box, with those food dollars being spent in supermarkets. In Seattle, one of the hardest-hit cities thus far in the coronavirus epidemic, restaurant revenues were down 5.7 percent.

Takeout and delivery sales could be difficult for restaurants that typically serve eat-in customers, Black Box warned. Third party delivery services like Doordash and Grubhub still have not caught on with a wide segment of the population.

For the week ended March 6, Black Box said, just four percent of people between 18 and 24 years old had used a third-party food delivery service. Fewer than one percent of people over 55 had used the services during the same time period.