Stoneham Alters Alcohol Rules For Town's Social Clubs

STONEHAM, MA — Those looking to grab a drink at any of the social clubs in town will not be required to buy food to do so.

The Select Board on Tuesday altered the Town Code to make social clubs such as the VFW exempt from the rule that a customer must at least plan to order food before ordering a drink and order food before ordering a third drink.

Most social clubs don't have full kitchens, making it difficult to offer drinks without serving food, especially since town law's definition of food does "not include the customary and usual 'snacks' served with alcoholic beverages."

Golf club beverage carts have been exempt from the rule.

The clubs are still encouraged to offer pre-packaged foods but there appeared to be no requirement that they do.

"We have social clubs where you can go in in the morning and drink all day and leave at night and we don't have any real requirement for food," Select Board member Shelly MacNeil said.

But some argued people go to a social club for a different reason than a restaurant, possibly even eating beforehand.

"I don't think we should really hinder these clubs," Select Board member George Seibold said.

The rule impacts only existing social clubs, and would not cover new ones that pop up.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Stoneham Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.