As bars and restaurants are largely shut down, California and New York are allowing them to offer cocktails for delivery and take-out — and North Carolina’s hospitality industry is asking for the same flexibility.

The N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association included the request in a package of policy recommendations designed to ease the financial blow of closures.

So far there’s been no change to the state’s alcohol regulations, and a spokesman for Gov. Roy Cooper said allowing cocktail deliveries would require action from the legislature — not an executive order.

North Carolina law does allow for alcohol sales permit holders to deliver wine and beer. Governors in other states, including New York and California, are temporarily allowing delivery and take-out of beer, wine and mixed drinks by all restaurants and bars with alcohol permits.

Some states are requiring that customers also purchase food as part of their order.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said the extra option “will help them continue to stay afloat during these trying times,” the Denver Post reported.

Margo Metzger of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association said a similar move here would give restaurants and bars much-needed extra revenue. They typically have their highest profit margins on sales of alcoholic drinks, so relying exclusively on food orders and tips still provides significantly less revenue, even if the number of customers doesn’t change.

“Our restaurants are in pretty dire straits right now, so we are looking for every opportunity for them to keep their doors open, keep their employees on staff, and make a profit so that on the other side of this, they’re still in business,” Metzger said.

Cocktail sales would also help local craft distilleries, she said, because their products are frequently used by bars and restaurants.

But while governors in other states acted unilaterally to allow delivery and take-out cocktails, Cooper spokesman Ford Porter and a key legislator on alcohol policy both say the governor here doesn’t have that power.

Porter said the law allowing beer and wine deliveries “does not include mixed drinks, so changes to mixed-drink delivery would have to be made by the General Assembly.”

Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Henderson County Republican who chairs the House Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee, said he’d support a change, but legislation would likely be needed. “Given the complexity of alcoholic beverage law, I doubt there is anything for the governor to flex or change,” he said.

ABC store sales spike

State leaders and the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission have taken other actions to help out restaurants and bars.

The commission extended the deadline for annual ABC permit renewals from April to June 30. Porter noted that Cooper’s executive order allows for restaurants to include beer and wine in curbside pick-up orders, and restaurant employees can get certified to do beer and wine deliveries if they take an online training course.

According to ABC Commission spokesman Jeff Strickland, 2,721 people have taken the “Responsible Delivery Service” training online so far in March, with 723 people taking the course since Cooper’s executive order last week on restaurants and bars.

Also, Metzger said some local ABC boards, including Durham, are agreeing to buy back unopened liquor from bars and restaurants. ABC stores have seen a spike in sales with bars closed. “It’s a win-win,” she said. “It could help with the cash flow situation.”

The restaurant association has submitted a lengthy policy wish list to state leaders, with much of it focused on relief from tax, fee and unemployment benefit obligations, as well as state grants or interest-free loans to businesses.

This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 1:52 PM.