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NYC Bars and Restaurants Are Getting Creative With Cocktails to Go

News
by Eben Diskin Mar 19, 2020

Since bars and restaurants are now closed in New York City — and several other places around the country — some businesses are making the most of the “new off-premises privileges” granted by the New York State Liquor Authority.

As takeout and delivery are still permitted in NYC, some bars and restaurants are going the way of Louisiana’s drive-through Daiquiri bars, and serving cocktails to-go. As long as the drinks are sold in a closed or sealed container, and purchased along with food, it’s all legal. Food, however, can be anything as small as a bag of chips.

Bars like Hunky Dory in Brooklyn are selling hot and cold Irish coffees as well as house cocktails like the Smoky Mountain Songbird, a mix of mezcal, madeira, turmeric, and lemon. Dante in the West Village offers all of its award-winning cocktails and full a-la-carte menu to go, pick-up, and delivery. Other NYC bars such as PDT, Attaboy, Middle Branch, the NoMad, Grand Army, and Leyenda are also offering the service, reported The New York Times.

To-go cocktails will not, however, sustain the bar and restaurant industry for very long. In the event of a short lockdown, it may be enough to keep them afloat, but a more prolonged shutdown will likely prove devastating to business owners and their staff.

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