Early last week, it was reported that the Baker administration had introduced a proposal that would let restaurants sell beer and wine with takeout and delivery orders. Now we have learned that this has finally become reality.
According to both a source and a tweet from @statehousenews Governor Charlie Baker has signed the bill allowing dining spots to offer beer and wine with food orders, with the ruling stating (as mentioned earlier) that the alcohol has to be in unopened containers. Unlike some states, the ruling does indeed include delivery orders in addition to takeout, and as also indicated earlier, spirits and cocktails are not part of this.
Restaurants in Massachusetts continue to deal with restrictions where customers cannot eat or drink in dining rooms or bars, and at least a couple of communities are not allowing people to go physically into establishments at all for takeout.
[April 8 update: A comment from a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page clarifies that while wine can only be sold in its original unsealed container, beer only needs to be in a sealed container, though not necessarily its original container. This may have been done in order to allow restaurants and bars to transfer their beer in kegs to crowlers, growlers, or other containers, though it is not known for sure that this was indeed the reason.]
[Earlier Article]
Baker Administration Proposes Letting Massachusetts Restaurants Sell Alcohol with Takeout/Delivery
by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)
[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]
