Turns Out, NYC Bars Can’t Just Serve Chips With Booze And Call It A Day

July 23, 2020

Last week Governor Cuomo announced that bars and restaurants were no longer allowed to sell alcohol without the additional purchase of food. And, if you were walking around NYC over the weekend, you likely saw a lot of people sitting with drinks and a few unopened bags of chips to fulfill the “food item” requirement.

On Tuesday night, the State Liquor Authority updated their policy to clarify that chips won’t cut it. The SLA mentions that bars and restaurants must sell “sandwiches, soups or other foods.” In a new Q&A portion, they then go onto to define that “‘other foods’ are foods which are similar in quality and substance to sandwiches and soups; for example, salads, wings, or hotdogs would be of that quality and substance; however, a bag of chips bowl of nuts, or candy alone are not.”

The updated State Liquor Authority policy also says that customers picking up takeout food can’t order an alcoholic beverage while they wait for their meal to be ready.

Basically, if you aren’t sitting down at a table with some non-chip food, you can’t order a drink. We’ll continue to update you with any other policy changes, in non-government speak.

Have thoughts? Save your friends the agony of listening to your niche rant and send us an email at nyc@theinfatuation.com.