Oregon’s Legislature Has Passed a Bill to Legalize Takeout Cocktails Permanently
The bill will soon head to Gov. Kate Brown’s desk to be signed into law
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Oregon restaurants and bars will be able to sell takeout Manhattans, daiquiris, and more long after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Today, the Oregon House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 317, which allows bars and restaurants to sell cocktails to-go permanently, as long as they’re sold in a sealed container.
In December, Oregon legislators passed a bill that temporarily allowed restaurants and bars to sell takeout drinks made with hard liquor, as well as single-serving portions of wine. However, that bill was tied to the current state of emergency related to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The latest bill, which passed a vote on the House floor on June 1, allows that legislation to continue, untethered to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Multnomah County moves into the moderate risk category, restaurant owners face tough decisions.
The dining room at Palomar
As of today, March 12, Multnomah County has moved from the high risk category to the moderate risk categoryâwhich means, among other things,
restaurants can now open for indoor dining at up to 50 percent of their original capacity, up from the 25 percent that was allowed under the previous tier starting February 12. But restaurant owners have had varying responses to the new allowances, with some opting to remain closed and others opting to reopen at half-capacity.
When
Portland Monthly
asked Gabriel Rucker, co-owner of Le Pigeon and Canard, if he planned to reopen for indoor dining at 25 percent capacity back in February, it didnât take long for him to reach a conclusion: no. The restaurant had remained open for indoor dining during the summer and fall of 2020, but Rucker decided not to risk reopening a second time.
by Janey Wong • Mar 4, 2021 at 10:00 am
It’s taller than it looks. Janey Wong
As with the name of the bar, most of the monikers of Short Round’s cocktails are Indiana Jones references. If you really wanna make a night out of it, fire up
Temple of Doom on the ol’ tube while you enjoy your takeout.
The Vietnamese street food bar’s menu has been revamped for COVID times, but has an option for you no matter what type of liquor tickles your fancy. I was very tempted to get the “Tiger King,” which supercharges Thai iced tea with vodka. I’d say it’s pretty on brand; Joe Exotic definitely seemed like he was a vodka drinker (well vodka, specifically) pre-incarceration.
Updated February 16 When Oregon finally approved sales of takeout cocktails last December, it threw a lifeline to desperate bars and restaurants who d spent the pandemic clamoring to sell mixed alcoholic beverages to go. But the swift, sudden rule change left many of them with another quandary: What do you put them in? Over the last two months, the container a cocktail comes in has become almost as much a part of a business s branding as the drink itself. Here, we present a brief survey of some of the most common receptacles you ll find around Portland along with a few of the least common.