Pizza Today_February 23 - 32

liquor license is among the restaurant's
most valuable assets. " The last thing
you want is for the restaurant to get in
trouble, " he says.
In a press release DoorDash noted
that alcohol delivery creates significant
benefits for restaurants. The delivery
platform estimated that adding alcohol
may increase restaurants' average customer
order values by up to 30 percent.
Consult an attorney. " Some states
have simply given current on-premise
alcohol retailers the privileges to
extend their sales to off-premise, while
some states have created separate
delivery permits, " says C. Jarrett
Dieterle, resident senior fellow at R
Street Institute, a Washington D.C.
think tank. " Working with a local
alcoholic beverage attorney would be a
good idea to confirm the rules in one's
particular state. "
Each state sets its own rules regarding
alcohol takeout and delivery. Even
the governing entities vary. In Nevada,
individual counties and cities regulate
alcohol.
Train staff. If restaurants want to
have their own employees perform the
deliveries, Dieterle says, the employer
needs to go over basic protocols like
ensuring the employees know how to
check IDs to verify the purchaser's
age.
It's important to develop compliance
policies to prevent underage sales.
That includes training staff, especially
delivery drivers, to check ID at the
time of sale and delivery. " Drivers
should keep a delivery log and ask
patrons to sign off at the time of
delivery confirming the person
accepting the order is 21, " says attorney
Marbet Lewis, founding partner
with Spiritus Law in Miami. " Most
violations with to-go sales relate
to sales to minors and diversion of
alcohol to minors. Accordingly, training
staff on proper ID checking and
implementing ID check policies and
requirements can help avoid penalties
in the long run. "
Order some new cups with lids.
Even the containers are important.
Some states simply require " sealed
containers " or " closed containers. "
California requires " A secure lid or cap
sealed in a manner designed to prevent
consumption without removal of the
lid or cap by breaking the seal. " Illinois
requires a new, rigid container that has
never been used and cannot have sipping
holes or openings for a straw.
" Many states have rules requiring
that the drink container for a mixed
beverage be sealed in some sort of
tamper-proof packaging, " Dieterle
says. " Depending on the state, this
could be something like a sticker that
must be removed before the drink
can be consumed - thereby providing
evidence if it was consumed before the
delivery was made or before the to-go
patron reached their ultimate destination. "
Don't
forget the pizza. Some states
require that food be purchased with
the alcohol. In Maine, that means a
" full-course meal, " not prepackaged
snacks. In Missouri it means a meal
prepared on-premises. Some states,
like Tennessee, allow alcohol to be
sold in a drive-thru. Some, like South
Carolina, left all their pre-pandemic
rules in place: no beer, wine, or cocktail
delivery or to-go.
In addition to following rules,
pizzeria owners also need to
figure out what their customers
want. That could mean selling elaborate
cocktails that people cannot make
at home because they don't typically
have all the ingredients, or it could
mean simply offering an assortment
of red wines and white wines to satisfy
everyone's preferences in a large order.
" You have to figure out what works
and what doesn't, with the added layer
of figuring out what's legal, " Whatley
says. " You can have a lot of success in
this space. "
NORA CALEY is a freelance writer who
covers small business, finance and lifestyle
topics.
http://www.galbanipro.com/premio http://www.galbanipro.com/premio
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