The return of happy hour
Monday, Jun 1, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Happy hours were getting out of hand when they were banned in Illinois. But, as usual, the powers that be decided to ban something enjoyable entirely instead of just regulating it a bit more. This is long overdue legislation…
Under the legislation, which passed the Illinois House 82-31 the Senate 52-1 over the weekend, restaurants and bars would be allowed to offer discounted beer, wine and spirits for up to 4 hours a day or 15 hours a week. Some limitations will remain in place, including volume discounts (no two-for-ones, for example), and no happy-hour deals after 10 p.m.
The bill also would clarify the law to explicitly allow restaurants to pair alcoholic beverages with meals, something that long has been done at Chicago’s finer-dining establishments but not technically in accordance with the law. The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, has said the provision came in response from restaurant owners who called her office to complain about being ticketed for the pairings. She declined to name the offenders.
Bars and restaurants also may begin serving house-infused spirits, another no-no that often has been ignored around Chicago. That means imbibers can expect new cocktail offerings around the state that make use of peach-infused vodka or sour cherries soaked in rum.
Hotels also would benefit from the bill, which would streamline permitting and licensure for hoteliers that operate multiple venues under one roof.
In exchange for looser liquor regulations, the legislation would require mandatory statewide training for all who pour and serve alcoholic drinks, including servers, bartenders and the like. The program, called Beverage Alcohol Sellers and Servers Education and Training, is required in Indiana and Michigan and helps servers identify signs of intoxication, stop underage sales and get up to speed on state and local alcohol regulations.
All good stuff.
And the governor had no brick on that bill. On the contrary, even.
- Casual Observer - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:24 am:
Clearly this is intended to encourage lawmakers to conclude session days by 5:00. /s
- downstate commissioner - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:25 am:
I’ll drink to that (sorry, couldn’t resist)
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:27 am:
“Two for one” always sounded better to me than “half-off,” but I was never very good at math anyway. Double bubble is still a no-no, but this is a welcome development.
Cheers!
- Rockford's Finest - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:29 am:
Finally, I understand why I’ve never been able to buy two beers at once!
- A guy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:30 am:
Actually this is good, for no other reason that imbibers are a lot more responsible than the last go-around. Makes sense.
- Casual Observer - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:30 am:
After marriage, I lost interest in half-off ladies night…or so I’m told.
- Beaner - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:30 am:
The US DOT recommends .05 BAC for DUI, rather than the current .08 BAC. It would be nice if Illinois would join the rest of the world and acknowledge ‘buzzed’ driving is legal drunk driving. Several countries have gone to even lower limits than .05.
- Subzero - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:31 am:
I always liked a certain chicago bar (sadly closed) where the bartender said, “first one’s free!”
- Tom Joad - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:32 am:
Looks like more work for the Liquor Agents. And more Liquor Agents.
- VanillaMan - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:33 am:
We definitely need more happy hours now a days.
- Keyser Soze - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:37 am:
Jim Edgar must be spinning on his head.
- Langhorne - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:39 am:
Good bill. Overdue.
I remember when pres rock ended lunch breaks on session days, bec some considered it just an early happy hour.
- Wordslinger - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:52 am:
Meh, it was easy enough to get around. Just make the specials all day long.
- D.P.Gumby - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:54 am:
Will Brucie amendatorily veto so it only applies to drinks that are shaken(up)?
- steve schnorf - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 11:58 am:
Quite simply, more people will die alcohol-related deaths. Hard right now to say how many but over coming years data and research will confirm this.
- Louis Howe - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 12:01 pm:
I heard there is an amendment that requires an internship at Saputo’s with MJ so they can learn how to make a world class gin martini.
- How Ironic - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 12:03 pm:
@Steve Schnorf:
“Quite simply, more people will die alcohol-related deaths.”
Oh please. If someone is going to die from alcohol, it’s not because the wine steward suggested the Pino Noir with the steak, vs the Merlot.
Or if they have peach infused vodka instead of plain.
- Carroll County - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 12:12 pm:
Those were tough times for social drinkers. Another over-reaction happened at Western Illinois U. around then, and punished the wrong people for a horrible crime.
Around 1990, a WIU lacrosse-playing freshman, Nick Haben, was hazed and killed by alcohol poisoning with “rookie juice”.
The U’s reaction? They banned tailgating at Football games for about 5 years, clobbering the alumni football culture for that time.
If I may rant a bit, lacrosse was/is a club sport that few people even know exists. What does it have to do with NCAA football and alumni fans? The University just folded like a deck of cards to the MADD/SADD crowd of that era.
When tailgating legally returned it was highly regulated, confined to one very small lot near the Union, not the big Q-lot on the other end of the field.
I think this all has been fixed and normalized by now.
- Hedley Lamarr - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 12:13 pm:
Louis Howe - that’s shaken, not stirred.
- steve schnorf - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 12:20 pm:
Ironic, I wouldn’t expect that part of the law to be the most problematic, although I can almost assure you that there will be entrepreneurs who will offer Maddog and peanuts as a meal package.
- A guy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 12:41 pm:
…and those entrepreneurs will have takers Mr. Schnorf! lol
- Been There - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 1:05 pm:
===Meh, it was easy enough to get around. Just make the specials all day long.====
That was actually one of the good things about the happy hour ban. Because you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.
- Nick Danger - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 1:17 pm:
uh…Schnorf = buzzkill…
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 1:38 pm:
“Ironic, I wouldn’t expect that part of the law to be the most problematic, although I can almost assure you that there will be entrepreneurs who will offer Maddog and peanuts as a meal package.”
When you find one, be sure and let the rest of us know.
- Anonin' - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 1:43 pm:
And it looks like the will be able to offer ladies only wristband deals not as good as chicks drink free but a start.
- Buster - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 1:50 pm:
The least Rauner can do is sign this one immediately. We need all the opportunities we can to drink heavily now in Illinois.
- Skeptic - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 1:54 pm:
Allow half-price drinks, but double the liquor tax during those hours. Win-win! (/snark)
- nona - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 2:33 pm:
“Quite simply, more people will die alcohol-related deaths.”
Price affects consumption. To the extent that drinkers imbibe more because drinks are half-price, the consequences are easily foreseeable.
- nona - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 2:35 pm:
The happy hour ban was watered down about eight years ago when Rep. Lang passed a bill to permit high-end restaurants to serve bottles of spirits to two customers.
- How Ironic - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 2:58 pm:
@Nona:
“Price affects consumption. To the extent that drinkers imbibe more because drinks are half-price, the consequences are easily foreseeable.”
As if price is the only consideration at the bar. I’m not going to drink 2x as much if the prices are lower, just for the sake of $$.
If I’m going to have 2 glasses of wine with my meal, I’m not suddenly going to have 3 or 4 if there is a discount.
- nona - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:25 pm:
How: You are one of those individuals who is purportedly unaffected by price. If most of us never use price as a component in decision-making, I wonder why sellers ever have sales?
- Montrose - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:04 pm:
Nona - A sale doesn’t mean for everyone “buy more because it is costs less.” It means, I can save money I buy what I want to buy. Or it means I will go to x bar instead of y bar. There are many, many, many cities with happy hour, and they are managing it just fine.
- dr. reason a. goodwin - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:36 pm:
Long overdue. The original law ended the free buffet that many bars put out for happy hour. I would think that encouraging eating with drinking would have been preferable. In any case, I appreciate a little less government nannyism.
- Mister M - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:53 pm:
Too many laws; shouldn’t have been banned in the first place.
- How Ironic - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:54 pm:
@ Nona:
“You are one of those individuals who is purportedly unaffected by price.”
No, I’m one of those individuals that doesn’t decide to get blinding drunk because the bar I’m at suddenly can offer a special on a drink. Or, who can now infuse their vodka with peaches or whatever is the infusion de jour.
Also, how many tires have you bought this week? Goodyear is having a fantastic sale right now. I bet you have bought 50 sets today alone right? I mean a sales a sale….
- Robert the Bruce - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:56 pm:
Good, but not sure it matters much.
I’m quite sure it wasn’t only the higher end establishments finding ways around the law.
Tip your bartender.
- Mouthy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 5:13 pm:
The young aren’t as disciplined as many here on this blog. I remember many years ago Midway Pub had a Friday night happy hour of 2 for 1 Old style drafts for fifty cents or a quarter a beer. As the end of happy hour appeared on the horizon you wouldn’t believe the amount beers ordered to “stock up” when the price went back to normal. The bottom line is there weren’t very many sober people leaving and driving from that place. Wine drinkers being a problem is a joke, it’s the guzzlers of ale…
- Bob Myers - Tuesday, Jun 2, 15 @ 8:56 am:
I felt it was necessary to respond to the unfounded comment that Happy Hours lead to more “alcohol related” deaths. The last available statistics show that 8 of the 10 states with the lowest amount of alcohol related fatalities also allow Happy Hours. New Jersey had the lowest and, yes, they allow Happy Hours.