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By Ed Avis
A regular customer of Pérez Mexican Restaurant & Cantina in Shelbyville, Missouri does something that was simply impossible a few years ago: They order a full gallon of margaritas to go.
“This family lives away during the winter months and before they leave, they buy a gallon so they can enjoy our Margaritas,” says owner Marlys Perez Anderson. “We have several customers who report that they are very glad we offer this.”
Selling to-go cocktails is an important component of alcohol sales, says Perez Anderson. In addition to the gallon-size cocktails — which normally are sold to people having cook- outs, weddings and other large events — the restaurant sells 32-oz. takeout containers of cocktails. And it’s not just margaritas — the restaurant also offers to-go mojitos, palomas and other mixed drinks, as well as beer and wine.
“We also see a huge increase when there’s a local event in town,” Perez Anderson says.
SURVEY: MEXICAN RESTAURANTS EMBRACE TO-GO OPTIONS
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About two-thirds of Mexican restaurants serve alcohol to-go, according to an exclusive April 2024 reader survey by el Restaurante. And it plays a reasonably significant role: On average, to-go sales account for about 12 percent of alcohol sales, according to the survey. That figure hasn’t changed much since el Restaurante’s July 2022 about this topic. At that point the average was about 13 percent.
The margarita is the most popular to-go cocktail at Mexican restaurants, which is no surprise; it topped the list of best to-go sellers for nearly 90 percent of survey respondents. Interestingly, the second-best seller is wine, perhaps because bottles of wine are easy to deliver (though some states limit bottle sales, probably to protect liquor store business). “Other mixed drinks” (not including palomas or mojitos) was the next best-selling category, followed by beer. Mojitos and palomas rounded out the list of good sellers.
At Polo’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Ada, Oklahoma, margaritas are the only cocktail available to-go, reports owner Yolande Vazquez. The restaurant sells the cocktails in 16-oz. plastic bottles, half-gallon and full-gallon containers. Polo’s is a family restaurant, Vazquez says, so she doesn’t promote the to-go alcohol sales often, unless a holiday is coming up.
“During the pandemic, Oklahoma wouldn’t let us sell alcohol; we could only sell the mix and people had to put in the tequila at home,” Vazquez says. “Maybe a year later the law changed and we could offer alcohol to-go.”
COVID CHANGED THE SCENE
Oklahoma was a little late to make the change. Many states realized as soon as COVID hit that the very survival of restaurants was threatened. Those states figured out that allowing takeout alcohol sales could help restaurants withstand the pandemic — and keep homebound customers happy.
In the years since the pandemic has subsided, most of those states have made those changes permanent, or at least extended them beyond the original date of expiration. The legislation permitting to-go alcohol sales generally includes rules such as the beverage must be in a sealed container, it must be accompanied by a food purchase, and it must be put in the trunk or other secure part of the vehicle.
But the rules vary by state — in fact, some states don’t allow takeout liquor sales at all. Tennessee, for example, allowed them during COVID, but the executive order expired in 2023 and has not been extended.
The bottom line: Takeout sales of alcoholic beverages are boosting the bottom line at Mexican restaurants in states that have allowed COVID-era changes to stand. Understanding the laws in your state is the first step toward realizing profits from cocktails, beer and wine to- go (see sidebar below).
Ed Avis is the publisher of el Restaurante.
A ROUNDUP OF STATE LAWS
el Restaurante researched the current status of laws in five states with the most Mexican restaurants. For further details about the rules in these or any other states, search online for “to-go liquor rules” in your state.
California: Restaurants in California can sell cocktails and wine to-go (but not beer), subject to a long list of conditions. For example, the alcohol must be picked up in person (it can’t be delivered) and it must be in a container with a sealed lid.
Florida: Restaurants in Florida can sell alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption as long as the drinks are part of a food purchase. The drink must be in a sealed container, and if it’s not in the original manufacturer’s package, it has to be put in the trunk of the car or some other secure place while the customer is driving home.
Illinois: Restaurants in Illinois can sell to-go alcoholic beverages, but they must be in sealed containers and placed in the car’s trunk when the customer is on the way home. Unlike some states, Illinois does permit the delivery of alcohol, but not by third-party companies.
New York: Restaurants in New York can sell to-go alcoholic beverages as long as they’re accompanied by a food purchase. Also, the to-go price must be the same as the price for people drinking in the restaurant.
Texas: Restaurants in Texas can sell beer, wine and mixed drinks with take-out and delivery orders. The alcoholic beverage must be in a sealed container.