Bottles of booze can be delivered in Washington state under temporary coronavirus rule

To ease the loss of in-house diners during the coronavirus “stay-at-home” period, the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board will allow licensed restaurants and bars to sell to-go spirits, beer and wine.

The rule, shared Tuesday afternoon, applies to full-service restaurants that carry all three types of alcohol. Orders must include food.

That means restaurants can offer curbside pickup of beer (or cider) in growlers, kegs or factory-sealed bottles and cans, as well as wine and spirits in factory-sealed bottles.

On the delivery side, beer can come in “non-factory sealed cider growlers, jugs or other similar, non-factory sealed containers.” Kegs or similar containers must hold at least four gallons.

For liquor and wine, the same curbside rules of factory-sealed bottles apply to delivery.

In all cases, employees and customers should follow appropriate social-distancing and sanitation procedures as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our goal is to do whatever we can to help businesses during this time,” said Brian Smith, communications director at the Liquor and Cannabis Board. “We can’t change what’s in the law, but we can do other things.”

Last week, the board announced temporary changes to retailers whose licenses already permitted to-go and delivery sales.

In the case of a brewery, for instance, customers could buy canned or bottled beer, growlers or crowlers to-go, but they could not receive them curbside. The March 17 rule allows for curbside pickup of beer and wine, plus cannabis, until Gov. Inslee’s ban on in-person dining lifts.

It also permitted licensed restaurants and bars to apply for a temporary waiver to offer carryout, curbside and delivery of just beer and wine. Tuesday’s rule adds liquor to the mix.

For liquor license holders, Smith said his board meets twice daily to address the rapidly evolving situation surrounding COVID-19. With these temporary allowances, businesses — especially restaurants reeling from the loss of diners — can add a revenue stream to their takeout food sales.

The state has agreed to speed up its approval process for temporary to-go licensing and has asked local municipalities to waive their usual 20-day review period. The response from cities and counties has been “a mixed bag,” Smith said in a phone call, adding that remote working no doubt complicates government workflow.

“Everyone wants to know, ‘Can I pull up and get a mixed margarita?’ Now, we can’t allow that,” joked Smith, because Washington state law expressly prohibits it, but for now you can buy a meal and a bottle of wine or whiskey to-go.

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