Massachusetts restaurants may now offer wine "doggie bags"

[rebeccafrog]

This is an unexpected development. The law was passed two weeks ago, but the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission didn't release rules for it till yesterday. Said rules are convoluted and some of them are silly, but it will be so nice to be able to take home the last glass of wine that we don't drink. Restauranteurs are absolutely correct about

Comments

[baliset]

Depending on how hungry I am, I could eat nearly anything comfortably while standing up.

The "Tableware" requirement is really odd. So pizza and tacos are right out. Unless you cut them up and eat them with a fork?

[rebeccafrog]

I eat Cheetos with chopsticks, and cannot do so comfortably while standing. Does that count? If you are offered a knife and fork, but decline to use them, does that count?

[kastinkerbell]

Interesting.
Minnesota already allows for this. I guess I should have expected this kind of thing to vary state to state, but I wouldn't expect Mass. to be on the other side of the line. Tennessee, yes...but Massachusetts?
Here is a state by state summary that I found: http://www.winedoggybag.com/statelaws.htm

[rebeccafrog]

Minnesota's law must be relatively new. I know it wasn't legal in 1998. As a general rule, there are two types of liquor licenses: the kind that allows you to serve alcohol on-site, and the kind that allows you to sell alcohol for consumption off-site.

Massachusetts, btw, is highly puritanical in general. We still have lots of silly blue laws. The last couple years have seen quite a bit of easing of alcohol laws, ironically mostly since we got a Mormon governor.

[kastinkerbell]

Well...a special license does need to be held (and perhaps they are not as common as I would believe), but it's been legal for a long time. My mom asked to have bottles re-corked at restaurants when I was little.

[rebeccafrog]

Hmm... I just looked up the law, and it says you don't need a special license to re-cork at a restaurant. Maybe that part of the law is new. Or maybe the waiter was full of lies. That's a definite possibility.