BUFFALO, N.Y. — Pennsylvania's governor announced Monday that outside of Philly on Easter Sunday, you'll be able to order alcohol without food in Pennsylvania bars and restaurants for the first time in a long time.
Tuesday, the New York State Restaurant Association is asking for some relatively new alcohol rules to stay in place here.
"Alcohol to-go was one of the first executive orders that the governor put in place after restaurants were shut down a year ago today," says Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association
And with the executive order process changing in Albany, Fleischut is hoping lawmakers extend the alcohol to-go order again when it expires on March 28.
The governor has extended it every month during the pandemic.
For many restaurants, alcohol to-go has been something of a lifeline, especially when indoor dining wasn't allowed.
"The margins are bigger, and you're able to make more money usually on alcohol sales than you are on the food sales," Fleischut said. "But, takeout and delivery is always tricky during these times, and it certainly doesn't bring them back to where they used to be with indoor dining sales, so I would just raise that caveat that, yes, alcohol is super important, but takeout and delivery alone isn't enough to continue to sustain the restaurants long term."