Nebraska restaurants push for extension of carryout cocktails

(The Center Square) – Nebraska restaurant owners are hoping carryout cocktails will provide a good, stiff boost to get through the COVID-19 pandemic after a harrowing year trying to stay afloat.

A bill that is currently up for review in the Nebraska Legislature would extend a waiver of state law prohibiting carryout cocktails. Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts issued this waiver last year to help restaurants during the pandemic.

“We’re trying to keep our restaurants in business until the pandemic is over,” Zoe Olson, executive director of the Nebraska Restaurant Association, told The Center Square. “There is a larger profit margin in alcohol sales than there is in food.”

Until the COVID-19 vaccine is more widely available and new case counts start dropping significantly, dining in at restaurants will remain below normal, Olson said.

“We trust the restaurants to keep us safe, but we don’t necessarily feel safe with the other people that are dining in the restaurant,” Olson said.

During the height of the COVID-19 shutdowns, Nebraska was one of the top states in the country for carryout food, which is what helped restaurants across the country, Olson said.

“That helped most of us survive,” Olson said. “The longer this goes on, the more we will struggle.”

The restaurant industry may be stronger than it was before the pandemic once it ends due to having updated their technology and expanding takeout options as a result of not being able to offer in-person dining. One example of such updates are menus that customers pull up on their phones, which also helps by reducing a restaurant’s printing costs.

“I think there are many parts of the industry that are going to change,” Olson said. “We’re going to hold onto things that worked during the pandemic. We’ve learned some very valuable lessons. People in the hospitality industry are resilient, they are flexible and they are always looking to take care of others. I think we will be stronger overall when this is over.”

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