Increase # of Liquor License
Of course, btw you’ll see more on this if you follow thread on legalized pot sales in South Orange, pot shops are next. Will there be as much angst over that as about booze stores ?
MikeZ said:
Why? Should I really have to make trips to several stores to buy what I can buy at one store? What about people who live in areas where there aren't a lot of liquor stores? Shouldn't they be able to buy beer conveniently as well?
FilmCarp said:
I am all for a few more licenses for restaurants. I'm not all for beer in convenience stores and grocery stores.
spontaneous said:
joan_crystal said:
Considering that we still have blue laws in parts of NJ, I would vote for input from religious interests. Don't know for sure.
No, religion has no place in government. I don't know how the blue laws are allowed to stand, but they are antiquated and need to go. If I want to buy a pair of pants on a Sunday in Paramus, I should be allowed to do so. If the store CHOOSES to stay closed, that's fine. If someone doesn't want to shop on Sunday, then don't shop on Sunday. If they don't want to work from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, then don't. If you don't want to purchase or drink alcohol at 10am on a Sunday morning. But please DON'T tell me that I can or cannot do these things because of someone else's religion.
Ummmm..... I think what Joan was saying (Joan, correct me if I am wrong) was that she believed the reason there were not many liquor licenses was because of religious interests. She was "voting" for that theory, not endorsing the practice.
I do like to have a beer or wine with my restaurant meal. And I have no problem carrying whatever I want into the restaurant. I do have a problem paying $35 plus tip for a bottle of $12 wine along with a reasonably priced meal. I like the law the way is now, regardless of people of other persuasions. I vote for lower priced restaurant bills. We are doing fine right now. If I have to pay that much extra, I will not be eating out as much anymore.
mrmaplewood said:
I do like to have a beer or wine with my restaurant meal. And I have no problem carrying whatever I want into the restaurant. I do have a problem paying $35 plus tip for a bottle of $12 wine along with a reasonably priced meal. I like the law the way is now, regardless of people of other persuasions. I vote for lower priced restaurant bills. We are doing fine right now. If I have to pay that much extra, I will not be eating out as much anymore.
Have you ever thought about how much the cost of the licenses is driving up costs at the licensed restaurants?
Seems to me that a compromise would be to make the licenses free but to require that restaurants with them still allow BYOB.
mrmaplewood said:
I do like to have a beer or wine with my restaurant meal. And I have no problem carrying whatever I want into the restaurant. I do have a problem paying $35 plus tip for a bottle of $12 wine along with a reasonably priced meal. I like the law the way is now, regardless of people of other persuasions. I vote for lower priced restaurant bills. We are doing fine right now. If I have to pay that much extra, I will not be eating out as much anymore.
BYOB is bad for the restaurant industry in general. The current liquor license laws make it difficult for restaurants without liquor licenses to make decent margins. They also create an environment where restaurants with liquor licenses don't have much incentive to worry about their food. It's why so many of the restaurants with liquor licenses around Maplewood/South Orange are so mediocre.
Personally if Stony's could offer a cold draft beer to enjoy with my burger there I might be inclined to patronize the place more frequently.
"Have you ever thought about how much the cost of the licenses is driving up costs at the licensed restaurants?"
And the cost to me of my meals and beverages. My point! Thanks. It's good the way it is now.
mrmaplewood said:
"Have you ever thought about how much the cost of the licenses is driving up costs at the licensed restaurants?"
And the cost to me of my meals and beverages. My point! Thanks. It's good the way it is now.
One of the points of increasing the number of licenses would be to drive down the price of those licenses.
People complained and didn't want the Wine Barrel to open on Springfield Ave. I can't wait to see what happens when they try to open dispensaries in SOMA.
mrincredible said:
Personally if Stony's could offer a cold draft beer to enjoy with my burger there I might be inclined to patronize the place more frequently.
This raises an interesting point. I’d think that for most mid- upper-scale restaurants the BYO is choice is wine. Maybe allow everyone to offer draught beer? You’d be able to get your beer with pizza and burgers, it shouldn’t impact the retail store sales of bottled beer much, or wine at all, and there’s a little margin added to the restaurants.
ctrzaska said:
This raises an interesting point. I’d think that for most mid- upper-scale restaurants the BYO is choice is wine. Maybe allow everyone to offer draught beer? You’d be able to get your beer with pizza and burgers, it shouldn’t impact the retail store sales of bottled beer much, or wine at all, and there’s a little margin added to the restaurants.
There is actually a bill like this that has been proposed in the state assembly over the last few years (I believe on more than one occasion). It would allow smaller, non-chain restaurants to get a cheaper license to sell wine and beer by the bottle or can. They wouldn't be able to have a bar, I believe. And while I think this, too, is unnecessarily restrictive, it would be a good start. But I don't think it's gone anywhere, because the lobby group for license holders is too strong.
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I wouldn't mind if more grocery stores could have a modest selection of beer and wine.
One thought occurs to me, though. We have some local liquor stores which offer a decent selection of wine and beer. I don't know how much of the more curated selection of a liquor store is subsidized by selling cases of Bud and Coors and Beringer. If the grocery stores grab more of the lower price point business, what does that do to the bottom line of Morgan's or the smaller places in Maplewood?