CALIFORNIA, USA — For months now, breweries, wineries and distilleries in California were not able to sell alcohol to a customer unless that person also purchased food. Under the looser guidelines effective this weekend, breweries, wineries and distilleries that do not serve meals are now allowed to open outdoors.
To say local brewery and winery owners are excited about the reduced restrictions may be an understatement.
Ken Anthony, the owner of Device Brewing company, estimates he lost roughly $2 million in revenue over the last year, with the various public health restrictions placed on businesses. In fact, he had to cater food from his location in the pocket to his midtown location just to keep that taproom afloat.
"It was a tremendous challenge," Anthony said. "We had to pivot, adapt, innovate. There's been a number of different ways we've navigated through the last 12 months."
Steve Burch, a founder of Acheson Wine Company, also struggled to keep his business afloat throughout the pandemic. Like Anthony, he had to be creative to find ways to still sell his wine. And now with the eased restrictions, he's feeling pretty good about the future.
"People are really looking for something to do," Burch said. "They really want to get back out and do stuff for fun. I think it's going to be a real benefit."
However, there is a catch with the new guidelines. Guests are only allowed to be at an establishment for 90 minutes and service will end at 8 p.m.
California health officials still urge the public to practice COVID-19 precautions. These owners know that people still need to be careful.
"We can't take our eye off the ball," stated Anthony. "We can't let down our guard. This is still a pandemic."
