This is a very weird law which is suddenly being strickly enforced.
Utah law forbids restaurants to serve alcohol “except in connection with an order for food prepared, sold, and furnished” on site. Compliance officers and the state’s liquor-control agency say they are warning owners that their employees are in violation of Utah law if they serve alcohol before diners actually request food. To back up the effort, authorities in undercover stings have issued citations to eateries for this type of violation, which in the past was rarely enforced.
So what that means is people going out to dinner cannot have a glass of wine or a beer or anything else while they look at the menu. They can't just go out and order a drink and nothing else. This seems inconceiveable not just in this day and age, but in any age.
Mormon influence
Posted by: Ron | January 21, 2013 at 08:19 AM
Much more surprising than Utah, in more than 100 counties and 500 municipalities in the U.S. you can not buy alcohol at all. Including Moore County, TN; home to Jack Daniels. Can't buy Jack Daniels in Moore County.
Also in Illinois there is a local option; only South Holland is dry.
Posted by: Rand | January 21, 2013 at 10:45 AM
Friends of ours toured the Jack Daniels' distillery last fall and paid a goodly sum for a fancy decanter. The decanter was filled with "free Jack Daniels". That must be the legal way to get around the law.
Posted by: Aloha Hart | January 21, 2013 at 11:24 AM