If Oregon Wants to Keep Its Bars Alive, It Needs to Legalize Takeout Cocktails | Eater Portland

"The cozy little cocktail bar where I work, Rum Club, closed its doors at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic with no real timeline for reopening; it was a critically celebrated industry haunt where countless bartenders and servers ended their nights and where I fell in love with bartending, developing relationships with regulars and a true bar family. Losing that home in March meant six months unemployed for many of us, and when we tried to reopen in a limited capacity in September our planned grand reopening on September 9 was derailed by wildfire smoke. To survive we spent limited funds on a makeshift patio cover because without outside tables we cannot reach 25 percent capacity, and the tight economics are brutal: a typical bar our size costs about $1,000 a day to operate and needs roughly $1,300 in daily sales to break even, which translates to almost 25 $11 drinks per day per table. I returned to work because showing up seemed the only gamble to stay open, but the ongoing restrictions, health risks, and lack of to-go cocktail options make every shift nerve-wracking; to-go cocktails would both boost revenue and limit contact, offering critical protection for bar workers as outdoor season ends and winter brings greater risk." - Micah Anderson