![Legislation to lower food-to-liquor ratio for restaurants is back for another round 1 McCormack whiskey Cropped scaled](https://richmondbizsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/McCormack-whiskey-Cropped-scaled.jpg)
A proposed bill would loosen the state’s rules on food-to-liquor sales ratios for restaurants. (BizSense file)
The annual attempt to change a longstanding law that’s been a buzz kill for many of the state’s bars and restaurants is back for another round in the General Assembly.
Senate Bill 1163 was introduced this session to lower Virginia’s current food-to-liquor sales ratio imposed on the holders of mixed beverage restaurant, caterer’s and limited caterer’s ABC licenses.
As things stand, businesses that serve booze under those licenses are required to have at least 45 percent of their gross receipts per year come from food sales, which leaves them 55 percent of their annual sales to be filled out by liquor sales.
Under the new legislation proposed by Republican Sen. Ryan McDougle, those licensees would either be able to sell more spirits relative to food, or not be bound by a food-to-liquor ratio at all.
Licensees who have at least $4,000 but less than $20,000 in monthly food sales would need to meet or exceed an annual 35 percent food sales ratio. Licensees wouldn’t have to abide by the ratio if they have at least $20,000 in monthly food sales, according to the bill.
Mixed beverage restaurant licensees would calculate their food-to-beverage ratio by dividing their gross receipts from the sales of food and nonalcoholic drinks consumed on premises by the gross receipts of those sales and spirits together at the establishment, according to the proposed bill.
For the caterer’s and limited caterer’s licenses, the ratio would be determined by dividing gross receipts from food and nonalcoholic drinks served at events by gross receipts from the sale of liquor, nonalcoholic drinks and food at events.
Beer and wine sales aren’t bound by the state’s food-to-beverage sales ratio requirements that regulate liquor sales.
The bill was filed in the now-underway General Assembly session earlier this month. It’s awaiting a hearing in a Senate committee, and if approved would later go on to a vote in the full Senate chamber.
McDougle’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment on the legislation.
The state’s liquor sales law has been a point of contention for bars and restaurants for years. Opponents of the ratio have argued it is overly challenging to abide by, and there have been legislative attempts in years past to change the law, which dates back decades.
In 2024, Republican Sen. Bryce Reeves sponsored a similar bill that was ultimately defeated in a House subcommittee after it passed in the Senate. Legislation needs to pass both chambers before the governor provides a final verdict on it.
The bill introduced this year by McDougle would apply the ratio exemption to a wider swath of businesses than was floated in the final form of last year’s failed bill, which proposed that licensees with at least $35,000 in monthly food sales wouldn’t have been subject to a 35 percent ratio requirement.
This year’s bill follows a lawsuit filed over the summer by restaurant Fish & Slips in Portsmouth, which argues the liquor law runs afoul of the state constitution. Online court records show the suit was still active this week. The dispute could potentially stymie the pending legislation because the General Assembly traditionally doesn’t pass laws that would affect ongoing litigation, radio station WVTF reported.
![Legislation to lower food-to-liquor ratio for restaurants is back for another round 1 McCormack whiskey Cropped scaled](https://richmondbizsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/McCormack-whiskey-Cropped-scaled.jpg)
A proposed bill would loosen the state’s rules on food-to-liquor sales ratios for restaurants. (BizSense file)
The annual attempt to change a longstanding law that’s been a buzz kill for many of the state’s bars and restaurants is back for another round in the General Assembly.
Senate Bill 1163 was introduced this session to lower Virginia’s current food-to-liquor sales ratio imposed on the holders of mixed beverage restaurant, caterer’s and limited caterer’s ABC licenses.
As things stand, businesses that serve booze under those licenses are required to have at least 45 percent of their gross receipts per year come from food sales, which leaves them 55 percent of their annual sales to be filled out by liquor sales.
Under the new legislation proposed by Republican Sen. Ryan McDougle, those licensees would either be able to sell more spirits relative to food, or not be bound by a food-to-liquor ratio at all.
Licensees who have at least $4,000 but less than $20,000 in monthly food sales would need to meet or exceed an annual 35 percent food sales ratio. Licensees wouldn’t have to abide by the ratio if they have at least $20,000 in monthly food sales, according to the bill.
Mixed beverage restaurant licensees would calculate their food-to-beverage ratio by dividing their gross receipts from the sales of food and nonalcoholic drinks consumed on premises by the gross receipts of those sales and spirits together at the establishment, according to the proposed bill.
For the caterer’s and limited caterer’s licenses, the ratio would be determined by dividing gross receipts from food and nonalcoholic drinks served at events by gross receipts from the sale of liquor, nonalcoholic drinks and food at events.
Beer and wine sales aren’t bound by the state’s food-to-beverage sales ratio requirements that regulate liquor sales.
The bill was filed in the now-underway General Assembly session earlier this month. It’s awaiting a hearing in a Senate committee, and if approved would later go on to a vote in the full Senate chamber.
McDougle’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment on the legislation.
The state’s liquor sales law has been a point of contention for bars and restaurants for years. Opponents of the ratio have argued it is overly challenging to abide by, and there have been legislative attempts in years past to change the law, which dates back decades.
In 2024, Republican Sen. Bryce Reeves sponsored a similar bill that was ultimately defeated in a House subcommittee after it passed in the Senate. Legislation needs to pass both chambers before the governor provides a final verdict on it.
The bill introduced this year by McDougle would apply the ratio exemption to a wider swath of businesses than was floated in the final form of last year’s failed bill, which proposed that licensees with at least $35,000 in monthly food sales wouldn’t have been subject to a 35 percent ratio requirement.
This year’s bill follows a lawsuit filed over the summer by restaurant Fish & Slips in Portsmouth, which argues the liquor law runs afoul of the state constitution. Online court records show the suit was still active this week. The dispute could potentially stymie the pending legislation because the General Assembly traditionally doesn’t pass laws that would affect ongoing litigation, radio station WVTF reported.
I really think Virginia needs to get rid of this rule in that it sounds like something a nanny state would think off. And drunk driving is more of a personal choice than any silly law telling how much food and wine a place can sell.