A longtime rule governing food and liquor sales at bars across Virginia could soon be loosened by a bill moving through the General Assembly with several Hampton Roads bar and restaurant owners voicing support.
However, the measure is meeting opposition from a group of Richmond-led restaurateurs.
The current law says Virginia bars and restaurants with mixed beverage licenses must make 45% of their total sales from food and non-alcoholic beverages.
The law’s roots stem from the late 1960s when post-Prohibition laws governing alcohol ordering in restaurants and bars were first enacted, according to Virginian-Pilot reporting. The original ratio was 51% food and non-alcoholic drinks, but was lowered to 45% in 1980.
Over the years, lawmakers further amended those rules, including in 1990, when Virginia Beach Oceanfront business owners persuaded them to exclude beer and wine sales from the 45% rule.
But decades later, the 45% rule on liquor and mixed drinks remains. Previous attempts to reverse or loosen the law have faltered.
For example, a 2015 attempt by state Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, to reduce the ratio only slightly to 43% died in the Senate. Former state Sen. Dick Saslaw, a Northern Virginia Democrat, opposed that attempt, saying “If you can’t meet that ratio, you ain’t running a restaurant. You are flat running a bar. If you want saloons in Virginia, say so.”
State Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, introduced a bill this session that would reduce the food and non-alcoholic drinks sales percentage to 35% for businesses that earn at least $4,000 but less than $10,000 in monthly food sales. Businesses making more than $10,000 in monthly food sales would not have to meet any ratio requirement.
Hampton restaurateur Carlyle Bland has operated businesses in the city for more than two decades, including Marker 20, Brown Chicken Brown Cow and Venture Kitchen and Bar. He said his restaurants don’t have trouble meeting the 45% rule, but he has concerns — especially given the rise in popularity of high-end liquors.
For example, if Bland were to win a chance to purchase a bottle of a highly sought-after bourbon variety like Pappy Van Winkle in a Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control lottery, he said charging upwards of $100 per drink could throw the ratio off.
Another factor? The Mixed Beverage Annual Review, a yearly report of food and beverage sales to verify compliance with the ratio, are “a total pain in the butt” to complete, Bland said with a laugh.
So Bland said he was in favor of Reeves’ proposal. As far as the original law’s anti-saloon intent, Bland also noted that localities have other tools in their disposal to deal with bars or nightclubs they deem problematic. He referenced Norfolk City Council’s decision to pull conditional use permits from a handful of downtown nightclubs in 2022 after a string of shootings, which led to several business closures.
The Norfolk restaurant and jazz club Brothers also doesn’t have any trouble meeting the current 45% rule, said owner Tony Brothers. He said food sales made up the bulk of the business’s earnings.
Still, he said he supported the proposed legislation if it made it easier for others to run a successful business.
“The restaurant business is a hard business,” Brothers said.
Tim Mullane, co-owner of Gershwin’s piano bar on Granby Street in Norfolk, said his establishment has no trouble meeting the current requirement, and he had no strong feelings either way on the proposed bill.
However, the Richmond-based Virginia Restaurant Association, a group of roughly 60 restaurants, opposes the bill, said director Michael Byrne. He said the changes would upend a system that his clients — which include The Tobacco Company Restaurant in Richmond and Northern Virginia’s Great American Restaurants group — spend a significant investment in conforming to by building kitchens, stocking food inventory and following ABC regulations.
“The industry doesn’t want it,” Byrne said.
Reeves’ bill sailed through the Virginia Senate 40-0 and is now in a House subcommittee.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
