You Can FINALLY Order Alcohol On Food Delivery Apps In Quebec
Quebec just passed a law that will change the way restaurants offer alcohol to customers — and it's been a long time coming.
Thanks to Bill 72, restaurants with liquor permits can now sell alcohol with food through third-party delivery service apps — which means you'll probably be able to add booze to your Uber Eats order very soon.
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Yes! Peaceful CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE WORKS. Thank you to all the restaurant owners of Quebec [...] HISTORIC MONOLITH POWER bill no 72 ! Vin libre.
@joebeefmtl
Restaurants — if and when they're allowed to open — can also serve alcohol to customers without requiring them to order a meal.
When Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault tabled the bill on October 21, she said restaurant owners had been asking for a similar law to be passed for "many years."
As restauranteurs lose business due to COVID-19 restrictions, their cries have gotten louder.
On Friday, the owners of Montreal's Joe Beef started a peaceful "civil disobedience" campaign, encouraging local restaurants to sell wine bottles without food and post a picture of the act on social media with the hashtag #openourcellars or #ouvreznouscaves.
This resulted in over 100 Instagram posts by many local restaurants that heard the call and jumped on board, including Elena, Beau Temps, and Fiorellino Snack Bar.
While the movement wasn't necessarily the main or only impetus for the National Assembly's speedy passing of this bill before the government breaks for the holidays, it certainly brought the issue back into the public eye.
However, some say these changes are not enough.
On Twitter, the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) highlighted a quote from a La Presse interview with its vice-president, Meunier François.
"We have to go further," he's quoted as saying. "Restaurants must be allowed to sell bottles of wine directly to consumers, without food."
Still, restauranteurs — along with every Quebecer who likes a drink — have something to celebrate this weekend.
