Business & Tech

Happy Hour Help Coming to Virginia Restaurants

For the first time, Virginia restaurants and nightclubs will be able to advertise happy hour.

Beginning Jan. 29, restaurants and clubs in Virginia (remember, there are no stand-alone bars in the commonwealth) will be able to advertise happy hours, according to The Washington Post.

Previously, establishments could only advertise happy hour within their walls.

There are some limitations within the new state law.

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While businesses will be able to use social media or more traditional means to advertise the duration of happy hours for the first time, they’re not allowed to say what the specials specifically entail.

"… they can't say 'margarita specials from 4 to 7' or 'two-for-one sangria specials,' and they can't say the prices," Department of Alcohol Beverage Control Public Relations Specialist Carol Mawyer told the Post.

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The Post's Fritz Hahn wrote that while the law is a step in the right direction, it really doesn’t assist in consumer choice.

Hahn explains:

“When you're in an area as bar-heavy as Arlington, Alexandria or Falls Church, if would be nice to know what you're getting into before you walk through the doors: If, for example, one bar on Wilson Boulevard sells craft beers for $3 while another offers domestic bottles for the same price. But hey, at least it gets rid of the wink-wink advertising Virginia bars have resorted to in the past, such as saying they had "25-cent wings and other specials from 4 to 7 p.m."

Read the entire Washington Post story here.


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