this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
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Born under the Beehive sign (infosec.pub)
submitted 2 days ago by The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world to c/funny@lemmy.world
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[–] radix@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

As a Utah resident, I can confidently say this: the only thing UT lawmakers care about more than pushing their religion is money. They got a bunch of flak for having 19th century liquor laws in 2002 when the olympics were in SLC, so they updated them to be more in line with, say, 1950s liquor laws.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Is there an ELI5 version of the laws? Because I think a lot of us non-Utahians still either think I'd entirely illegal, or have only a vague notion that things have changed at least for tourists.

C.f. OP's post

[–] radix@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I'm not an expert, but there are a few bullet points I'm aware of:

  1. Any strong alcohol has to be purchased at a state run store. 5% ABV beer can be found in grocery stores, but any hard liquor or wine or stronger beer goes through the state. Even restaurants, so it ends up being more expensive with the extra layer of profits. This was (basically) how it worked when/where I grew up in Washington (since changed), so it's not totally up to date with most places, but it's also not too far removed from being pretty normal.

  2. No ordering alcohol at a restaurant unless you also order food. Not sure what other states do. Maybe pretty normal, maybe not? Bars are fine, but the licensing is different and more limited. There were rules about bar areas in restaurants having to be more 'hidden' from the main dining area, but I think that's a thing of the past. And even older restaurants that haven't remodeled in the last decade+ still have drinks available. It was always a minor, performative hurdle.

  3. (edited in) The DUI limit in Utah is .05, which is lower than most states' .08. Whatever you think of alcohol, don't drink and drive.

For me, who just gets a few 6-packs per month to drink at home, I don't know all the other ins and outs. It's always a little funny to hear outside people tell me how archaic the rules are. Maybe someone who spends every weekend at a nightclub is right, and it's impossible to get a decent drink out on the town, but I don't do that, so it's not really a big deal.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 2 points 1 day ago

Any strong alcohol has to be purchased at a state run store.

So, like 5/6 of the states I've lived in. California was the only one where you could fill up your car and buy a bottle of Everclear at the same time.

5% ABV beer can be found in grocery stores

That's better than 3/5 of the states I've lived in. PA has liquor stores, and beer stores. A few years ago they started allowing grocery stores to sell individual bottles, but it had to be in a closed-off section with a separate cash register. Minnesota precludes all alcohol sales except in liquor stores (and restaurants). Georgia - at least when I lived there - also only allowed sales in custom stores.

So Utah is actually more liberal with alcohol sales than many states!

hard liquor or wine or stronger beer goes through the state. Even restaurants

I think that's the rule in the States. California is the only one I know if where you can buy hard liquor from a 7-11.

This was (basically) how it worked when/where I grew up in Washington

I lived in WA too, Vancouver, but I was too young to be aware of liquor laws.

  1. No ordering alcohol at a restaurant unless you also order food. Not sure what other states do.

Before the law change, this was the loophole in PA. You could pop down to a pizzeria and buy a couple of beers. It was a necessary loophole because, ironically, the one place you could buy beer - the specialty beer stores - you could only buy cases or kegs, no singles. But, yeah, that's changed.

There were rules about bar areas in restaurants having to be more 'hidden' from the main dining area, but I think that's a thing of the past.

I heard about that - a curtain, or separate room. But that changed a decade ago, because (as I mentioned) you could sit in the main room in a burger joint on the main street of Park City and order a beer (or martini) with lunch.

I think all us non-Utahans need to reevaluate our stereotypes for Utah. it seems to have become more liberal (alcohol-wise) than many other states.