A New York pub has discovered a cheap and easy way to get around Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order that bans sales of alcoholic beverages without food: by selling a $1 bag of potato chips.
The governor’s latest executive order says restaurant patrons must stay seated and order food to get drinks to curtail booze-fueled gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
In one pub in Saratoga Springs, located in upstate New York, Harvey’s Irish pub owner Matthew Bagely put “Cuomo chips” on patrons tabs so they would not have to pay for a full meal.
“I mean why not, they’re his chips, they’re his rule so he might as well get some recognition and acknowledgment for another little hurdle we have to jump through as business owners,” Bagely told WRGB.
“For the time being until we have more information — that’s food. And you can buy it for a dollar,” he said.
The latest regulation states that “an item of food must be purchased at the same time as the purchase of the initial alcoholic beverage(s).”
Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi said Friday that buying a $1 bag of chips qualifies as being compliant with the rule.
“It’s consistent with the guidance — but you have to be seated,” Azzopardi told the New York Post.