Bodying two-for-one margaritas before dinner can feel like boozy Icarus flying too close to the stained-glass pool table lamp. This isn’t to say that happy hour doesn’t absolutely rule. (Try untangling that double-negative after a $10 pitcher … and when a single pint costs $5, you’re going to order the pitcher.) But, it is to say that the wallet-friendly concept of American happy hour is structured in a way that encourages participants to down as many drinks as they can within a limited, two-hour window. Discount drinking en masse as quickly as possible can pose some drawbacks, which is why it’s illegal for bars to hold happy hours in eight U.S. states: Alaska, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. Massachusetts led the pack, banning happy hour back in 1984.
Other states have imposed restrictions on how long happy hour can last, the specific hours of day during which happy hour can be held, price reductions, and “all you can drink” specials. If you’re jonesing for an afternoon pick-me-up in any of these states, it’ll have to be crafted at home (we have a few tips for honing your home-mixology game). As you stock ingredients for your home bar, keep in mind that many states also have restricted hours and days for in-store liquor sales. In Indiana, one of the eight happy hour–less states, it’s 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 8:00 p.m. on Sundays.
Happy hour is illegal in eight states and limited in many others
Happy hour is a solid business move for bar owners and bartenders, protecting industry professionals’ bottom lines by bringing in customers during the earlier, low-traffic dead hours. It’s not just local dives benefitting from this traffic pop, either. Even Texas Roadhouse has a happy hour. Many popular chain restaurants offer discount-forward happy hour menus, promoting appetizer and beverage combo deals before the prime dinnertime slot. Although, some liquor-forward promotions. such as the infamous Applebee’s “Dollarita,” have historically made unpleasant waves for staff. As the Utah Department of Public Safety website puts it, happy hour is a no-no, “as is anything else which promotes over consumption.”
Legislation prohibiting bars to charge less money for a cocktail at particular times of day seems fairly arbitrary. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference between a Negroni before dinner and a Bloody Mary at brunch, after all. In Italy, aperitivo hour is a daily art form embedded into the culture, centered around slowing down for the evening with friends before a meal. Apertivo hour is even characterized by a specific category of drinks called aperitivi (like Aperol spritzes and negroni sbagliati) with relatively low-ABV and palette-stimulating ingredients like vermouth or bittersweet amaro. Alas, a Campari soda is a pretty far cry from a slammable, high-alc $0.25 martini (a real thing at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans during the lunch special on Thursdays and Fridays).
