Virginia law requires restaurants that sell liquor to sell an almost equal amount of food. Efforts to change that so-called food to booze ratio have faced hurdles, but many longtime opponents in the legislature are gone and a bipartisan effort, led by a younger lawmaker, is looking to make changes.
Jackie Bishop Wells has been the general manager at Fallout RVA, a bar in downtown Richmond, for about a decade. She said the food they serve is high quality enough to meet the state’s food to booze ratio, but…
“Not having it looming over my head would be nice," Wells said in an interview with Radio IQ. "I think the ratio is a little bit outdated.”
The process isn't too complicated; Wells track sales of booze by month and uses her point-of-sale system to spit out a report that she then puts on her state-required Mixed Beverage Annual Review, or MBAR.
Enter Alexandria Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker. She has a new bill that aims to reduce the ratio required by the MBAR from 45% to 30%, along with other stipulations. She said the idea came from a constituent.
“He was sharing with me, as a small restaurant, the struggles of trying to meet the ratio and also being able to do these innovative craft cocktails that consumers want and are going across the river to find,” she said in her office shortly after the bill was submitted.
Orange County Republican Senator Bryce Reeves brought a similar effort in 2024. It got further than anyone expected thanks in part to the retirement of some senior Democrats, including former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, who opposed changes. Fairfax Delegate David Bulova shelved the effort two years ago, but he's heading to the Governor's administration. When asked if he'd like to see the ratio maintained, Bulova laughed and said it was, "out of my hands."
But in their absence, Reeves welcomes the change.
“This is one of those lingering issues that needs to go away,” Reeves told Radio IQ.
Reeves supports a full repeal of the ratio even though he doesn't think Virginia will go that far.
“We’re not going have bars on every corner, that’s just ridiculous," he said, before pining about a future where the ratio is gone entirely: "If it is happening, great! Commerce is happening.”
Southside Republican Senator Bill Stanley is currently involved in litigation over the ratio, specifically a loophole that exempts the state’s new casinos. That dispute, arguing the inequity between establishments amounts to a First Amendment violation, is ongoing.
And while an unwritten rule bars Virginia lawmakers from legislating issues facing pending litigation, Stanley hopes they do now, especially after changes were made to the state's skill game laws despite litigation he was involved in then.
“If anyone brings up ongoing litigation, they’re full of crap,” he told Radio IQ. "It’s good for small businesses. It's not creating saloons. It's not creating depravity. Its correcting a wrong that was created too long ago and has outlived its usefulness.”
Bennett-Parker also has an ally on the issue, House Speaker Don Scott.
“I need to look at the policy, I think we’ve got room to move,” Scott told Radio IQ.
And Bennett-Parker thinks the bill fits into Governor Abigail Spanberger’s affordability agenda.
“A lot of small restaurants are in danger of closing given the economy, and this is going to help, providing them with some relief.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
