Utah's alcohol problem the state's Byzantine laws stifle economic development?

• Author: Webb, Gaylen

Four convention attendees, fresh off a good day on the tradeshow floor, walk into Red Rock brewpub in Salt Lake City to get a drink and network. Two want to taste a great local beer, one wants a glass of wine and one wants a martini. Can they all be seated at the same table before they decide where to eat?

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Nope.

The two visitors who want beers must sit on the "beer only" side of the brewpub, while the other two visitors must enter the restaurant located on the other side of the building, put their names on a list for a table and order food with their drinks. "Is this some sort of joke?" they ask.

Turns out, the joke is on them. Welcome to Utah, home of "the nation's most restrictive, exotic and confusing liquor laws" (according to USA Today).

"All these people want to do is socialize and have one drink before they go to dinner, and they have been told about this great place, Red Rock. But they cannot do in Utah what is commonplace anywhere else, and the experience is absolutely horrific--and it happens all of the time," says Scott Beck, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake. "So what happens is, they tell stories about Salt Lake, about how they couldn't get a glass of wine, or they walked into a place and all they could get was a beer. Now that is not the reality, but that is their experience."

A Perception Problem

Interestingly, had the four convention attendees walked to Squatters rather than Red Rock, because of the liquor license Squatters has, these visitors could have obtained exactly what they wanted. "But you try to explain to someone from Wilton, Conn., the difference between Red Rock and Squatters--there is no perceivable difference. They are both brewpubs, they are both cool restaurants, both have great menus, but because one has a Class C liquor license and one has a restaurant/tavern license, the experience is completely different," Beck says.

As the head of the Visit Salt Lake, the convention and visitors bureau, do Utah's alcohol laws drive Beck nuts? "Yes. Absolutely," he says, adding that the average citizen in the state has no idea how crazy the state's liquor laws really are.

Despite recent efforts to liberalize the liquor laws, the state still suffers from a perception problem. Here's another scenario: An influential meeting planner relaxes with a drink in the lobby bar at Salt Lake City's only AAA five-diamond hotel, The Grand America, when he sees his colleague checking in. The meeting planner instinctively jumps up and heads over to greet his friend, but alas, there are hotel attendants prepared for liquor-toting escapees from lobby bars and banquet rooms.

"Sorry sir, but you can't exit the bar with your drink. Utah law," the attendant explains. The surprised and embarrassed meeting planner is stuck...