Saturday, March 14, 2009

Drinking & Smoking on Sunday

I am confused. For a bar to be open in Pittsburgh, or any place in Pa. for that matter, it needs to have a Sunday license. To get one the bar must do 30% or more in food sales. They don't have to sell food on Sunday they just need to sell a lot of food. Recently, the Commonwealth passed the Almost Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits smoking indoors. Well, almost. But the state prohibits bars from allowing smoking unless it gets an exemption. That requires that the bar does no more than 20% of their sales in food. Let's re-cap. Sell a lot of food and stay open on Sunday with no smoking permitted. Sell little food and let the patrons smoke all day without grub. So why do I see smoking permitted bars open on Sunday? I think the 10 to 20 percent gap is wide enough to do the intended job. Sell more than 20% in food but less that 30% and you can do neither smoking or Sunday sales. Am I confused? Did I miss something? Can somebody clear the smoke from my eyes?

Incidentally, if the bar has an exemption absolutely no one under 18 is allowed in the bar. Not your kids or the owner's kids. Bar have to post a sign no under 18's allowed, but many bars list 21 as the minimum age.

No comments:

Post a Comment