Scots_Al

In Scotland, it is not illegal to discount drinks, but the discount must these days run for a minimum of 24 hours - designed to stop happy hours encouraging binge drinking.

IADBallistic

A couple of other places that come to mind are

Savannah, GA
Key West, FL

EuropeanPete

I almost got arrested with some friends on Virginia Beach because it hadn't occurred to us that it might be highly illegal to drink beer on the beach bearing in mind the copious amounts of illegal drugs, gang behaviour and a gunfight that I accidentally walked into.

The police disagreed.

chgoeditor

The one strange Chicago law: You couldn't buy liquor before 11 am on Sundays because, gosh darn it, you should be in church on Sunday mornings, not buying booze! The law has recently been modified: Large grocery stores can now sell liquor at 8 am on Sundays, but liquor stores and convenience stores still have to wait until 11 am.

piper28

I was on a western road trip a number of years back and ended up spending a night in Blanding, Utah. Small town in the middle of nowhere really, and we ended up at what had to be one of the few restaurants in town. Turns out Blanding is in a dry county. There were a lot of Europeans touring the national parks that summer (which is what we were doing ourselves), and it was interesting to watch their expressions as the waitress would patiently explain that it was a dry county, there was no alcohol, and the only beer that they served was a non-alcoholic one. You could see the expressions on their faces of absolute shock.

djk7

Wikipedia and another page showing a few other locations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...container_laws
http://drinkingmadeeasy.com/booze-in...ets-in-the-us/

There was another thread a while back about airports that allow alcohol outside licensed establishments. MDW is the only one I remember offhand.

Of course, state laws can still throw a monkey wrench. Florida allows 32 oz and 128 oz growlers, but not the popular 64 oz. There was a bill in the legislature this year to change that, but it was vigorously fought by the big brewers and distributors. The distributors added a amendment that they get paid even if they never touch the beer. After that, even the craft brewers didn't support it.

As far as other laws:
Colorado only allows one location for each company to sell beer over 3.2%, so no chain liquor stores. The Safeway "flagship" store in Denver is the only Safeway in CO selling real beer.

Pennsylvania has "beer distributors" where you can buy beer by the case, no smaller quantities. If you want singles or six packs, you have to buy them at bars, liquor and wine stores (nor anywhere else but bars) don't sell beer at all.

And as mentioned upthread, lots of dry counties and places where you can't buy on Sundays. I've found the latter very annoying when I fly somewhere Sunday evening for a week of work and can't stock the mini-fridge.

darthbimmer

"Blue laws" like that are common throughout the US South and parts of the Northeast as well. I remember when I lived in North Carolina the bars would all shut at midnight on Saturday (even though last call was 2am other nights of the week) because of the laws against selling alcohol before noon on Sunday. I'm glad I've lived in California for the past many years, where all kinds of stores can sell alcohol with minimal, appropriate restrictions on how and when.

relangford

I was in college in the Deep South in a Dry County (many years ago) when the law was changed that allowed college students to register and vote in their college's city rather than their permanent residence. Many students did so, and a band of students proposed a bond referendum to build a sidewalk from the campus to the nearest Wet County. The county went wet the next year.

Several U.S. States only allow for state-owned establishments to sell alcohol (I think South Carolina, but it may have changed).

Several locations in Texas have drive-through liquor stores so you don't have to get out of your car.

txflyer77

Open containers are legal on the San Antonio Riverwalk.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/parksandrec/alcohol.aspx

MADPhil

North Carolina used to allow you to take your own hard liquor to a restaurant because they were not allowed to sell it by the drink, although they could sell you mixers. It was however illegal to transport an opened bottle. They eventually realised that this was not contributing to road safety on the trip home and allowed the transport as long as the bottle was not accessible.

mapleg

Head to Japan--24/7 availability and highly accepted--in fact not drinking can hurt your career

Here's a quote from a recent article:

"So it’s no wonder Japan is securely positioned at the very top of the alcohol acceptance ladder. The country’s combination of mid-week company drinking parties, all-you-can-drink restaurant specials, no laws against drinking in public, and the widely accepted notion of nomunication, a portmanteau combining “nomu,” the Japanese word for “drinking,” and “communication,” all combine to foster an open drinking culture"

Source:http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/07/0...ng-of-alcohol/

pinniped

Kansas:
- Grocery stores can sell 3.2% beer only
- Liquor stores can sell *nothing* besides beer, wine, and liquor.
- Limited times on Sundays, varies slightly by city/village. (Until the early 2000's, there were no sales at all on Sundays.)
Therefore, it is common to see liquor stores next to grocery stores or liquor stores that have a semi-attached "party shop" selling mixers, cigars, ice, snacks, etc.

There is a Trader Joe's in Kansas that does not sell wine. That seems to defeat 80% of the purpose of a Trader Joe's...

Oklahoma has (or had) a strange law that liquor stores couldn't refrigerate anything. Grocery stores could, but only 3.2% beer.

From living in the UK, I recall how pretty much everything in the pub was regulated. Automatic pours, highly standardized glassware, etc. No "generous" mixed drinks, but as a beer drinker I always liked knowing I was getting a true Imperial pint.

Still have a funny pic from Chester (English side, I believe) - a streetsign said something to the effect of "One must stop drinking alcohol in public if instructed to do so by a constable." Presumably that meant open container is okay if you aren't being obnoxious about it.

I too have joined a private "club" outside of Dallas - at an Applebee's during a short business trip in the 90's.

I've watched two 70-year-olds get carded at a bar in SLC: bartender said it's state law to do it to everyone, no exceptions.

I remember being in a bar in Boston where they had many beers on tap but no pitchers. Server said state law prohibits pitchers...or any beers over a certain size. (Perhaps a pint?)

I've been to a few brownbag restaurants...Atlanta and Chicago come to mind...places grandfathered their brownbaggery before more modern liquor license laws came into effect.

Some U.S. states still allow open containers in a car provided the driver is legally sober. Other states allow it in vans, RV's, etc. but not regular cars. Some states have tighter laws...when you ask a restaurant to recork a bottle of wine for you, they'll often tell you.

goodeats21

I can't recall the exact timing, but in Thailand there is officially no alcohol to be sold in the middle of the afternoon...2PM until 5PM? Something like that. I think it is just retail sales...bars and such can still sell.

Occasionally the chain convenience stores (7-11, Family Mart) will be stringent about it, but you can always walk a couple doors down and find a mom-and-pop place that will still sell.

There are also many holidays when alcohol sales are restricted, as well as a "dry" period enforced before elections. I believe there are exceptions granted to some hotels/restaurants for some of these, but not sure how it works exactly.

ajGoes

Me too:

EuropeanPete

Or you go to the islands - the sole impact of the dry periods was one bar having to close at 6pm as opposed to 2am (the others were fine).