Restaurant and bar owners and patrons can toast one new state law that took effect on July 1.
After nearly four decades, Happy Hour is once again legal in Indiana.
The practice of offering hourly drink specials was banned in 1985 in an effort to curtail binge drinking and drunk driving. But in March, Governor Eric Holcomb signed House Bill 1086, making Happy Hour legal again.
Holcomb marked the occasion by signing the bill at the Whistle Stop Inn in Indianapolis.
“And that’s what they do here at the Whistle Stop Inn and all over the state of Indiana,” Holcomb said. “And so, this is in response to not only their concerns and advocacy, but also to the consumer.”
City Limits archive: Is Happy Hour illegal in Indiana?
Kevin Fitzpatrick is one of the owners of Kilroy’s on Kirkwood and Kilroy’s Sports Bar. He said the new law is a good move for the state.
“Anything that gets the Indiana liquor laws more towards a centrist position with the rest of the United States is a positive development,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick said college bars like Kilroy’s operate later than traditional Happy Hour times in the late afternoon, so they weren’t able to offer them under the previous law.
“It was restricting specials for any time of the day, so we were forced to essentially fix our prices throughout,” he said. “And now we have some flexibility we can offer different prices at different parts of the day as we see fit.”
Bars and restaurants now may offer drink specials for up to four hours a day and 15 hours a week. However, they cannot run specials between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
The bill also allows bars and restaurants to prepare, sell and deliver alcoholic beverages for carry-out to customers.
