After months of complete closure or limited to-go service, winery and brewery tasting rooms across Los Angeles County can reopen for on-site, outdoor service as early as next week—at least, as long as they serve food.
According to the Los Angeles Times, county supervisors voted yesterday to allow on-site drinking for establishments that aren’t home to a full kitchen, though bars—which remain closed for on-site service under these conditions—weren’t mentioned in the reopening plan. Still, L.A.’s favorite wineries and breweries could be pouring on patios as early as next Tuesday, when the movement goes into effect, provided the establishments team up with a food vendor of some sort. (Spots with dedicated kitchens, like Highland Park Brewery and Arts District Brewing Co., had already been able to reopen.)
L.A. County remains in the first (purple, “widespread”) tier of Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent color-coded reopening plan, and though its coronavirus cases and test percentages are inching toward entering the next phase (red, “substantial”), L.A. County is still hovering above more than seven new cases a day and more than eight percent positivity.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, as well as Mayor Eric Garcetti, have encouraged a cautious reopening given the county’s tier-one status. As the Times notes, the vote on Tuesday was far from unanimous: “In my own humble opinion, I think it’s not a great idea to say, ‘Thank you, Dr. Ferrer, but we’re not going to support your advice,’” Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said before voting against it.
The move allows some of L.A.’s best drinking establishments with outdoor capacity—such as Malibu Wines and Angel City Brewing—to reenter the service space if they so choose; restaurants have been permitted to do so since the end of May.