Groan

Emily Kaiser reports for City Pages that the Minneapolis City Council is looking at options for banning drink specials and "bar games" at bars throughout the city. When I say banning drink specials, I mean just that: goodbye happy hour. So long nightly specials. Good grief, in this economy we have the state's largest municipality angling to shuffle bar patrons to adjacent cities to get a good deal on drinks, putting a millstone around the ankle of restaurants and bars that are already on thin ice. How out of touch can these people possibly be?

The theory behind these measures is to decrease binge drinking. What the fuck is next, mandatory coasters and seatbelt requirements for barstools? In a state with the most unfriendly booze laws this side of Utah, one must ask, as Kaiser does, "Could Minnesota drinking become any more lame than it already is? Apparently Minneapolis is trying to make it so."

The story was apparently broken by WCCO on Feb. 10. Link. The next council meeting is scheduled for March 9.

via citypages.com