What is Happy Hour and Why is it Banned in some U.S. States?
Happy hour is a time period when the price for alcoholic drinks and food get reduced at bars and restaurants.
Written by DP | Updated
Popular Happy Hour Times
Happy Hours are celebrated mostly on weekdays, generally between the hours of 2pm-6pm. Saturday and Sunday typically do not host Happy Hours as bars don't need to entice customers to patronize their business on the weekends.
If you're part of a beer of the month club, then you shouldn't have any trouble starting up a Happy Hour from the comfort of your own home.
How do Bars and Restaurants get around Happy Hour laws?
Many bars and restaurants get around happy hour laws by inventing new ways of running promotional discounts. For instance, Happy Hour can also apply to certain food discounts during a given time. This effectively keeps the cost of eating and drinking the same for patrons.
Cities where Happy Hour is popular
- Austin
- Buffalo
- Chicago
- Denver
- Houston
- Las Vegas
- Portland
- Seattle
States where Happy Hour is banned
- Alaska
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Massachusetts
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Rhode Island
- Utah
- Vermont
Why have certain states banned Happy Hour?
The reasons for such measures vary from state-to-state and the argument to not allow Happy Hour centers around the following:
- Cutting down on the likelihood of drunk drivers before they get behind the wheel of their car.
- Reducing the potential for public drunkenness, which can be both annoying as well as dangerous.
- Trying to discourage people from consuming massive amounts of booze rapidly by not reducing the cost of alcohol at any point in the day.