lepreau@utah-cs.UUCP (Jay Lepreau) (05/18/84)
Come to USENIX and find all all about it thru bitter experience. Actually, it's not so bad here. We will be providing a guide in the packet you get upon registration, or else a short verbal guide. 1. The only alcohol sold without any unusual restrictions is 3.2 beer, in supermarkets, "beer bars", and restaurants. 2. You can't get "normal" hard-liquor-by-the-drink except at "private clubs," but you can join most clubs for just a week, I think, at a special discount tourist rate or something. 3. Instead of bars, restaurants have on-site "micro state liquor stores" which sell mini-bottles at the standard price. You order your setup from the waiter or waitress, but have to leave the table to buy your booze. Or you can bring your booze with you. Same goes for wine: a rather steep corkage charge, but you can always bring your own or buy it there. A place can only do this only if it is a legitimate restaraunt, but I'm not sure how strictly that is enforced. 4. Beer stronger than 3.2 (which means better, unfortunately, such as imports) has to be bought at a state liquor store, *by the bottle*, which makes it very expensive. 5. There aren't very many full-size state liquor stores. I think the legislature was about to pass a law a few years ago prohibiting liquor stores within some short distance, like 200 yards, of a school or church, when someone discovered that outlawed practically all of them in Salt Lake City! State store prices aren't too bad, except for beer, and there is one fairly decent state wine store. One effect of all this is that you save a lot of money at fancy restaurants because you can bring your own wine. Another is that drinks can be very stiff, cause mini bottles are pretty big. Guess I just wrote the guide. I won't swear to it's accuracy though, I drink at home... Jay Lepreau Univ of Utah
thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas) (05/18/84)
Note: we will have a "bar" available for conference attendees in the Hotel Utah on Tuesday night. It will be a "cash bar", in the sense that you will have to pay for setups - your glass and whatever goes in it. The booze is "free" (but the setups are steep). On Wed night, there is the BBQ at Snowbird, so you really only have to worry about Thursday night (and I bet there will be hospitality suites around). Summary: the bizarre Utah liquour laws may not affect conference attendees much. =S
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (05/18/84)
"The booze is 'free'", hmmm? Does this mean that I can grab a bottle
and swig directly from it and not pay anything? If you won't let me,
can I complain to the {random authority figure here} and get the
hosts/caterer/whoever arrested for violating the Utah liquor laws?
I would think that such polite evasions of the law by contrivances
such as charging booze prices for a glass of ice could easily backfire
if a concerted effort was made to take their logical conclusions to
the possible extremes. I encourage everybody going to USENIX to do
just that. It might make swimming through the streets worthwhile...
"If all laws were enforced, all legislators would be dead."
Will