All bars may go dry past 2 a.m.
Pour one out for 6 a.m. last-calls.
At tonight’s City Council meeting, City Councilman Howard Duvall plans to present a proposal that could end Columbia’s extended hours permit for bars – a.k.a. stopping all bars in the City of Columbia from serving alcohol after 2 a.m.
The extended hours permit currently allows bars to serve alcohol until sunrise, but the bars must meet certain requirements to obtain the permit – like no drinking contests. If a bar has too many underage drinking violations, its permit can be revoked.
(Bars in Charleston, Greenville + Myrtle Beach are required to stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m.)
City Council isn’t expected to vote on the subject at tonight’s meeting – the debate will likely be deferred to the Council’s public safety commission before the final decision is made.
The Whig | Photo by @nick_universal
So which Columbia bars are currently allowed to serve alcohol past 2 a.m.?
Night Caps | Devine Street | 2722 Devine St.
Bar None | Five Points | 620 Harden St.
Lucky’s | Five Points | 2100 Devine St.
The Bird Dog | Five Points | 715 Devine St.
Breakers Bar & Grill | Five Points | Five Points | 801 Harden St.
Breakers Live | Five Points | 805 Harden St.
Canton Restaurant & Lounge | Cedar Terrace Shopping Center | 6420 Garners Ferry Road
Group Therapy | Five Points | 2107 Greene St.
Jake’s | Five Points | 2112 Devine St.
The Cotton Gin | Five Points | 632 Harden St.
Latitude 22 | Five Points | 636 Harden St.
Moosehead Saloon | Five Points | 2020 Devine St.
Moriarty’s Irish Pub | The Vista | 902 Gervais St.
Five Points Saloon | Five Points | 812 Harden St.
Pavlov’s | Five Points | 2000 Greene St.
Cover 3 | Five Points | 711 Harden St.
The Horseshoe | Five Points | 724 Harden St. (pending documentation)
The Whig | Main Street | 1200 Main St.
Rooftop Bar and Lounge | Five Points | 638 Harden St.
The Barn | Five Points | 707 Harden St.
The Thirsty Parrot | Five Points | 734 Harden St.
Tin Roof | The Vista | 1022 Senate St.
✔️ For the proposal:
Duvall + UofSC officials believe the proposal could help rid late-night Five Points + UofSC of their high-risk drinking stigma and keep students safer. Last year, 260 UofSC students were hospitalized due to alcohol-related incidents, and Councilman Duvall says the school is getting a reputation as one of the SEC’s biggest party schools.
❌ Against the proposal:
Establishments who don’t cater to students are unhappy about the prospect of more regulations on law-abiding businesses. Some (like Phil Blair, owner of Main St.’s popular dive bar The Whig) are saying the proposal should only apply to “bars rampantly serving underage customers, selling $1 liquor drinks, poor staff training, bad ownership, et cetera.” ...Not those that have had “no problems” past 2 a.m. in the 13 years the extended hours permit has been in place.
What do you think about all this? Reply to this email to let us know; share your feedback on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram; or go to tonight’s City Council meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall (1737 Main St.).
Here are some of your responses...
Pro
“I think it ought to be a statewide law that you cannot purchase alcohol anywhere in the state between the hours of 2am and 8 am. People need to sober up before they go to work and they need to be ready to work,not drunk, or just got out of a bar. It’s ridiculous. People need to go home and sleep if you want to party after 2am, plan ahead and purchase enough alcohol and take it home and party at home.” – Sandy
“As a graduating senior at USC I can barely stay up past midnight anymore so the 2 am change doesn’t change anything for me. However, it’s quite annoying whenever lawmakers use the “260 people have been hospitalized” excuse. When I know for a fact they say to students that get caught underage drinking that are pretty drunk they can go to jail or go to the hospital. Who would go to jail over the hospital? It’s just a way to raise a stat and help out their own agenda.” – Nicole
“75% of those bars are in 5 points, and those bars are overwhelmingly patronized by USC students. A very large percentage of those students are under the legal drinking age of 21. I totally agree with shutting down the alcohol after 2am!” – Andrew
“I want to agree with the owner of the Whig, that bars with “no problems” should not be penalized. But how is that going to be monitored and folks held accountable? Also, is a 2AM rule really going to make the Whig’s business suffer that much? If it the numbers show that post-2AM business keeps the Whig afloat, then the 2AM rule shouldn’t be a blanket law. But if it’s merely inconvenient or annoying to have to change the Whig’s culture a smidge, then the 2AM blanket law seems great to me.” – Robert
“My 2 cents: I’m all for the bars closing/stop serving alcohol at 2am. It’s pretty unpleasant when I have to work on a Saturday and I’m walking downtown along Devine St at 6am and have to dodge around drunks stumbling down the sidewalk (who also inevitably yell at me, a woman walking alone) or get to start my morning overhearing a loud drunken argument coming from Night Caps.
I don’t really see the benefit of people drinking at 5am, only the drawbacks.
Fortunately one time (I had crossed the street to avoid a gaggle of drunken guys on Devine) a couple of older runners saw them, saw me, and then stuck with me for the rest of my walk through Five Points because they wanted to make sure I made it safely. There are some really great people in Columbia.” – Gabrielle
“I support Howard Duvall’s proposal and I will be at the council meeting tonight.” – Kirsten
Con
“In response to the bars closing at 2am, I think it is ridiculous that responsible adults and business should have to give up their freedoms, based on the actions of irresponsible people and businesses. Let’s better enforce the laws we have on the books before we start making new ones that strip away our freedom.” – Jack
“If they force bars to close at 2 a.m. we’re all going to have to endure EXPONENTIALLY more drunk renditions of “Closing Time” by Semisonic. And I, for one, refuse to deal with that in 2018.” – Bob
“Broad, sweeping reform such as this is a classic example of lazy regulation that insists on on-size-fits-all methodology which places every establishment under the same circumstances, regardless of reputation. While this new proposal is likely well-intentioned, it punishes existing establishments that have a clean record an"d discourages their ability to operate as they intend, and it blatantly ignores the repeat offenders who are causing the real issues. The citizens of Columbia should not be content with such poor leadership.” –Andrew
“I’m all for keeping students safer, but I don’t think that responsibility falls on the businesses of Columbia. I think the permit should be denied to businesses that have more incidents than others. Kind of like three strikes your out kind of deal. After so many penalties a bar should have to close its doors at 2 a.m. Not just to protect students, but also to hold the businesses to a certain standard if they chose to be open late.” – Delaney
“Against. I bartended in 5points for 5 years and loved being able to have a drink or two after work at places like night caps and bar none. There were rarely any issues in these late night bars! Columbia has a great bar scene, let’s not let some past “problem bars” ruin it for everyone else. Most of the problem bars aren’t in business anymore!” – sarahwest511
“This negatively affects service industry and anyone who works second, third shift, also business owners just trying to make an honest living. Has little to no effect on 9 to 5ers. So BE INCLUSIVE! Be appreciative of those who work those jobs bc someone has to!” – validatemyexistence