Cambridge bar owner fights proposed 30-minute drink rule and other restrictions: "It's kind of wild"

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts is considering changes to its liquor laws for the first time in a decade, and at least one bar owner is not happy with the proposals.

The Board of License Commissioners recently published a preliminary working draft of the proposed changes. One of them would limit customers to one drink every 30 minutes, regardless of how intoxicated they seem. 

"It's kind of wild, and it's pretty confusing," Lauren Friel, owner of the wine bar Dear Annie on Mass. Ave., said in an Instagram video.

"Egg timers going off every 30 minutes" 

She called on her followers to contact the licensing board to express their opposition, "unless you want egg timers going off every 30 minutes in every bar and restaurant in Cambridge!"

The other proposals include banning the sale of shots of liquor and bottles of wine within one hour of closing. Friel said the changes sound "really restrictive ... probably the most restrictive in the country."

"If you had a 9 p.m. reservation and we close at 10 p.m.,  you wouldn't be able to order a bottle of wine, even if you came in with 10 friends," she said.

Cambridge City Councilor Marc McGovern commented on Friel's video, saying that he would be looking into the matter.

"I had no idea this was happening until today, and it moves the city in the wrong direction," he wrote.

Updating Cambridge liquor laws

A city spokesperson said the license commission is aiming to update the rules and regulations by the end of the year. The spokesperson said there has been feedback about the specific proposals that were seen as "too restrictive on the industry and patrons," and said those comments will be taken into consideration. 

All of the proposed changes will be discussed at a board meeting sometime in August. 

Cambridge recently joined Boston and other Massachusetts communities in temporarily loosening its liquor laws for the World Cup and other summer celebrations. Approved bars and restaurants are allowed to sell "to-go" alcoholic drinks in designated social districts like Harvard Square through July 31.