Could a little-known law be the death knell for the bottomless brunch? A tradition amongst many restaurants in New York City is a brunch menu that offers unlimited breakfast-based boozes for a set price and meal. Yet an obscure New York law bans boozy brunch, stating that it is illegal to be "selling, serving, delivering or offering to patrons an unlimited number of drinks during any set period of time for a fixed price."
The New York Post reports that the law has been around for years, and seems to have fallen out of public knowledge. Fortunately for New Yorkers, it's thought that the law will maintain its unenforced status for the time being. "The community boards don't seem to be complaining about it and the customers definitely aren't complaining about it," says NYC Hospitality Alliance Counsel Robert Bookman.
The ban has loopholes, of course; and the ban really may be more about the idea behind it instead of the letter of the law. We can even get philosophical and metaphysical with the concepts behind the unlimited brunch. As Heath St. Clair, owner of The Sunburnt Cow, states, it's not possible to serve unlimited drinks, as it's fiscally irresponsible, and would be impossible for the consumer to consume. "People could say or think about it however they want," St. Clair said. "We only serve a person maybe four or five drinks. People get buzzed, they get happy, and they feel like they didn't pay for it."
In the end, this law's resurgence doesn't seem as though it will do much damage to the boozy brunch scene, but instead could be used as leverage against those establishments who fail to keep an eye out for their early bird drinkers after they leave brunch for their day, utterly soused.
